Research and Development of a Prototype Yeast Propagator to Support Small Craft Breweries

精酿啤酒是一种非常受欢迎的饮料在全国各地和行业继续快速增长。一般来说，精酿啤酒厂是小型企业，资源和能力有限，无法开发新的创新产品。新产品开发的一个重要因素是繁殖和管理不同种类酵母菌株的生产能力，这些酵母菌株直接影响发酵过程和酿造产品的风味。酵母菌株的繁殖和管理给小型手工酿酒厂带来了生产问题，因为这些小型手工酿酒厂不具备大型酿酒厂操作中的专用设备。此外，这种复杂的设备非常昂贵，超过了小型啤酒厂的生产需求。没有商业上可用的酵母繁殖设备，其规模对小型手工啤酒运营具有经济意义。因此，小型啤酒厂被迫从第三方供应商购买即用型酵母，这带来了巨大的费用和物流问题。Slow Hand Beer Company是一家位于温哥华的小型精酿啤酒厂，该公司寻求与Okanagan学院合作，设计、建造和测试一种小型酵母繁殖机原型，以应对这些业务挑战。对于小型啤酒厂来说，这种设备的规模使其具有成本效益，这将提高公司繁殖新酵母菌株的能力，从而能够开发出吸引各种消费者偏好的新的独特产品。新设备将提高酿造过程的效率，保持产品的一致性并降低生产成本。随着精酿啤酒行业的不断发展，该设备将在竞争日益激烈的市场中提供一种区分酿造工艺和产品的手段。这项新技术也有可能使其他需要小批量酵母生产的小型啤酒厂、酿酒厂、苹果酒厂和食品生产商（如面包店）受益。

Craft beer is an extremely popular beverage across the country and the industry continues to grow rapidly. In general, craft breweries are small operations with limited resources and capacity to engage in development of new and innovative products. An important factor in new product development is the capability to propagate and manage production of different kinds of yeast strains that directly impact the fermentation process and flavour of brewed products. The propagation and management of yeast strains poses a production problem for small craft breweries that do not possess the type of specialized equipment found in larger brewery operations. Further, this complex equipment is very costly and exceeds the production needs of small breweries. There is no commercially available yeast propagation equipment at a scale that makes financial sense for small craft beer operations. As a result, small breweries are forced to purchase yeast in ready-to-use quantities from third party suppliers, which poses a significant expense and logistical problem. Slow Hand Beer Company, a small craft brewery based in Vancouver, seeks to partner with Okanagan College to design, build and test a prototype, small-scale yeast propagator to address these business challenges. The availability of such equipment on a scale that makes it cost-effective for a small brewery will increase the company's ability to propagate new yeast strains, enabling development of new and unique product offerings that appeal to a wide variety of consumer preferences. The new device will increase the efficiency of the brewing process, maintain product consistency and reduce production costs. As the craft brewing industry continues to grow, the device will offer a means of differentiating brewing processes and products in an increasingly competitive market. The new technology also has the potential to benefit other small breweries, wineries, cideries and food producers, such as bakeries, needing small-batch yeast production for manufacturing.