Microbreweries and craft breweries are terms often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings related to their size, production capacity, and sometimes their approach to brewing. A microbrewery is defined primarily by its production volume. According to the Brewers Association in the United States, a microbrewery produces less than 15,000 barrels of beer per year.
The term "craft brewery" is broader and focuses on the quality, flavour, and traditional brewing methods rather than just production volume. The Brewers Association defines a craft brewery as a small (up to 6 million barrels/year), independent, and traditional brewery with an emphasis on quality and innovation.
Nokia and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) announced the successful operation of the world’s first 5G connected digital microbrewery. The state-of-the-art facility forms part of UTS’s Industry 4.0 research site and enables thirsty researchers to perfect the art of brewing in the twenty-first century using digital automation. It utilizes a cloud-based digital twin of an actual brewery to optimise the brewing process. Their press release said:
UTS’s Industry 4.0 Nano-Brewery, is part of its new Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Data Science testbed developed at the UTS Tech Lab. The Nano-Brewery forms part of an international production network, with an identical physical twin set up in TU Dortmund University in Germany. The 5G connected brewery captures and monitors production data at every step of the brewing process and uses this data, together with data from the physical twin in Dortmund and a digital twin in the cloud, to optimise the process.
5G connectivity is provided by Nokia’s FastMile 5G Gateways connected to a campus-wide Nokia Digital Automation Cloud 5G Standalone private wireless network. The 5G private wireless network is delivered using multiple Nokia AirScale Indoor Radio (ASiR) small cells positioned throughout the UTS Tech Lab campus. The 5G network forms part of the on-site Nokia 5G Futures Lab opened in November 2021 and is already being used to support other Industry 4.0 projects within Tech Lab such as the Australian Government funded Nokia/UTS 5G Connected Cobots project.
Recently, UTS has teamed up with craft brewer Young Henrys to make smarter beer. The press release said:
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Young Henrys Brewery are pairing cutting edge brewing technology with award-winning brewing knowledge in search of a more sustainable pint.
The UTS Industry 4.0 Brewery, located at UTS Tech Lab, is the first of its kind in Australia and is the world’s first 5G connected microbrewery, powered by Nokia’s technology.
The Brewery is an automated system that enables continuous monitoring of the brewing process and the beer. The Brewery analyses data collected throughout the brew to precisely control both the boiling and fermentation processes at the heart of beer production.
Industry 4.0 technology is about smart automation and the use of robotic systems equipped with machine learning algorithms. It includes the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise processing conditions and increase the predictability and quality of the final product.
Young Henrys is currently in the research and development phase of a new craft beer and utilising the UTS Industry 4.0 Brewery as a test facility. The collaboration between UTS and Young Henrys ensures the research findings and machine learning techniques are directly transferable to industry. Resulting research findings will also be highly relevant beyond beer, for example, for smart and sustainable manufacturing processes, and supply chain logistics.
Let's hope these improvements in beer will also translate to other non-alcoholic drinks industry.
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