From alcohol-free to digital: Krones at BrauBeviale 2026

Process technology: New requirements, new solutions

One focus of Krones’ trade fair appearance will be process technology. In response to growing global demand for alcohol-free beers, Steinecker is continuously advancing its dynamic fermentation process. Based on the Poseidon circulation unit and combined with Crabtree-negative NEER yeasts from Novonesis, the solution is now in operation at several customer sites around the world. The experience gained from these projects is feeding directly into the further development of the process.

Alongside the brewing industry, Steinecker is also placing an increasing focus on other sectors. At BrauBeviale, the company will present for the first time an application example from the field of special vessel manufacturing for spirits production. This demonstrates how Steinecker’s expertise in stainless steel processing can be leveraged beyond the brewing industry, including applications in spirits and cheese production.

In addition, Krones and Steinecker will provide insights into their own extraction system. This solution is particularly suitable for flavour extraction in tea beverages as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic ready-to-drink products. The technology enables the gentle recovery of valuable ingredients and further expands the portfolio of process solutions for the beverage industry.

The exhibition programme will be complemented by solutions from Evoguard and further process technology developments, demonstrating how efficiency, product quality and flexibility can be enhanced simultaneously.

Glass remains the benchmark in beer filling

Current brewery requirements are also at the heart of developments in filling and packaging technology. Glass remains the most important packaging type in the beer segment, which is why numerous innovations are focused on enabling the most resource-efficient and cost-effective handling of this container type.

With the Lavasonic HI, Krones offers the next generation of bottle cleaning technology. The new high-intensity module uses ultrasound to achieve highly efficient cleaning while reducing both energy and water consumption.

In filling technology, the spotlight will be on the further developed Modulfill HES. The development project will be completed at the end of the year, with the new generation of fillers entering serial production. The system achieves outputs of up to 78,000 glass bottles per hour. In addition to improvements in operator convenience, hygiene and footprint, product quality was a key priority throughout the redesign. Low oxygen pick-up values contribute to a longer shelf life for beer.

Flexibility in the dry end

Packaging requirements are also evolving. A growing variety of products and changing pack formats call for highly flexible solutions. The Smartpac NXT addresses precisely this trend. The packaging machine is designed to handle different bottle formats and secondary packaging types. In addition to glass containers, it can also process PET bottles.

In palletising technology, Krones will present a newly developed layer pusher at BrauBeviale for the first time. The new machine combines a range of features from the existing portfolio in a single solution.

Whether alcohol-free beers, resource-efficient production or digitalisation, the key themes of BrauBeviale 2026 reflect the challenges currently facing breweries. Krones is addressing these developments and will showcase practical solutions in Hall 7A that help companies make their production operations efficient, flexible and future-ready.

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