ver·sa·til·i·ty /vərsəˈtilədē/

Noun:

Having the ability to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities.

“The MicroBottler has amazing versatility.” Look at that. Right from the dictionary.

Let’s talk for a minute about versatility. Whether you’re a small craft beverage maker who is ready to start packaging, or one of the “Big Guys” looking for a way to package your lower volume products or samples without interrupting your big packaging line; you need to get your head around how versatile the MicroFilling line of products are before you decide what to buy. Let us delve more deeply into what makes our little machine the most versatile beverage packaging solution available on Planet Earth.

With most bottling solutions, you have to pick what type, and in most cases the exact size and style of bottle you want to package in. In the Bottling world it is not uncommon for a change in size or style, or even the type of cap- to require a “retooling”.

Retooling is code word for we send a guy out to your place to change it over. You pay the guy, pay for his travel, pay for his hotel, pay for all the parts (sometimes more than half the cost of the original machine) to get your machine changed over.

To add insult to your financial ruin, you must stand around NOT bottling, while this Tool “Retools” your machine. Then if you want to change back…. get the Tool back in here for another Retool….. I’m irritated just thinking about it.

But fear not… You’re smart. Once you hear how great the MicroFilling system is, you’ll make the right decision. Up until now you have only heard how lame our competitors in the bottling market are. So, compare that situation with the MicroFilling line of products.

STEP 1: You buy the MicroBottler, which is priced lower than most of our competitor’s right up front.

STEP 2: Then when you want to add or change bottle sizes, you buy our low-cost bottle totes (they are actually so simple you could probably make them) to fit your new bottles.

Yeah, no I didn’t forget a step. That’s really it. You just need a way to hold four bottles at the right spacing and you’re done.

If you have been packaging in cans, or are trying to get started with it, you certainly are aware that there is now a serious can shortage. It is a worldwide problem that will likely be blamed, at least partially, on Covid19 but let’s face it we have eyes and can see that there are just a ton of craft beverage makers either brand new and packaging in cans, or switching over from bottles to cans.

Whatever the cause, it has created a terrific problem for can manufacturers that they will most likely remedy by ramping up production as soon “they can” (sorry, dad jokes are a standard feature here). In the meantime, you’re left to deal with the inconvenience of trying to source cans for your canning, where you can (OK, I’m starting to annoy myself.)

Here is a brief synopsis of how this shortage might affect your business, pitfalls to watch out for and ways we can help you achieve your end goal – which is to get your product packaged and turned into profit, because at the end of the day, that’s what its all about.

Its never a good idea right? You have your MicroFilling line up and running with the cans your customers love and BAM!!! All of a sudden, the place you were getting cans from no longer has them available, and you’re forced to hunt around for a replacement. Be careful what you buy, as you might be on the verge of big problems.

Changing can or can end sizes, styles or even just changing manufacturers of the same exact sizes and styles, might cause your seamer to need readjusting (regardless of seamer brand) and if you don’t have the right tools and a good understanding of can seam inspection, which is actually pretty darned complicated, it can be a real problem for you. If you own a MicroBottler with a can seamer: we want to help, we’re always glad to inspect your seams for you.

Just ship us a few seamed cans full of your best product (a nice bitter IPA is always welcome) and we will drink it, cut the cans open, inspect the seams and let you know if they need adjustment and how to make those adjustments. OK OK – we’ll even do it if you ship them full of water, but we will give you a good social media shoutout if we like your product.

If you own one of our machines and you want to learn how to inspect your own seams, give us a call and we can help walk you through the process and point you to some help on the ol’ Google Machine so you can understand it yourself. We’re definitely “Teach a man (or woman) to fish” kind of people. And if teaching you to fish means you feel compelled to ship us your product for taste testing, hey – we’re not here to judge!

So here’s the sales pitch right – the MicroBottler is THE ONLY option on the market that allows you to bottle AND can. So in the short term, why not just step back out of the fray and package in bottles. The beauty of the MicroBottler is that YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE!

Your customers want to buy your product, so why not sell it to them? Its really that simple, and your customers and distributors will understand, you are doing what needs to be done to keep you moving forward. Switching over to bottling temporarily can completely solve your distribution problem. When the can drought is over, you can switch back to cans, or maybe your customers will say, “You know, my dad was right, it does taste better out of a bottle.” 

