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Craft brewing—quick hits

As anyone who attended the recent Craft Brewers Conference can readily attest, craft brewing is a happening scene. Here’s a glimpse at developments now unfolding.

Sly Fox Brewery
Sly Fox Brewery

Volumetric flow meter comes to craft
Sly Fox Brewery of Phoenixville, PA, was at a stage of its can-filling development where 60 cans/min just wasn’t cutting it. From 80 to 200 was what the firm needed, but until recently it was challenging to find a filler/seamer designed for anything less than 300/min in mind. Then came the introduction of the Craftmate from Krones—large-scale brewery technology for the craft brewer. Sly Fox was among the earliest to install it, and now the firm has the can filler and seamer it’s been looking for.

According to Sly Fox Brewmaster Brian O’Reilly, it’s not just the scaled-down size of the filler/seamer that floats his boat. “We believe that a volumetric filler is much better than the fill-tube filler we’ve been using when it comes to accurate fill levels, especially when you’re filling a container like a can with such a wide opening,” says O’Reilly. “Now there’s finally a volumetric filler that matches our volume requirements.”

Equipped with 24 filling nozzles, the Krones system features exact determination of the filling quantity by means of inductive flow meter. It also adheres to the highest standards to minimize oxygen pickup. The system includes a four-head seamer from Ferrum. Sly Fox is running at about 170 cans/min.

“It’s an exciting time to be in craft brewing, especially now that the equipment suppliers are building equipment that matches our scale,” says O’Reilly.

Labels to the rescue
Sometimes craft brewers have difficulty sourcing aluminum cans because they can’t meet the can makers’ minimum order requirements. One solution to this dilemma is for the brewer to order bright stock cans and then differentiate various SKUs by way of labels.

Cans sporting labels were in evidence at the Craft Brewers Conference, and a good example was Slanted Porch Ale from Holy City Brewery of Charleston, SC. The label in this case was a flexo-printed biaxially oriented polypropylene from Century Label. The same label applicator, a Model 700VS from In-line Labeling Equipment, that the brewery used to use for its bottled products is now used for cans.

Another approach to can labeling is the shrink sleeve route taken by Verst Group Logistics. Verst allows craft brewers to purchase cans for smaller runs by housing an available inventory of bright stock aluminum at all times. This also eliminates the need for brewers to warehouse and manage their own excess inventory. Shrink sleeve technology and longstanding relationships with multiple label printers make Verst a viable partner for can decoration. The firm’s new on-site Fuji Seal 415 applicator runs at speeds to 600 cans/min.

Among craft brewers that are taking advantage of this service is Red Hare Brewing Co. of Marietta, GA. Its 16-oz cans of Gangway IPA with full-body shrink sleeve label were made available at the Atlanta Braves’ Turner Field Home Opener. According to brewery owner Roger Davis, the beer distributor in charge of the ballpark wanted only 16-oz cans at the park. Red Hare, at the time, only produced 12-oz cans. So the brewery had to scramble to get a 16-oz can in time. “I think it was four weeks from art to can delivery here at our facility,” says Davis. He believes sourcing cans this way will continue to make sense for plenty of channels other than Turner Field.

“Craft brewers are constantly innovating, because the variety factor is among the things that drive craft brewing in the first place,” says Davis. “But we can’t possibly order printed cans in sufficient quantities for all those SKUs, especially when minimum order quantities are 200,000. That’s where this Verst approach makes so much sense. Being able to react quickly to bring new brands to market is key for the craft brewer. Verst makes it happen.”

Cartoner expands brewer’s reach
To meet the high demand for canned craft beer, Summit Brewing Co. of St. Paul, MN, chose the compact, economical, and efficient Vantra IM cartoner from Douglas Machine. The Vantra IM expands the brewery’s offering to include 12-, 24-, and 30-pack cartons of cans at speeds to 50 cartons/min.

Tom Thomasser, Chief Operations Officer of Summit Brewing Co., says, “I’ve bought and installed every piece of machinery in this brewery, and this was by far the best startup I’ve ever been through. Our efficiencies exceeded expectations from day one.”

Pale Ale in aluminum bottle
Phillipsburg Brewing Co. of Phillipsburg, MT, recently put one of its most popular beers, Tramway Rye Pale Ale, in Alumi-Tek® reclosable bottles from Ball Corp.

“Montanans spend much of our time outside,” says the brewery’s Sales and Marketing Manager Maddy Mason. “We chose Ball’s Alumi-Tek bottle because we want to make sure that the beer ends up in your mouth and not in your boat! The smooth pour and distinctive look and shape of Alumi-Tek offers a premium drinking experience to our fans, and a look that makes our beer stand out on retail shelves in a growing craft beer market.”

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