Cask Brewing Systems Kit Powers Increased Sales, Production Growth, Exporting and New Line of Seasonal Canned Beers
(London, England) – London’s Fourpure Brewing is reaping hearty rewards for its move to aluminum cans and Cask Brewing Systems micro-canning equipment.
The UK brewer has now placed all of its core beer in 330ml cans. Fourpure has also just delivered a new range of 330ml seasonal canned beers (including a new Skyliner American Wheat) to its UK retailers.
“We’re having great success with our canned beers and our Cask machinery,” says Fourpure director Daniel Lowe. “Our core beers are all in cans now and selling very well. Our new seasonal cans have also been very popular. The demand for them is high enough that we can put them into properly decorated cans and sell all of the minimum printed can runs the can manufacturers need.”
Fourpure has also launched a summer Dry Hop Pils in a 500ml can that Lowe thinks is the first London craft beer in a famed “tall boy” can.
This new activity is requiring heavy amounts of work from Fourpure’s ACS (Automatic Canning System) machine from Cask Brewing Systems.
“We’re running the machine two shifts per day, 4 days per week,” Lowe says, “and it’s doing a splendid job for us. We’re forecasting to do about 3 million cans this year, and putting around 10,000hl of beer through the Cask line.”
The Cask machine and aluminum cans are allowing Fourpure to expand its production and its geographic reach. The brewery is now sending its beer to its first export markets.
“We now have beers traveling far and wide, from Sweden to Singapore,” Lowe says proudly. “We made the move to cans with exporting in mind,” he adds. “Their size and light weight — 13 grams per container vs 237g per glass bottle — mean we can get 108 trays of cans on a pallet instead of 60 cases of bottles. So it’s much more efficient for us to ship beer around the world with cans.”
Cask founder Peter Love is thrilled by Fourpure’s success, but not surprised by it.
“Daniel and his staff took a risk of sorts by ignoring the status quo and shifting to cans,” Love says. “But they understood the wisdom of taking that risk. Like us, they’ve seen the success and growth that cans and our gear have provided to breweries who utilize them.”
In the US where Cask launched its microcanning revolution in 2002, sales of US canned sixpacks in 2014 were up 97% compared to 14% growth of bottles.
“Canned craft beer is the hottest craft beer package in North America,” says Cask founder Peter Love. “That is going to be the case in many more places as brewers and consumers learn about the pluses of canned craft beer. We’re seeing it everywhere we place a machine.”
“Our canning machines give small brewers an affordable, small-scale way to package their beer,” Love says. “They also allow craft brewers to put their beer in a package that’s portable, infinitely recyclable and gives their beer the ultimate protection from light and oxygen. Those benefits are hard for brewers to resist.”
Cask invented the canned craft beer concept.
In 1999, Cask placed its first micro-canning systems in brew-on-premise establishments in Canada and Australia. In 2002 Cask sold its first tabletop machine (which seamed one can at a time) to a US craft brewer, Oskar Blues Brewery & Pub in Colorado, USA. The tiny brewpub’s cans-only focus made it a fast-growing success, growing from 700 barrels/year to over 149,000 barrels/year in 12 years.
Cask’s machines are especially affordable and compact, requiring as little as 16 square feet of space. They also provide an extremely low level of dissolved oxygen (15-20 parts per billion) that extends the shelf life and protects the flavor profile of the canned beer.
Cask’s affordable manual, semi-automated and automated canning systems are now used by over 400 small breweries, wineries, cider makers and drinks manufacturers in over 30 nations worldwide.
For more details on Cask’s gear and trailblazing history, photos, interviews and other information, contact Marty Jones at 00-1-303-860-7448 (office), 00-1-720-289-9345 (cell) or marty@martyjones.com. Or visit www.cask.com.