Lager, pale ale, brown ale… What do these have in common? They are all the product of the fermentation of a clever blend of malt, hops and water. Fermentation of course requires yeast, these microorganisms which turn sugar into alcohol. And it is yeast, as well as some suspended molecules, that makes beer slightly turbid. In the past beer did not used to be filtered. Nowadays, however, people prefer it when it is bright: clear and full of flavor. Diatomaceous earth is widely used by industrial breweries as a filter aid for this very purpose. The brewery sector has in fact become the leading outlet for Clarcel® diatomaceous earth, marketed by CECA, a subsidiary of the Arkema Group.
Origins :
Diatomaceous earth has its origin at the bottom of lakes and the sea. “Diatoms are microscopic unicellular algae with a siliceous cell-wall, explains Philippe Bour, Head of Technical Support for Activated Carbon and Filter Aid. As time went by, they built up at the bottom of the water and gradually formed fossil deposits, eventually turning into a sedimentary rock called diatomite”. CECA mines two diatomite deposits in France, one in the Cantal region and the other in Ardèche, which were formed millions of years ago.
Talent added from CECA
CECA’s know-how consists in extracting raw diatomite, then processing it (purification, drying, high temperature calcination, grinding, selection) into an end-product with controlled characteristics. This end-product is a very fine white or pinkish powder called diatomaceous earth or kieselguhr. “We market 7 different Clarcel® grades for the brewery industry, and this therefore allows us to fulfill the needs of each of our customers”, explains Damien Baes, Filter Aids and Functional Minerals Product Manager.
Today CECA focuses its attention on breweries in Central and Eastern Europe, where beer enthusiasts are growing in numbers, and the market is promising.
Filtration: a critical stage prior to bottling
In beer manufacture, filtration is the last stage before bottling. Philippe Bour’s recipe for trapping impurities: add 150 grams of Clarcel® powder to every 100 liters of beer. The powder helps considerably extend filtration cycles while guaranteeing bright beer with a stable flavor. This is therefore a traditional filtration technique which uses a natural product. “Brewers have a high-tech Clarcel ® product that is versatile in terms of use and perfectly traceable, an added guarantee of food safety”, concludes Damien Baes.
For any further information, please contact us.
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