Flexible brewing: Rapak designs Bag-in-Box for LG’s award-winning Homebrew Machine
04 Apr 2019 --- One of the challenges faced by LG Electronics when designing its automated beer-making Homebrew Machine was determining the right packaging for its base ingredients. Through its partnership with Muntons Malt and Rapak Europe, it has developed and incorporated flexible bags for this purpose. The flexible bags were designed by Rapak, part of DS Smith Plastics.
The four ingredients provided as constituents of the Homebrew Machine system are malt (which is the base), yeast, flavoring and hops oil. After brainstorming packaging solutions, LG came up with the idea to supply the malt component in extra-resistant flexible bags, and the latter three ingredients in single-use capsules – drawing inspiration from the coffee machine principle.
LG sought to design an extra-resistant flexible bag with the capacity to withstand the beer fermentation. The company selected Rapak for its experience as a producer of Bag-in-Box flexible bags and liquids packaging, as well as a track record in innovation. Through collaboration with partners, Rapak Europe designed the unique 5L flexible bag and the corresponding bag-filling equipment for the new Homebrew Machine.
“Our challenge was to develop a flexible bag that would prevent the gas from escaping and survive pressurization during the beer fermentation process. We also worked hard on the visual aspect of the bag to make it appealing for consumers. To achieve this goal, the bag was given a silver-colored look and a special shape,” Tony Hoare, Technical Manager at Rapak Europe, comments.
When the consumer presses a button on the Homebrew machine, hot water is mixed with the malt and the capsule contents inside the flexible bag. In two weeks, the beer is ready to drink. All base ingredients are provided by Muntons – a British malt producer and home-brewing company with 97 years of beer-making history.
Rapak’s research and development was conducted at its innovation center in Northampton, UK. “The special shape of the bag implied a completely new Bag-in-Box filling process. “We designed a custom machine for this application that fits the bag into a cardboard cylinder in which it is commercialized,” adds Yavor Trifonov, Filling Systems Manager of Rapak Europe.
The Homebrew Machine is a winner of the 2019 CES Innovation Award for its optimized fermentation algorithm, precise temperature and pressure control and automated sanitation for optimized ease of use.
By Benjamin Ferrer
