Innovations These Breweries are Planning to Ease Some Canning Day Woes

In an ongoing series, Brewer will take a small note from interviews of some of the Fundamental stories it has run in print and give a small tidbit that didn’t make the issue but is still worth diving into. “Decisions to Ponder When Upping Canning Load” appears in the September/October issue of Brewer.

Although they may be hard to nail down all the time and have enough in stock to do it, cans and the ability to get packaged product out to consumers has become even more key for breweries that may have relied on taproom sales to continue a consistent operation.

So looking ahead to the future either putting the money down on a canning line for in-house or having the space to bring in a mobile canner can be key. In a recent issue of Brewer, we talked with multiple breweries and canning line manufacturers and mobile canners about what is important to look for when either upgrading from their own experiences and current situations and how they plan to improve the process.

Whether inside or outside the can, innovations can be added to improve quality and aesthetic appeal.

Inside-the-can innovations

NOLA Brewing is adding a Ska Fab Can-I-Bus Depalletizer with Double Barrel Twist Rinse, which Jaime Oquendo, the Director of Facilities & Quality Assurance said automates the depalletizing of the pallet of empty cans and rinses the inside of the cans by turning them upside down, spraying them with sanitary water, and turning them right side up again.

“The twist rinse also uses a sliding mechanism to shift between detachable cleaning tracks for 12oz and 16oz cans,” he said. “We also have a third track we can swap in for 19.2oz cans. Then we have an electric can labeler from Pack Leader for all of our seasonal and one-off canned beers, and we can also use it to label bottles when needed.”

Boomstick Brewing has been building a lab and Mike Wayne shared with Brewer because as the Newfoundland brewery was still in its rookie year he is most excited to get a CBox from Anton Paar.

“Studying my oxygen is the next step for me to improve my quality management,” he said.

A wishlist for the future at SanTan is a liquid nitrogen doser and an accumulation table.

“The liquid nitrogen doser allows for canning of non-carbonated or low-carbonated beverages,” said Gabe Wilson of SanTan. “The accumulation table helps the filling line to continue running despite any slowdowns at the end of the line.”