When Russian brewery Tatspirtprom committed to investing in a new brewery, it was something of a landmark. There hadn’t been a brewery of this size, with an annual capacity of two million hectoliters, built in Russia in more than a decade. It also marked Krones’ first turnkey brewery in Russia and the company’s fastest turnaround to date on a project of this magnitude.

Only twelve months passed from the time the cornerstone was laid and the contract was awarded in late May 2017 to the first brew in June 2018. In that time Krones built all of the equipment for Tatspirtprom’s new brewery (the first phase of which was dimensioned for one million hectoliters), shipped it from Germany to Russia, installed it, and put it into operation. That required meticulous planning on the part of both Tatspirtprom and general contractor Krones.

The large-volume tanks – like those for fermentation, storage, and bright beer – as well as parts of the brewhouse were a critical aspect of this project.

To get them to their destination, Krones chose instead of road transport the logistically much simpler but longer option of shipping by water freight.

The route involved loading from Krones’ tank-building plant in Duisburg, Germany, shipping along the Rhine River to the seaport of Rotterdam, travel across the North and Baltic Seas to St. Petersburg. Finally, another 1,700 kilometers along the Volga-Baltic Waterway to Chistopol on the River Kama, a tributary of the Volga. 

However, there was one additional obstacle to be overcome. Because the Volga often freezes solid in winter, river transport shuts down in early November.

Therefore, oversized shipping containers would have to arrive no later than October 2017 – leaving only a very narrow window for manufacturing the tanks and brewhouse.

Eight weeks had to be set aside for the journey by water: two for the sea route to St. Petersburg, four along the Volga and Kama Rivers, and another two in Chistopol harbor for unloading, customs, and preparation for transport to the construction site.

“We delivered everything for this big project just-in-time, which enabled us to complete the job on its tight schedule,” said Natalja Küffner, project lead for Krones AG. “And that was only possible thanks to the excellent cooperation of the customer.”

Besides water freight, which carried the lion’s share of the 82 oversized shipping units, road freight also played an important role. No fewer than 235 trucks carrying standard containers made the 3,200-kilometer trip through the Czech Republic, Poland, and Belarus to Chistopol.

The journey took each driver eight days – wide loads took twice that time. To ensure that everything went smoothly, Krones’ logistics team meticulously planned every detail of the trip, especially ensuring that the oversized loads would not run into bottlenecks along the way. As a result, everything arrived safe and sound and on time.

The managers responsible for the project on Tatspirtprom’s end were extremely pleased with the outcome.

“We spoke with five different vendors ahead of this project. But we are glad to have chosen Krones. I don’t think we would have managed to stay on schedule if we hadn’t,” added Irek Minnakhmetov, general director of Tatspirtprom. “Krones was the only vendor able to offer us a real turnkey solution. As I see it, Krones has in us a strong local company with great potential and we have in Krones a worthy partner for accomplishing our plans.”

In terms of process technology, the project’s scope included a complete brewhouse designed to produce 450 hectoliters per brew at twelve brews per day and mash in beers with wort at up to 15.5 degrees Plato.

It comprised two ShakesBeer mash tuns, a pegasus lauter tun, product holding tank, stromboli kettle with internal boiler, vapor condenser for energy recovery and a whirlpool.

The company does not plan to process unmalted grain.

“We place a high value on the quality of our beer, so we use 100 percent malt for brewing,” said executive director Rishat Khasanov. 

In the first phase of construction, Krones installed a brewery with a capacity of one million hectoliters: 18 cylindro-conical fermenters and
storage tanks, each with a net volume between 1,000 and 3,600 hectoliters.

The tanks are connected by way of pipe panels. In the second phase of construction, at the end of 2018, another twelve tanks at 3,600 hectoliters each increased the brewhouse’s capacity to two million hectoliters. The yeast storage system was also expanded by two tanks. 

For filtration, Tatspirtprom opted for a combination of a TFS kieselguhr (diatomite) precoat filter and a TFS PVPP filter plus a centrifuge. Ten fully automated bright-beer tanks fitted with Evoguard double-seat valves make the beer ready for bottling, canning, or kegging. All of the process technology is controlled by way of a data-driven Botec F1 process control system. 

Krones was also responsible for all utilities, from the water house including a steam boiler as well as a NH3 water cooling and iced water system to CO2 recovery, compressed air and CIP systems all the way to a Hydronomic RO reverse osmosis water treatment system. 

Krones also installed three complete filling lines including a non-returnable glass bottling line dimensioned for 30,000 0.5-liter non-returnable glass bottles per hour, a  non-returnable PET bottling line for 17,600 1.5-liter non-returnable PET containers per hour and a canning line for 30,000 0.5-liter cans per hour.

In addition, a Kosme KSB Gigablow stretch blow-molder produces 30-liter PET kegs at 200 containers per hour.

White Kremlin Brewery, named after a building of the same name in Kazan, Tatarstan’s capital city, produces 14 different beers in 28 stock keeping units. Tatspirtprom also brews the Bavarian beer brands König Ludwig and Kaltenberg under license.

“As a result, we not only have process and filling technology from the Bavaria-based world market leader Krones here in Chistopol, we also have the brewing expertise of a premium Bavarian brewery,” said Irek Minnakhmetov.

The idea that Tatspirtprom should build its own brewery came about in early 2017 after extensive market analysis. “Since we are already in the alcoholic beverages market, beer was an obvious choice for growing our operations,” said Minnakhmetov.

Tatspirtprom also wanted to streamline and consolidate its spirits production, which meant closing one plant in Chistopol. “But our company cares about the welfare of its workers,” added Minnakhmetov. “By building the brewery, we were able to keep those jobs and even grow the workforce to 300 people.”

In just the first year, Tatspirtprom was able to utilize around 40 percent of the one million hectoliter capacity originally installed. But Minnakhmetov and executive director Khasanov have even grander plans: “We are talking with Krones about doubling the plant’s annual capacity to four million hectoliters.”

That is meant, in part, as a challenge to the widespread grey market for beer, which he figures accounts for as much as 40 percent of beer consumption and which he views as Tatspirtprom’s biggest competitor. And then he mentions “ten million hectoliters” as a medium-term goal.

“Our strategic objective is to become the strongest beer producer on the local market here in Tatarstan and to be a major player across Russia. That is our dream and we are going to fight to make it happen.“