Breweries tend to sell their products in a range of different packaging options. With the demand for craft beer, particularly from local breweries and micro-breweries, the demand for kegs is on the rise.
Small to mid-sized breweries can add beer in kegs to their vendors by the addition of a keg cleaner and filling system. By investing in a quality product, breweries will see a top return on investment as they increase sales and potentially bring in a new customer base for their products.
Features to Consider
All models of keg cleaner and filling systems are slightly different. It can be easy to get caught up in the features and miss the most important elements of the equipment for your specific brewery.
Ideally, it will be essential to verify the cleaning capabilities in the keg cleaner and filling system. Poorly cleaned kegs will not only create differences in the final quality of the brew when tapped, but it will impact branding and marketing efforts.
Look for systems with multiple washing heads for high capacity production. For smaller production requirements, a one to one cleaning to filling head configuration is often the most efficient and cost-effective options. Typically, these systems will offer a pre-purge with CO2 followed by a water rinse and a steam sanitization process or the use of a chemical sanitizer. These cycles are automatic, eliminating any inconsistency in cleaning through manual operations.
In addition to cleaning, the system should also incorporate the latest in technology for filling. Look for filling accuracy combined with the capacity of the keg filler to accommodate different sizes and shapes of kegs.
Simplicity in operation is also a plus. This is equipment which will be used for years, and finding a user-friendly keg filling and cleaning system should be a priority for any brewery.
