Technology Facility Brewery Lachout

Brewery Lachout consists of operations:

• Micromaltouse
• Microbrewery Pivo-Praha (2010) automatized by Projectsoft (2012)
• Microbrewery ZVÚ Hradec Králové (1965)

Forgotten History

The UCT Prague Brewery has a long tradition. The first mention of an experimental microbrewery at the Czech Technical University in Prague, at that time located in Trojanova Street, dates back to 1900. Professor Kruis played a large role in the foundation of the brewery, which enabled students to gain hands-on experience in relation to the technological processes for brewing beer.

When UCT Prague’s facilities opened in 1937 at Technicka 5 in Dejvice, the brewery was located in the basement of Building A (the technology hall). It was equipped according to the latest industry knowledge of that time. The volume of produced hot wort was three hectoliters. The brewery’s establishment was strongly supported by Professor Jan Šatava, a significant technologist and former head of the Department of Fermentation Chemistry and Mycology. The brewery’s equipment was sold in the 1950s to partners abroad.

In the early 1960s, UCT Prague conducted experiments with continuous production of beer under the leadership of Professor Mostky.

Recent History

A new brewing facility was initiated in 1965 and began operation that same year. Compared to the original three-hectoliter capacity of the old brewery, the new equipment was designed to produce only up to 60 liters of hot wort.

The ZVU Hradec Kralove brewhouse continues to serve students today. In 1987, a complete reconstruction was conducted under the guidance of the head of the department, Professor Gabriela Basařová. The brewery’s cooling technology was upgraded, its location was moved, and the fermentation department was equipped with glass vessels. After a three-year hiatus, the brewery began operating again in 1990. Since that time, beer produced here has been called Lachout because of the delicious flavor.

Another substantial modification of the brewery was conducted in early 2003, when the overall cooling system was replaced with an environmentally safe system. The outer shell was also rebuilt to return to its original state from the 1930s.

In 2010, the technology of the microbrewery was again updated and modernized. The result: A new stainless steel, copper-coated, two-vessel brewhouse with a capacity of 100 liters of hot wort per brew. A grinder, two fermentation tanks, the wort cooler, and an chilled water generator were also added. In 2012, the brewery was fully automated.

Since 2012, UCT Prague therefore owns a fully automated micromalting plant, opening up enormous possibilities for a comprehensive approach to the study of the brewing and malting processes.

Today

Nowadays activities in university microbrewery of UCT in Prague are focused mainly on education of students with brewing and malting specialization. In the brewery there are two brewhouses – copper brewhouse from 1965 with the brew volume of 50 l and fully automated brewhouse from 2010 with the brew volume of 100 l. Due to very low volumes the beer Lachout produced here is used mainly for university representation and it is not possible to taste it normally. Besides students education there are brewing courses for public organized in the brewery and also special tasting workshops with certification and other consultations and cooperation with breweries are offered.

Educational activities

The brewery is used for teaching several subjects

• Bachelor theses
• Master theses
• Doctoral theses
• Technological pilot plant training
• Commercial training courses and seminars

Commercial activities

• Brewing courses with practical beer making
• Beer tasting certification and beer sensorial analysis
• Professional consultations and help with technological questions
• Consultations within the investment realization
• Elaboration of technic-technological audit of brewery
• Practical training of brewery workers
• Creation of beer recipes according to requirements
• Beer selling within the university representation

Research activities

• Testing new hop varieties in cooperation with the Hop
• Research Institute Zatec
• Testing new varieties of barley
• Development of new types of beer
• Beer production from unconventional materials
• Study of mycotoxins in malts as a result of the brewing process
• Increasing health-promoting substances from hops in beer
• Production of non-alcoholic beer (continuous production, improving organoleptic properties)
• Silicon in beer
• Development of recipes for special beers
• Optimization of dry hopping technology
• Application of unconventional strains of yeast in brewing
• Optimization of beer oak-ageing
• Automation of microbreweries

Compliance processes and guarantees for the quality of beer from the Lachout UCT Prague Brewery                     

Rudolf Jung - Brewmaster