From malt intake to the Rotterdam barge, one brewery in one model
ZTW-REF-001 is an engineering reference model of HEINEKEN's brewery at Zoeterwoude in the Netherlands, its largest in Europe, built only from public sources. It plays a compressed production run in five minutes: twelve steps, eighteen faults you can switch on and off, and the safety, cyber and logistics consequences of each.
Six published facts the model is built around
Everything else in the model is derived from brewing practice or assumed, and marked as such. These six come from the operator, the regulator or a named partner.
HEINEKEN's largest brewery in Europe, at Burgemeester Smeetsweg 1, Zoeterwoude.
SourceOperator, April 2026A 12 MW electric boiler supplies steam for brewing and packaging.
SourceEneco, 2025Ammonia refrigeration on site; the CO₂ released in fermentation is stored, partly reused in product and partly sold.
SourceRegulator summary, 2024On-site wastewater treatment that produces biogas, used again for energy.
A global R&D centre for beer and brewing next to the brewery.
SourceOperator, 2025About 45,000 containers a year leave by barge through CCT Alpherium for Rotterdam.
Watch a production run, in wire mode
The scene below is a stripped-down visualisation of the twin, not the platform interface. It starts on its own, in wire mode, with the camera moving from step to step: malt intake, the brewhouse on electric steam, horizontal fermentation, CO₂ recovery, lagering on ammonia refrigeration, the can, bottle and keg lines, wastewater and biogas, a cyber intrusion and dispatch to the barge.
Every fault can be switched off and on in the scene's own panel. The simulation is deterministic, so the same switches always give the same run. Drag the timeline to replay a step, or drag the scene to look around; the camera then stops following.
- assets in the register
- 131assets in the register
- interfaces: power, steam, refrigerant, CO₂, product, water, data, safety
- 98interfaces: power, steam, refrigerant, CO₂, product, water, data, safety
- OT network nodes, with placeholder addresses
- 31OT network nodes, with placeholder addresses
- steps in a five-minute run
- 12steps in a five-minute run
- faults you can switch
- 18faults you can switch
- public sources
- 17public sources
Twelve steps, eighteen faults
Each step is a stage of the brewery's day, and each fault starts in the step where it belongs. Severity is the model's own rating.
- S10:00
Site start and utility permissives
Start-up, no fault - S20:16
Malt intake and milling
F01Mill spark detection - S30:40
Mashing and lautering
F02Mash steam valve stuck openF03Lauter ΔP high - S41:06
Wort boiling on electric steam
F04E-boiler protection trip - S51:32
Wort cooling and aeration
F05Ice-water temperature high - S61:50
Horizontal fermentation
F06FV-A07 cooling valve stuckF07CO₂ accumulation in cellar - S72:18
CO₂ recovery and storage
F08CO₂ purity low → ventF09CO₂ tank over-pressure - S82:44
Lagering on NH₃ refrigeration
F10Condenser fan failureF11NH₃ leak in engine room - S93:14
Packaging: can, bottle and keg lines
F12Can seamer faultF13Pasteurizer stoppageF14Palletizer jam - S103:44
Wastewater treatment and biogas
F15Wastewater pH shockF16Biogas surplus → flare - S114:08
Cyber intrusion via packaging OEM access
F17Cyber intrusion via OEM access - S124:34
Dispatch to CCT Alpherium and loss of grid
F18Loss of grid supply
Six zones, laid out to keep hazards and traffic apart
A brewery is not one hall. It is a set of zones with their own rules: dust stays in the dry zone, heat and vapour in the hot zone, and trucks and forklifts stay out of the areas where product is exposed. The model places its subsystems in the same zones.
- 01
Dry raw-material zone
- Typical spaces
- Malt intake, silos, milling.
- Layout intent
- Contain dust and separate from wet and product areas.
- In the model
- RAW Malt intake + milling
- 02
Hot-process zone
- Typical spaces
- Mashing, lautering, boiling.
- Layout intent
- Manage heat, vapour, drainage and maintenance access.
- In the model
- BREW BrewhouseSTEAM E-boiler + steam
- 03
Hygienic cold-process zone
- Typical spaces
- Cooled wort transfer, yeast, cellar, finishing.
- Layout intent
- Protect the product after the hot process.
