Page 17 - Beverage Master February March 2020

Craft Beverage

from their keg or brite tank, our XpressFill systems an easy to use and maintain bottling or canning sys-
are a perfect choice.” tem that serves your present needs.”

The lightweight XpressFill system is a craft brew- Reliability, Speed & Innovation
er’s dream, designed as a plug-and-play tabletop
unit that needs only electricity, air and CO sup- Krones AG is the world’s leading manufacturer of
2
plies to start filling bottles or cans using either a filling and packaging technology and is common-
two or four head filler. XpressFill systems are sold place in many global sized breweries. They remain
worldwide and focused on keeping energy consumption low while
are routinely offering efficient resource utilization. The Krones
engineered system can be found in many popular breweries
specifically for regardless of size.
each custom-
er’s packaging “We’ve had our current Krones line for over a
and business decade, and plan on upgrading our packing equip-
needs. ment, cleaning stations and inspecting and con-
veying operation this upcoming March,” said Dick
“We do cus- Leinenkugel, President of Leinenkugel Brewing
tomizations all Company. “Our brewery workers manage, monitor,
the time,” said change or control our processes using available
Kingsbury. “We screens and PLC logic. It’s user-friendly with addi-
tweak our machines in house to match brewery tional access to some functions by smartphone,
specifications whether it’s for different sized bot- laptop or tablet when needed. The training is pretty
tles or cans, including crowlers. The finishing setup straightforward including both vendor and equip-
is as easy and straightforward as possible, but we ment manufacturer led classroom sessions and on
are available by phone to help or just for additional the job training,”
information. There are also YouTube videos, photos
and manuals available. Honestly, the hardest part Leinenkugel told Beverage Master Magazine
of the setup is finding your beer’s unique balance that although technical support is always import-
regarding the pressures that it can handle. You ant, they use Reliability Centered Maintenance as
have to know your beers and how much pressure their approach to defining maintenance tasks and
they need and can tolerate for proper filling. That frequency intervals. “We currently run traditional
balance is always dependent on the product, the 12-ounce, long neck, no-return bottles at a rate of
environment, working conditions and bottling tem- 475 bottles per minute for both 12 and 24 packs, so
peratures. It’s different in every situation.” we do have consumable or high wear parts readily
available,” said Leinenkugel. “Then we use preven-
Kingsbury tells Beverage Master Magazine that tive or predictive tools to help us plan repairs or
they are always working on simplifying the meth- replacement tasks and retain the needed technical
ods needed to verify and maintain proper filling support to get those accomplished.”
measurements, including improvements in weigh-
ing systems. “It’s easy to see the filler results while “The main thing when looking at bottling systems
bottling because you can see through the glass,” is to involve your brewery workers upfront in the
said Kingsbury. “But when canning your beer, it’s design function,” said Leinenkugel. “Safety and
not so easy. You have to rely on your measuring ease of cleaning are important and welcomed. Look
systems and physical checks after the product is for reliable, simple and robust equipment that is
packaged.” easy to be trained on, use and maintain. Seek out
manufacturers that design out waste and overpro-
“Craft brewers are usually budget and space-ori- duction and design in energy efficiency to lower
ented, so you should start small and step up as overall operating costs. In the end, your system
needed,” said Kingsbury. “Recognize your place depends on your unique situation.”
in your local craft brewing industry and proceed
accordingly. You may have really big plans for the Abita Brewing Company has used a Krones bot-
future, and that’s great, but it’s always best to tling line for over eight years. They currently run
manage your money wisely and cautiously. Design 400 bottles or cans per minute and are planning a
your system conservatively by focusing on getting new addition using manufacturers Garvey, Omni,

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