How much does it cost to make a pint of beer?

15/06/2023

How much does it cost to make a pint of beer? In the UK we are massive beer drinkers! Maybe not something we should be proud of; however, the facts are what they are, we like a pint of beer. Unsurprisingly, we therefore have a huge number of breweries in the UK, some are small and some are well known brand names, but brewing beer is a massive market in the UK.

It is no surprise that breweries are looking at more sustainable and innovative ways of producing beer. Methods that are clean with no contamination, products that are hard wearing but cost-effective, all these things combined ensure the brewery industry can continue to produce our much-loved beer. But with rising energy costs, will these costs be passed down to the consumer? And with that in mind, how much does it cost to make a pint of beer?

do we know how m,uch it costs to make a pint of beer

Beer production and challenges

The challenge to keep the cost of a pint down has a lot of influence on how the beer is produced. There are issues such as:

Environmental changes
Using innovative technologies
Ensuring costs are kept low
Demands of a saturated market

Currently, the majority of beer production facilities are not particularly sustainable, however, this can change, and it has to change to keep up with the demand of the public. Companies are investing in specialised water-saving strategies and focusing on ensuring their manufacturing equipment is as effective as possible.

How can igus® help to keep the costs down

There are multiple ways that replacing metal counterparts with polymer can reduce the cost of a pint! igus® products are hard wearing making them a sustainable option for many areas in breweries. Most areas of a brewery put machines under environmental pressures such as; creating dust from crushing grains in the malt milling process to withstanding extreme temperatures in the heat exchanger. This is where igus® products come into their own. We have a selection of materials that are designed for applications with high temperatures and dusty environments, so can cope with machines in the brewery sector.

Using igus® products instead of conventional materials enables our pint of beer to be manufactured in a more sustainable way, which not only helps with the environmental aspect of brewing beer but is actually more-cost effective. Another issue previously was shafts being damaged by damaged bearings, this added even more in terms of cost, replacing both parts and the labour costs when wear occurred in bearings. Being manufactured from polymer materials allows the bearing and shaft to compliment each other as opposed to damaging each other.

With tools such as the life calculation tools, igus® is able to predict the lifetime of the parts based on the application information provided. Normally, the predicted lifetime outlives the lifetime of metal counterparts and knowing how long a bearing or rod end is going to last helps with planning. Even being able to accurately plan maintenance saves cost. No unexpected breakdowns mean continued production, meaning more beer!!

Where are igus® products used in breweries?

There are a lot of areas of breweries where igus® parts are used, but predominantly the area where we are seeing rapid growth is igubal® self-aligning bearings being used on the conveyor lines, transporting the beer around the factory.

These are replacing like for like bearings that are traditionally metal. The breweries are choosing to change to the igubal® range because of their lubrication-free qualities, their ability to withstand excessive heat and wash downs and because of their hard-wearing properties. For more blogs on igubal® products visit https://blog.igus.co.uk/category/dry-tech/igubal/