- In the model
- FERM Fermentation + cellarCO2 CO₂ recoveryREFR NH₃ refrigeration
- 04
Controlled filling zone
- Typical spaces
- Product-contact filling equipment.
- Layout intent
- Limit contamination and unnecessary traffic.
- In the model
- PACK Packaging
- 05
General logistics zone
- Typical spaces
- Packaging stores, warehouses, docks.
- Layout intent
- Keep trucks and forklifts out of controlled process areas.
- In the model
- LOG Warehouse + logisticsEXT External links
- 06
Utility and waste zone
- Typical spaces
- Boiler plant, chemical storage, wastewater.
- Layout intent
- Provide separate service access and hazard controls.
- In the model
- WATER Water + CIPWWTP Wastewater + biogasELEC Electrical
Zones and their intent: Eigenia brewery research. Which subsystems sit in which zone is Eigenia's reading of the model's register.
What a brewery cannot brew without
Beer moves through eleven stages, and every stage leans on utilities that have to be designed with the tanks, not added after them. Each fault in the model breaks one of these links, so you can see what fails next.
The material flow
- 01Ingredients
- 02MillingF01Mill spark detection
- 03Mashing
- 04Wort separationF03Lauter ΔP high
- 05Boiling
- 06Whirlpool
- 07Cooling
- 08Fermentation
- 09Conditioning
- 10PackagingF12Can seamer faultF13Pasteurizer stoppageF14Palletizer jam
- 11Storage and dispatch
Eight utility systems
Brewing and service water
A dependable potable supply, treated for the source water and the beer specification, with storage, flow and pressure.
No fault in this runProcess heat
Heat for mashing, boiling, hot water and cleaning: steam, direct or electric. Here, the 12 MW e-boiler.
F02Mash steam valve stuck openF04E-boiler protection tripRefrigeration
Chilling and cooling distribution for wort cooling, fermentation, conditioning and cold storage. Here, ammonia.
F05Ice-water temperature highF06FV-A07 cooling valve stuckF10Condenser fan failureF11NH₃ leak in engine roomElectrical supply
Capacity for electric heating, refrigeration, pumps, grain handling, packaging and controls.
F18Loss of grid supplyCompressed air
Air for pneumatic equipment and packaging machinery, at a quality that matches its use.
No fault in this runCarbon dioxide
CO₂ of the right quality for carbonation and process use. It is an ingredient, a by-product and a hazard.
F07CO₂ accumulation in cellarF08CO₂ purity low → ventF09CO₂ tank over-pressureCleaning and sanitation
Clean-in-place equipment, chemical storage and dosing, washdown provisions and sanitary piping.
No fault in this runDrainage and wastewater
Process drains and a permitted wastewater route; here, on-site treatment with biogas.
F15Wastewater pH shockF16Biogas surplus → flare
CO₂ is the quiet hazard
Fermentation makes CO₂, and it collects in enclosed and low-lying spaces. Smell is not a reliable warning, so gas monitoring and ventilation belong in the building, not only in the procedures. In the run, fault F07 fills the cellar with CO₂ during fermentation.
The one fault that crosses every zone
F17 starts at the packaging line's remote-access router. A vendor session from an unusual network reaches the DMZ jump host without a work order, moves on to the engineering workstation and writes to the packaging and utility controllers. In the model the writes are rejected: the pasteurisation and ammonia suction setpoints are refused, the vendor conduit is blocked at the DMZ firewall and the site runs on local control.
MITRE ATT&CK for ICS
- T0822 External Remote Services
- T0886 Remote Services
- T0855 Unauthorized Command Message
- T0836 Modify Parameter
Simulated, generic behaviour of the reference design. It describes no actual HEINEKEN system.
Requirements: Eigenia brewery research, drawing on Brewers Association guidance and HEINEKEN public information. The pairing of faults to stages and utilities is Eigenia's.
The supply chain the twin has to see
A brewery stops when its malt, cans, glass, CO₂ or barge slot does not arrive, long before anything inside the fence breaks. HEINEKEN does not publish its supplier list or lane volumes, so the chain below is reconstructed from public records and graded by evidence.
- breweries, malteries and other facilities
- 180+breweries, malteries and other facilities
- countries with facilities
- 70+countries with facilities
- direct suppliers
- 35,000+direct suppliers
- supplier countries
- ~140supplier countries
- 01
Farm
Barley from Europe, the UK, Scandinavia and beyond; hops; rice, cassava and sorghum in Africa.
