Wilo pumps are an essential ingredient for brewing in Bavaria
The traditional German beer purity laws originally permitted only water, barley and hops to be used to produce beer. Other substances are now permitted, and at the Paulaner brewery in Munich includes Wilo submersible-motor pumps to draw water from four on-site wells that are up to 240 m deep. The pumps are popular with the brewer because of their reliability and longevity; one of the pumps has operated since 1984 and repaired just once in 2004.
What is locally called ‘tertiary water’ dates back to the last ice age and is some 13 000 years old. Because of its age and the great depth of the wells, this particularly soft brewing water is free of environmental influences and makes an important contribution to the beers brewed with it. The brewery produces over 200 million litres of beer every year.
Paulaner is one of the top-10 breweries in Germany and is associated very strongly with the Bavarian brewing tradition and Bavarian lifestyle.
The brewery currently has nine Wilo-EMU submersible-motor pumps in stock. Four are installed in deep wells. Water is drawn from one well at a time until a predetermined volume of water has been extracted. The next well is then used.
Pumps are returned to Wilo for overhaul every four to five years and then put into stock as a reserve pump.