Page 15 - Beverage Master February March 2020

Craft Beverage

them to do,” said Doug Ernenwein, Sales Manager Technical support is always important when pur-
for DK Advanced Technologies. “Most new craft chasing new machinery, and it’s also a major com-
brewers operate on a small budget, but they still ponent of controlling downtime. When it’s needed,
want and need the ability to get in on new trends it’s usually needed right now.
without having to spend thousands of dollars on a
new setup. One minute, cans are popular, next it’s “Ours is unmatched,” said Jordan Wood,
bottled, then it’s specific closures to match the dif- Technician at DK Advanced Technologies. “Every
ferent styles of beer that they brew, so versatility purchase includes a full machine manual and a
is essential. A packaging system should support all short, eight-and-a-half-minute video to help com-
sizes of bottles or cans and offer smooth bottling or plete your setup. For additional support, you’ll get
canning transfers with minimal setup, configuration our company phone number that a live person will
and maintenance requirements.” answer, along with my number, and our engineer’s
number. We are open to conversations by text,
That’s why the team at DK Advanced Technologies message, conference call, email and face time.
is passionate about their MicroBottler system. We take the time to solve your problem, 24 hours
Having initially built the MicroBottler for their pri- a day. Our machines are very user-friendly, with
vate use and using it for three years before making setup and system changes able to be accomplished
it available to with only five tools to match the packaging job at
the public, they hand.”
know it fills
the needs for Specialty Brews And Bottles
craft breweries Are The Perfect Combo
requiring up
to a 600 bot- “We’re seeing bottles used mostly for special-
tle per hour ized packaging,” said Andrew Ferguson, Product
system. It’s on Manager for Wild Goose Canning - Meheen
wheels for easy Manufacturing in Louisville, Colorado. “The need
maneuverabili- is still there. Craft brewers have to compete with
ty and compact national and international beers for shelf space.
enough to maneuver through a standard door- It’s sometimes easier to get that space in the warm
frame. To get up and running, you need an opera- storage areas using the popular 22 to 24-ounce
tor, a standard 110-volt power supply and access to bottles. Both glass and alumapak bottles are a great
compressed air and CO supplies. Without changing choice and work for water, wine, mixed drinks,
2
the original footprint of the machine, operators can kombucha and even cannabis mixes. Alumapak
use modular options to fill bottles ranging from six bottles are filled on the same bottling machinery
to twenty-five ounces with enclosures ranging from as the glass bottles, just requiring a different cap
corking, caging, capping, screw tops, or anything enclosure.”
in between. The MicroBottler bottles carbonated
or non-carbonated beverages directly from your Meheen is a bottling technologies company that
bright tank, keg or vat, easily changing midstream prides itself on helping craft breweries deliver
if you want to package a batch of your craft beer in quality, consistent, packaged craft beer. They have
multiple ways. become intensely focused on the filling technology
of packaging, working with strategic partners equal-
“The machine is built and engineered in-house ly focused on the other integral parts of the bot-
to your specifications at our New York facili- tling system to fully outfit breweries to their unique
ty,” said Scott Lufkin, Engineer at DK Advanced specifications. With the help of these strategic part-
Technologies. “Right out of the box, it’s fundamen- ners, Meheen provides end to end lines for bottling
tally set up and assembled containing additional and packaging.
spare parts to replace those that are most needed
or misplaced to minimize downtime. Parts that “Meheen bottling units are very responsive and
wear the most like O-rings and gaskets are stan- easy to use,” said Ferguson. “We’ve traditionally
dard, off the shelf components that the buyer can sold two, four or six head fillers as standalone units
obtain directly from the manufacturer, saving time based on the brewery’s fill rate and bottle format.
and money.” With our updated bottle filling systems, we now
can provide all of those format styles for use on

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