Wädi-Brau-Huus AG, a small traditional Swiss brewery in the canton of Zurich, produces beers with great care using only raw materials from guaranteed organic cultivation. In doing so, the company dispenses with now common cellar treatment methods such as the acceleration of fermentation processes, pasteurisation or flash pasteurisation and achieves an annual output of around 2,200 hectolitres.
The brewery obtains hops and malt either from Swiss organic producers or from Germany. Among other things, the beer is brewed according to the German purity law of 1516, so that it is produced with only four ingredients (water, malt, hops and yeast) - with the exception of specialities such as hemp beer.
The product range of organic beers in the Wädenswil "Beer Parade" includes the brands Light, Hemp, Dark, Ur-Weizen, Ur-Pils, Pale Ale and Premium Blond. For many years Wädi-Brau-Huus AG purchased the steam from a large capacity water boiler from a neighbouring company, a former silk weaving mill, as a second customer. At this time, it was generously agreed that the number of brews brewed per year would be taken into account. With the liquidation of the silk weaving mill in the neighbourhood and the elimination of the steam supply option, the organic brewery felt obliged and at the same time faced the challenge of taking care of its own steam generation in the future.
Because the brewery is located in the centre of Wädenswil and the space inside and outside the production area is very limited, it was necessary to find a suitable steam generator that would meet all requirements.
Initially, an electric steam generator was under discussion, but due to the high energy costs for steam generation and the planned production volume, it was not considered further.
The decision was made in mid-2016 in favour of the Steam Masters from Clayton Deutschland GmbH, which will produce 200-235 kg/h for the brewery in future. The plant was supplied with economiser and water treatment package (feed water tank, internal piping/cabling, chemical dosing, blowdown cooling tube, double filter softener, sample cooler and automatic start/stop package) and installed on site by a Swiss partner company of Clayton. Another important and decisive challenge for the brewery was to accommodate the quick steam generator in a room measuring only 27 cubic metres. In accordance with Swiss building regulations and taking into account the specific amount of energy, it also had to be equipped with fire protection cladding, a supply air duct and forced ventilation.
The fact that the brewery is housed in a listed building meant that it was not easy to break through a wall to install the Steam Master. This meant that every millimeter and the ultimate compact size of the new system were already important during installation.
On 17 March, just in time for the company's 25th anniversary, Wädi-Brau-Huus AG successfully brewed its first beer again with the new steam generator after a two-week brewing break. Master brewer Sebastian Fleck attests to the new Steam Master's unrestricted user-friendliness: "The operation of the system is more or less self-explanatory. After a short introduction, the service immediately turns into flesh and blood. Above all the modulation possibilities of the burner between 25 and 100 % are extremely comfortable".
Clayton is a global manufacturer of industrial steam solutions. European production and engineering have been carried out since 1961 in Bornem, Belgium, where Clayton of Belgium serves as the EMEA headquarters and main production hub for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The global headquarters of the Clayton Group is located in California, with additional production facilities in Mexico and Europe, and subsidiaries in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
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