That's Not Clean! Establishing a Baseline for Your Equipment

When you ask most professional brewers about what they do the most, the vast majority will answer cleaning. Despite this fact, during my many years of working with breweries of all sizes I frequently come across the phenomena where a baseline of clean for some brewers reveals that they have only ever known a dirty tank or other equipment as their baseline and call it clean.

But if we have never seen the equipment or tank truly clean, how do we establish a true baseline? How do we define what clean is? When and how do we know our equipment is truly clean? How do we identify the first indications that our equipment is not clean? What should we consider before problems develop? What are the possible implications if we ignore the problems or simply do not have the expertise or training to identify them?

This presentation will answer those questions and more.

Born and raised in Cologne, Germany, Dirk graduated in Cologne with a degree in business administration. After working several years for a BASF subsidiary, he joined the Loeffler family business, where he worked in sales, technical services and research and development. In 1992, Dirk came to the United States to lay the groundwork for the US operations of Loeffler which led to the incorporation of Loeffler Chemical Corporation in 1994. Until 2019, Dirk served as the CEO and Technical Director for Loeffler Chemical Corporation. After the company merged in 2019, Dirk took a sabbatical and focused on teaching and enjoying some time with his family. In 2024, Dirk founded SEKA Chemicals together with his wife Alexis.

As the Executive Vice President of Technical Operations and Sales he continues to develop new products and process technologies for breweries and distilleries. Dirk lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Alexis and their twin boys Kai and Sebastian. Dirk has been an active member of the Master Brewers Association since 1992 and currently serves as the President for the MBAA Districts Mid-South and Georgia. Dirk is also an active member of the Brewers Association since 1993 and serves on the Board of the German School of Atlanta as Vice President and Safety Officer.

Huge thanks to Small Batch Standard + InTouch Labels

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