High hops for peracetic acid as brewery hero cleaner
The brewery sector is seeing a rise in the use of peracetic acid (PAA), a cleaning compound manufactured by Airedale Chemical.
Brewery supplier, Murphy & Son, has noticed an increased demand for peracetic acid following a three year relationship with West Yorkshire chemical manufacturer, Airedale Chemical.
Murphy and Son, suppliers of ingredients, processing aids, equipment and cleaning supplies to the UK brewing industry, has had an on-going contract with Airedale Chemical since 2012. Airedale Chemical is a leading UK manufacturer of PAA; a compound often used by various industries for heavy-duty cleaning.
Chris Cleal, product manager at Nottingham’s Murphy & Son, said: “We’ve purchased peracetic acid from Airedale Chemical for over three years. It’s an extremely popular product for us, with both large breweries and micro-breweries across the UK, due to its high cleaning qualities.
“Peracetic acid is one of the most potent micro-biocidal cleaning chemicals available and acts against organisms including aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, moulds and other fungi which appear during the brewing process. It makes an effective terminal sterilant due to the ease of application and once applied it can break down into harmless by-products. It’s ideal in breweries as it’s fast acting, doesn’t foam, requires minimal rinsing and is non-polluting,” added Mr Cleal.
“We originally sourced peracetic acid from Airedale Chemical and the relationship has grown from there. The technical expertise of our account management team is excellent, they keep us well-informed about the product itself and are able to help with any issues which can arise. The team is great at communicating the benefits, which enables us to educate our own customers and has resulted in an increasing interest in peracetic acid with the breweries we supply to.
“The lead times in particular are excellent with Airedale. They’re a firm that keeps its word and in turn, we’re able to keep our customers happy and well stocked due to their 24-hour delivery service,” said Mr Cleal.
Chris Chadwick, sales director at Airedale Chemical, said: “Peracetic acid is a strategic growth area for the company and we are proud to have established such a strong working relationship with Murphy & Son over the years. As a disinfectant widely used in the brewing industry, peracetic acid is a corrosive chemical which requires extra packaged resourcing to prevent damage to its surroundings.
“We have just invested £500,000 in three new distribution vehicles creating a 20-strong fleet. Two of the additions are tractor units which are purpose-designed to transport palletised and IBC (intermediate bulk container) chemicals, such as peracetic acid, in a safe and secure way. We believe this additional resource will enable us to continue strengthening our relationship with clients such as Murphy & Son.”
In order to ensure Airedale Chemical can continue manufacturing and supplying peracetic acid, it has recently finalised work ahead of the deadline for the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) which comes into force later this year. The company would then be one of the few UK companies added to the European Chemicals Agency’s Article 95 list as a BPR approved chemicals manufacturer.
“We’ve been kept fully up-to-date on the firm’s work to be added to the Article 95 list and how this would affect us. We understand Airedale Chemical is on its way to being added to the list of approved suppliers meaning our relationship with them, regarding peracetic acid and the other chemicals we’re supplied, will continue with ease.
“With the firm’s ability to deal with queries quickly and efficiently, coupled with excellent products and an exceptional turn-around time, we know our relationship with them will continue to grow,” added Mr Chadwick.