It begins with bottling. It ends with your customer relishing a mouthwatering beverage.
Which raises the obvious question: “If I’m going to get a bottle filling machine, what should I look out for?” There are, after all, plenty of bottle filling machines on the market and finding the One could get tricky.
For your viewing pleasure: what’s important in a bottle filling machine (and how you can use this information to find the perfect filler for your brewery).
There’s only so much space to go around. Some beer bottle filling machines are large and just a touch cumbersome. Any bottle filling machine will take up valuable floor space that could be used for other purposes (say, for storage or greater employee mobility), but the key is to purchase a filling machine that is compact while not sacrificing effectiveness. As long as speed and quality of filling is not lost, smaller is better. Which leads us to the next point…
Quality of fill. You want a bottle filling machine that produces consistent results. But you want more than that: it’s essential that the bottle filling machine yields maximum quality of product. That means a minimal loss of CO2 and next-to-no loss of product. This can only be ensured by first-rate bottle pre-evacuation (that’s code for: the bottle is snuggly nudged against the filler valve and is made airtight), appropriately sized fill tubes, and finely controlled pressure sensing. If you’re considering purchasing a given bottle filling machine, check out these key characteristics.
A bottle filling machine is not a Rolex watch – how’s the filling machine powered? Nobody wants high overhead costs for maintaining a bottle filling machine. There are plenty of bottle filling machines out there that are chock-full of intricate motors, bearings, and gearings. That’s just a bit antiquated, and these moving parts can suffer wear and tear – which means you'll have to devote funds to maintaining the machine. A better solution? Pneumatic power for long-lasting durability and reliability. Cut the maintenance costs by going this route.
How fast does it fill bottles? The more bottles it fills in a given span of time, the better. You'll definitely want to look into – and compare – fill-rates when considering any given bottle filling machine.
What perks does the filling machine come along with? You have your eyes on a bottle filling machine. Is it easy to control? Or will that be just a bit of a hassle? Fortunately, some bottle filling machines are rigged with a highly visual, easy-to-understand screen that lets you monitor the pressure, fill rate, the CO2 pulse, and so on. And if you can manage all of this with a simple button, that’s a plus. Oh, and if it’s got touchscreen capability, that’s an even bigger plus. It makes everything so much easier, after all.
Obviously, there’s a lot that goes into planning for a bottle filling machine. But choosing the right one – the filling machine that will maximize quality and sales – doesn’t have to give you a headache.
