The Challenge
The Establishment Brewing Company experienced rapid growth after being named Canadian Brewery of the Year in 2021. This growth presented operational challenges, especially around their packaging process:
-
High Costs of Mobile Canning: Weekly mobile canning runs cost the brewery $1,500 per session. These costs quickly added up and limited their ability to optimize margins and reinvest in their growth.
-
Product Loss Due to Carbonation Issues: The brewery's Belgian-style beers, known for their delicate and high-carbonation profiles, faced significant product losses during mobile canning, leading to breakout and wasted product.
-
Sanitation Concerns for Sour Beers: With an active sour beer program, they were concerned about contamination risks. Wild yeast strains used in sour beer production require stringent sanitation standards, which mobile canners struggled to meet.
-
Tight Space Constraints: The brewery’s production area had low ceilings and limited floor space, making it difficult to incorporate a high-capacity packaging system.
The Solution
The Establishment collaborated with Cask to bring their packaging line in-house and overcome their unique challenges:
Cask's atmospheric filler is uniquely able to control higher carbonation while keeping product loss below 1%. 🔗 Read the Full Data Lab on High Carbonation
-
Superior Sanitation for Sour Beers: The system’s food-grade stainless steel and Clean in Place (CIP) procedures, including caustic and peracetic acid cleaning at pasteurization temperatures (145°F for 30 minutes), ensured a contamination-free environment. This gave the brewery confidence to package sour beers without risking cross-contamination.
-
Flexibility and Scalability: With quick-connect fill heads, the system allows a complete filling line swap in minutes, ensuring flexibility for different beer styles.
-
Custom Layout for Tight Spaces: The team worked with Cask to customize a turnkey solution with a 50 CPM system, including a Labeller and Half-Height Depalletizer to fit the brewery’s low ceilings and tight production space, while leaving room for future growth.
The Results
By bringing packaging in-house with Cask’s innovative equipment, The Establishment Brewing Company transformed their operations. They drastically reduced costs, enabling reinvestment into growth, while achieving unparalleled control over foam and carbonation for their diverse beer styles, including high-carbonation Belgians. The system’s robust CIP capabilities ensured safe packaging for their sour beer program, eliminating contamination risks. With a customized layout that fit their tight space, The Establishment optimized their production capacity and positioned themselves for scalable growth—all without compromising quality.