If you haven’t bought a filling machine, yet then fear not the can shortage, it’s as simple as making the right choice in machinery right now. Buy a MicroBottler without canning now so you can sell bottled goods and then later, when there are plenty of cans to be had and you have made some money, you can add the can seamer. It’s a choice that “seams” so easy, I keep waiting for cave men to start calling. (Ugh, a rare Dad Joke Double)

If you have our MicroFilling solution already and you have reached a point where you need to be able to fill and seam different can sizes, either because your customers want it or because you just cannot get the stuff to do the 202 B64’s anymore, fear not. We are releasing Version 2.0 of our can seamer.

It uses standard Angelus tooling and has infinite height adjustability, so it works with all combinations of standard cans and ends, from 8oz 200’s all the way up to 32oz 300 Crowlers! We have taken everything we learned from the first version and made it so much better. We are actually pretty excited about it. 

Call us immediately for details, like right away, don’t even finish lunch just call now and talk with your mouth full, we won’t tell your mother. 518-747-0626

While filling cans or bottles directly from the tank eliminates some unneeded work (kegging, keg washing, handling kegs etc.) sometimes it just doesn’t work out that you are ready to fill when the tank is full, so you find yourself needing to fill from kegs. This is no problem at all for the Microbottler system; in fact, it’s what we originally designed it for. 

When filling any carbonated beverage, you will soon learn that foam is your nemesis…. 

Foam is a necessary evil. Your customers want to experience the same carbonation level from your bottles or cans as they get when they are in your tasting room and you must give them that experience. BUT — to do so means that you must get that foaming frothy beast into that can or bottle without letting all that magic escape. In this post, we’ll try to break down exactly what is happening and help you understand how to keep the foaming at a minimum so that all that energy gets stored in the bottle/can and your customers can experience it.

Foam, or simply put — bubbles, are just the CO2 that is dissolved in your beverage, escaping due to a sudden drop in atmospheric pressure, increase in temperature or agitation. The type of beverage determines the shape, size and characteristics of these bubbles and is what determines how it presents itself; fizzy seltzer or rich creamy head.

It seems obvious, but I will mention it out of an abundance of caution; the higher your carbonation level is, the more “ANGRY” your beverage will be, and the higher tendency it will have to foam.

In all cases, it is best to fill with your beverage at the lowest temperature you can possibly get it chilled down to. The colder it is, the less tendency it will have to release its CO2 out into the atmosphere. Here are a few points about foaming that should help you understand it and how it effects your filling process. 

First – the two most important pieces of advice with regards to bottling carbonated beverages:

• Always be as cold as possible.

• Always operate at the lowest pressures possible (read on to understand how to determine this but remember, always stay as low as you can go).

Whether you’re filling from kegs or from a tank, that vessel will have to be pressurized. This pressure serves two purposes: to drive or displace the liquid from the tank and to hold the CO2 in solution.

The higher your carbonation level is, and/or the warmer your liquid is – the higher this pressure will have to be to hold that CO2 in solution or “Keep the genie in the bottle”. So because of this, the feed lines is the first place where foam can enter your process. Foam that starts in the feed lines will plague you throughout the process and must be nipped in the bud at this stage before you continue on with diagnosing your foaming problem. Foaming feed lines will always provide a place for bubbles to gather at the highest point and form a large pocket of CO2 that will cause uneven filling which deepens your headache.

Once you have gotten your feed lines chilled by flushing cold beverage into them, foaming in the feed lines is remedied one of two ways. The preferred method is to lower the temperature of your liquid. If this cannot be done, then you will have to increase the pressure of the tank or keg that holds the beverage. You must increase this pressure until the foaming stops, but do not increase it anymore than necessary. You can watch the liquid in the clear lines until you see the foaming stop. 

Once you have the feed lines flowing without foam, (there will always be visible bubbles here and there, just make sure you are not watching bubbles constantly forming) it’s time to start filling.

While you are filling you should have a thin (3/8” or so) layer of foam on top of the liquid as the level rises up. This is easy to verify with bottles, but a little more difficult with cans unless you have X-Ray vision, which must be awesome for you. With cans you have to monitor how much foam is expelled into the vent lines before liquid is visible.

If the foam is excessive, there is only one remedy. If you are using cans – this is where you should be glad you bought the right machine because counterpressure is the answer and many of our competitors do not use counterpressure for can filling. You need to increase counterpressure to keep that foam while filling at bay. The closer you raise your counterpressure to the pressure of the tank/keg, the slower the liquid will flow, so you will likely also have to increase fill time.

After your containers are filled you can sometimes experience foaming before you get the bottle cap or can end on. If this is the case, it is usually caused by counterpressure or temperature too high. Remember, always be as cold as possible (you’re getting that right? colder is better).

