“We
are in the first phase so the 14.2 hectares that we have planted along with the
20-root-tonne factory that is being installed as we speak, we would have spent
for this first pilot about US$1.6 million”
Red Stripe's Managing
Director Cedric Blair comments at the lease-signing agreement with the
Agro-Invest Corporation yesterday for some for an additional land at Wallen, St
Catherine
Red
Stripe is putting in place those plans it formulated in 2014 to use Cassava (Manihot esculenta)
to replace imported Hops from
Barley and Wheat in the production of Red Stripe Beer.
This
as they have just broken ground for a Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Starch Processing plant
worth some US$800,000 ($92 million) as stated in the article “Cassava
closer to beer-ing fruit, published Wednesday”, March 11, 2015 BY KARENA BENNETT Business reporter,
The Jamaican Observer.
Red Stripe plan to supply the plant with Cassava
(Manihot esculenta) grown on its own
plantations as well as by young farmers, and according to Red Stripe's Managing
Director Cedric Blair the Cassava Processing Plant will be up by April 2015 according
to Red Stripe's Managing Director Cedric Blair, quote: “Once we have the plant
up and running by the end of April, we are going to train an additional 30
young adults to work on the farm in Wallen. Most of those young adults will
come from the neighbouring communities”.
The 250 square metres US$800,000 ($92 million)
has a rated capacity of 20 tons. It would be interesting to see this plant in
action.
Red Stripe and Cassava – Hops from Wheat and Barley to be
replaced by Cassava
Guess
they not so hype on the Sorrel Beer idea as I’d suggested in my blog article
entitled “Red
Stripe's Sorrel Beer - Opens up the Possibility of a Jamaican Fruit Tree of
Beer Flavours”. But the plan to replace Barley in the production of Red
Stripe Beer moves forward.
Long
term, the plan is to reduce the importation of 40% of HFCS (High Fructose corn Syrup) and 60% of Hops from
Barley and Wheat in an investment of over US$10 million over the next five (5)
years as noted in my blog article
entitled “US$10
million Red Stripe’s Project Grow for African Exports – 2,400 Cassava Farmers
for Beer, Bread, Wine and HFCS from Sorghum in Five years”.
In the short
term, however they’re gunning for 5% of the imported Hops from Barley and Wheat
being replaced by Cassava (Manihot esculenta). Already they’ve
signed a lease agreement to use 250 acres of land at Wallen, St Catherine,
making it a grand total of 286 acres (115.74 hectares) of Cassava (Manihot esculenta) farmland under production.
In the next five (5) years, Red Stripe hopes to have some
2000 acres (809.38 hectares), a figure that may easily reach 7000 acres (2832 hectares)
if they wish to totally replace Hops from Barley and Wheat. The US$800,000 ($92
million) covers about 250 square metres of floor space and can process Cassava (Manihot esculenta) as follows:
1.
1.25 acres of land in a
day
2.
300 acres per year
Ok,
so how does this Cassava Processing Plant work?
Processing Cassava for
Beer Production – From Cassava Tubers to Cassava Starch
During
a tour of the 6 acres (14.6 hectares) Bernard Lodge farm by the Jamaican Observer, they gave a fairly accurate report of what appears to be the mechanism by which Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is made into Hops from Barley and Wheat.
First
thing to know is that Cassava (Manihot esculenta) takes nine (9) months to reach full
maturity. Once it reaches that level, it is mechanically harvested, with the
stick portion being returned to the fields for replanting. Once harvested the Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Tuber is weighted and placed in a storage silo.
Then
the time is right, they begin the process of converting Cassava (Manihot esculenta) into Hops.
The
first stage involves the washing of the Cassava (Manihot esculenta) in a mechanical
agitator filled with water. It is then peeled mechanically using a Mechanical
grater that strips off the outer skin in a manner similar to how potatoes are
peeled using a toilet brush and a drill as demonstrated in my MICO Wars blog article
entitled “The
Fastest Way to Peel Apples and Potatoes using a Power Drill”.
Then
the Cassava (Manihot esculenta), now fully peeled, is then place through
a stage where it is masticated and force through a series of hydro sieves in a
bid to separate the Starch from the binding organic parts of the Cassava (Manihot esculenta).
This causes the Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Starch, which is insoluble and floats in water, to precipitate out of the mixture, floating at the top of the tank that has the hydro sieves.
The
product, Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Starch, is then dried, and a mechanical
sieve use to separate the coarse clumps of Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Starch
into a finer granular powder.
A
centrifuge, called a cyclone is then use to spin dry the Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Starch.
Finally,
after centrifugation in the cyclone, it's then scraped off and placed on a
conveyor belt where it passes over a dry steam bath, converting the still lumpy
Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Starch to a more powdered form by drying
it using the Dry Steam.
It
is this powder, dried Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Starch, which will act as a substitute
for hops from Barley and Wheat in the production of Red Stripe Beer by the end
of 2015.
If
Red Stripe holds another staging of the Reds Stripe Beer Festival as described
in my blog
article entitled “Red
Stripe Beer Festival in the Middle of May 2014 a success – Beer Festival an
Annual Event to stave off Sweet Palcohol” , then the general public will
have a relatively smooth introduction to beer made with Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Starch as a replacement for Hops from Barley and Wheat.
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