Bürkert’s microbrewery is a learning tool. By collaborating with Bürkert, small brewery startups could integrate some of the more basic automation components and learn to make great beer like the Bürkert brand above.
You probably know Bürkert Fluid Control Systems as a world leader in fluid control technology, but you may soon know them better for brewing craft beer and educating brewers about the process. The company announced that it has opened its own microbrewery in its Charlotte, N.C., facility to do just that.
The project began back in 2010 with an idea to start a small microbrewery as an internal teamwork project. The company first defined three tastes of beer, designed the installation and created a location in its facility in Charlotte where the microbrewery would be housed. Factory11 was selected as a name for the microbrewery because the physical location in which the system is housed is Bürkert’s 10th global factory location, so this little brewery is sort of like the 11th. There was also an all-employee internal design contest to create the logo and labels.
As the project advanced, the microbrewery grew into something that could effectively showcase the capabilities of the Bürkert product line in a complete system solution. The whole concept actually adapted from a small side project into a more professional microbrewery application. With the company’s knowledge in brewery process control and beer production, Bürkert decided to put that knowledge to work!
The system, while a bit over the top for a microbrewery, showcases some of the most cutting edge advances in process automation. From a fully-integrated PLC enclosure to operate the system to the mX Connect wireless alert system that can monitor and control variables like temperature and flow 24/7 using a smartphone and the Bürkert Cloud, the system is as much of an educational tool as it is a showpiece.
By collaborating with Bürkert, small brewery startups could integrate some of the more basic automation components in the beginning of their process and as they grow the process can be seamlessly upgraded and enhanced. Because of the long product life cycle and industry compatibility of the Burkert products, larger breweries are seeing advantages Bürkert offers as a one-stop-shop for complete process automation. The Factory11 Brewery showcases the full range of capabilities on a single system.
To check out an overview of the Factory 11 Brewery application in Charlotte and see how Bürkert products can perform in a brewing application, just watch the video below.