- 02
Maltsters
Malt houses turn barley into malt. HEINEKEN names no tier-1 suppliers, so named links come from supplier releases and trade press.
- 03
Packaging
Cans, glass bottles and steel kegs. Non-returnable packaging is half of variable cost.
- 04
Brewery
ZTW-REF-001: brewing, packaging, utilities and wastewater in one model.
- 05
Export lanes
Truck, barge and deep-sea container lines to more than 80 countries.
- 06
Distribution and retail
Distribution centres, wholesalers, retail and on-trade.
One corridor carries the export
- Zoeterwoude brewery
- 13 km by truck
- CCT Alpherium, Alphen aan den Rijn
- 85 km by barge
- Rotterdam deep-sea terminals
- More than 80 countries
A lock closure, terminal strike or low water on this corridor would move up to about 45,000 containers a year onto the road. Road is the only documented fallback, and no source quantifies spare trucking capacity. In the run, step 12 dispatches to CCT Alpherium and then loses the grid.
Where the money moves
HEINEKEN group variable cost, first half of 2026: €5,323m. Packaging outweighs freight about three to one, so a can or glass shock bites the margin harder, and a freight shock bites service faster.
- Non-returnable packaging€2,725m · 51.2%
- Raw materials€1,362m · 25.6%
- Transport€902m · 16.9%
- Energy and water€371m · 7%
Shocks already on the record
Corridor interruption
In the run S12The Zoeterwoude to Rotterdam lane is one inland-water path with two barge systems. A lock, terminal or water-level problem diverts it to road. Rated medium likelihood, high impact.
Labour action at the Dutch breweries
January 2022: production halted at Zoeterwoude and Den Bosch, supply held by stocks. Strikes again in November and December 2024, and a three-hour stoppage on 7 September 2026.
Rhine record low water
August to October 2026: the Kaub gauge fell to its lowest level since records began in 1880 and barge freight rose about five-fold. A market-wide shock; no HEINEKEN statement.
One control tower for Europe
A shared-service centre in Kraków plans almost all of HEINEKEN's outbound transport in Europe. No source documents a failover design.
Cyber attack on a peer
In the run S11In March 2024 a cyber attack halted production at Duvel's Belgian and US sites for several days. The sources show no operational disruption at HEINEKEN.
Evidence labels follow the source map: P, the company or a named supplier; T, trade press; A, aggregator. Risk ratings are analyst judgement in that map, not HEINEKEN disclosures.
What this model is, and what it is not
ZTW-REF-001 is an executable engineering reference model. It is not an as-built replica, a digital shadow or a synchronised twin, and it does not replace HEINEKEN's controlled documentation. Geometry is assumed and behaviour is simulated.
Assets by evidence class
- 15Published: operator, regulator or named partner
- 61Derived: from brewing practice and standards
- 55Assumed: geometry, quantities, routes, added records
Unknown, and marked as unknown
Equipment makers and models, capacities, line speeds, setpoints, routes, protection settings, network addresses, safety integrity levels, maintenance intervals and control logic.
Even the brewery's annual capacity is not on the record: published figures range from 3.5 to 13.5 million hectolitres, and none is an official current number. The model does not pick one.
What turns it into your twin
- 01A controlled plot plan, building drawings and a laser scan.
- 02Current PFDs, P&IDs and utility balances.
- 03Electrical one-lines and protection studies.
- 04An OT asset inventory and approved network diagrams.
- 05Alarm philosophy, cause-and-effect charts and safety requirements.
Asset IDs are persistent, so controlled CAD, P&IDs, historian tags and maintenance records replace the reference content without breaking an interface or a simulation binding.
Eigenia is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Heineken N.V. or any of its group companies. The model is built from public information only.
HEINEKEN and the other names used here are trademarks of their respective owners, used only to identify the public sources.
See your own brewery run before anything in it changes
We build the same model from your drawings, registers and network data, then attack the model so the plant never has to find out. Book a walkthrough and we reply within one business day.
This Site Uses No Cookies
Eigenia does not set cookies. The only thing stored in your browser is one preference, saved in local storage, noting that you have seen this notice.