Abstract: The invention relates to a process for the pasteurization of liquid contained in containers, such as beer in bottles or cans, in a tunnel pasteurizer comprising at least a pre-heating zone (1), a pre-pasteurization zone (2), a pasteurization zone (3) and a cooling zone (4), each zone comprising a plurality of sprayers (11, 12, 13, 14), containers being heated up and cooled down through spraying with water which is received in a plurality of separate receiving means (7, 8, 9, 10), the containers in a cooling zone being sprayed with water received in a pre-heating zone. The process is characterized in that during the normal, continuous feed-through of the containers through the pasteurizer, the supply of water to the sprayers in the pasteurization zone is prevented.