Using Alfa Laval technology, Jackie O's Brewery cut production losses in half and saved time

What is the history of Jackie O's Brewery?

My mother was diagnosed with cancer right when we bought the brewpub uptown, and she passed six months later. So, in her honor, we named this Jackie O`s Pub and Brewery, her name was Jackie Oestrike. My house was always an open welcoming place for anybody, any color, any gender, whatever you may be. At Jackie O`s, we strive to be a very welcoming and open facility. We also hope to be stewards of our environment. We have been operating in and only in Athens, Ohio, for the past sixteen years. Through that, we've become a part of this community through employment, purchasing power, and all the causes that we support.

What can Alfa Laval do for your craft beer production?

It is a 20 bbl brewhouse. We've got several 40 bbl fermenters and 120 bbl fermenters on site. Right now, in the building we have Brew 250 Plus with ProCarb as well as a Flexitherm Mini Flash Pasteurizer. Alfa Laval is always part of the conversation when it comes to buying new equipment at this point. We looked to the most innovative leaders in the industry, in terms of what they are doing to help breweries along the way.

Before we got the Brew 250, our losses were between 18 and 24% on IPAs, the majority of what we do back here. Since we have gotten the Brew 250 on site, our losses have dropped to about 10 to 12%. So, we`ve seen pretty significant changes within our loss. When that product hits the brite tank, it has been centrifuged, so it is clean - as clean as it can be. It's also carbonated, so we don’t have to run it through a carb stone and do that whole process. It is basically 97% of the way there, ready to package.

Before we got the Brew 250, our losses were between 18 and 24% on IPAs, the majority of what we do back here. Since we have gotten the Brew 250 on site, our losses have dropped to about 10 to 12%."

What impressed you most about Alfa Laval technology?

Before we had the Brew 250 and the ProCarb, we would have beers in the brite tanks for three to four days. Today, it is one or two days max. When you cut a couple of days out of the process, you save on labor, process time and money.

When we were looking for a new piece of equipment, we compared different pieces of equipment to each other. The Brew 250 Plus is bottom-fed and hermetically sealed with zero DO pickup. The Brew 250 has done what it is advertised, allowing all those wonderful aromas and flavours to stay within the product while not harming the product in any way, and that’s not something that we thought was possible with a centrifuge. From fruited wheat to hazies to double IPAs, we can run anything through the Brew 250 and get the results we want on the back end. It does work, and that’s the bottom line. It is like this stuff just sells itself.

The Brew 250 has done what it is advertised, allowing all those wonderful aromas and flavours to stay within the product while not harming the product in any way, and that’s not something that we thought was possible with a centrifuge."

What do you think about working with Alfa Laval?

When we work with Alfa Laval, we feel that we are going to get what we want. When we want to increase this or we want to decrease time - we get the support we need, and it is always very professional and very timely. It is really nice to be able to have people who know what they are doing, understand the machines that you are calling about and are professional when they show up on-site.

Primarily, what I enjoy most about working with Alfa Laval is the people I speak with. It is more like a little collab or a little party in a weird way that it is not all that fun to do the work, it is pretty mundane and arduous in some ways, but it is almost like having an old employee back or something like that. It is fun!

Alfa Laval stands behind what they do. Alfa Laval isn’t the cheapest stuff on the market, but Alfa Laval is the best stuff on the market. We know that when we purchase Alfa Laval, we're going to get good shit."

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