Anheuser Busch - InBev

InBev is one of the world’s largest brewers and has four facilities in Brussels. We went to the brasserie produces the Stella Artois brand. We learned about how the beer is made from the ingredients to the brewing, fermenting, and bottling. It was fascinating to learn about the checks involved that ensure clean, quality processing of the beer. The company takes measures to make sure every can or bottle of beer is exactly the same. Our guide talked about the possibility of losing face with the world because of a mistake with even one bottle of beer.

As for the process of making the beer, barley is used for Stella Artois. The boiling process takes hours, and then large tanks are filled and the beer is allowed to ferment for one to two weeks. There are 72 tanks, and each holds 650 hectaliters, or 65,000 liters. They are huge cylinders 59 feet high and 24 feet in diameter. As I looked at these enormous tanks and pondered on the large number of them, it I was impressed by the investment that went in to building the facility. Before an ounce of beer could be produced, the entire plant had to be clean, complete, and working perfectly. At the bottling facility, recycled and new bottles are cleaned three times and then filled. Many measuring checks follow to ensure that each bottle is clean and that each bottle has the right amount of product. If a can or bottle does not measure up, an arm ejects it from the line.

The process is impressively clean and efficient. What intrigued me most is that the beer business could be considered “sinful,” yet the innovations this company has made in quality assurance technology are great examples for other food producers. What more, the company recycles and sells the byproducts of its processes so that most of it is reused rather than disposed as waste. The level of efficiency and quality assurance this company carries is astounding.