So the solution here is to lower counterpressure – but wait, you say you had to raise it to where it is so you can control foaming while filling…. Well, sometimes it’s a very delicate balancing act. This is where that second piece of advice comes in – always use the lowest pressures possible. If you can lower that keg/tank pressure a couple PSI without starting a foaming problem, you can lower your counterpressure the same amount. Or perhaps you can lower your counterpressure and live with a little bit more foam while you’re filling, and if you can do either or both of these –  you may just eliminate that little “POP” you get when you raise your fill heads and that can eliminate your foaming problem after filling.

Another trick: if all else fails, is to just wait a few seconds before you lift the heads. Usually, your counterpressure will slowly leak down a bit which means a more gentle transition to atmospheric pressure. For some beverages you might have to develop a habit of counting to 10 or whatever works for you, before lifting the heads.

In an absolute worst case – where you cannot get it under control even after lowering temperature and pressures as low as you can, you could very slowly open the drain valve on the counterpressure tank and allow it to slowly drop to atmospheric pressure before raising the heads. Although certainly not ideal, with a little practice, this will not be a bad tradeoff for being able to package a particularly “ANGRY” beverage.

Seeing a semi automatic bottling equipment demonstration helps craft beverage producers know what bottling line is right for them! We invited local craft beverage producers for a free demo of the Microbottler and lunch at a beautiful location.

We loaded up the MicroBottler the day before so we could get an early start. Seneca Falls is about four hours from our shop in Fort Edward, NY. Par for the course with this spring’s weather patterns, we ran into some cold, blustery April showers when we were unloading and on our return trip.

Guests came from over three hours away to learn more about the MicroBottler. We gave a little history on how DK Advanced Technologies began. It was all because friends at a local brewery couldn’t find an affordable bottling line that would fit in their brewhouse!

Our team gave a great overview of the machine’s operation, how to set up your bottling workspace for efficient flow, basics of filling and crown capping. The group had some great questions about changing bottles, and were excited how easily (and affordably!) the MicroBottler can switch packaging shapes and sizes.

Everyone enjoyed some lunch from a local restaurant, as well as some samples of Craig and Jon Paul’s root beer and craft brews. After lunch, a few participants stepped up to try bottling themselves. One brewery owner shared that she felt much more comfortable with the bottling process after trying it herself. Mission accomplished.

Fleur de Lis owners Jon Paul and Craig were gracious hosts. We enjoyed giving the demonstration and bottling a few of their beers later that afternoon. Be sure to check out their limited release bottles!

We all know someone who’s a big craft beer lover and you might want to get them a gift that goes along with their passion for beers. But what do you get? With so many gift ideas out there it might be hard to choose a favorite.

Here’s a list of craft beer gift ideas that we recommend (and wouldn’t mind getting ourselves).

Is rinsing and drying after filling and capping bottles making you feel like you’re on a water park ride?

The MicroRinse is an accessory for the semi-automatic filling and capping MicroBottler. It can be added when your machine is built or retrofitted to existing machines. It attaches to the machine to the right of the capper and allows bottles to be slid through in their totes. Wash and dry your filled bottles after they are capped with the MicroBottler.

This MicroBottler accessory is self-contained and self-actuated. Like a mini-car wash, it sprays off bottles and blows off excess water. The MicroRinse connects with a standard garden hose fitting and ARO air fitting. You do not need the compressed air accessory on your MicroBottler to run this add-on.

• Requires an air compressor with at least a 60 gallon tank and capable of producing 15CFM at 90PSI.
• No extra space required, fits within MicroBottler footprint.
• Supports all sizes of bottles that the MicroBottler can fill and cap.
• Works with standard MicroBottler cover.

With cold brew coffee on the rise, more and more coffee brewers are bottling their product.
Coffee connoisseurs are loving the variety of iced coffees and cold brewed coffees on the market, many of them coming from small, local coffee makers.

In a sense, coffee has become a popular craft beverage – much like beer, cider, and soda!

If you’re a coffee enthusiast looking to launch your own line of cold brew coffee, you’re going to need the right coffee bottling equipment and supplies to be successful. That’s where we come in!

At DK Advanced Technologies, we’ve developed a small scale beverage bottling line that works for a variety of craft beverages, including coffee! Our MicroBottler® – originally designed for small scale beer bottling – is perfect for bottling iced coffee easily and efficiently.

The MicroBottler® is the only bottler of its kind on the market.
Intended for small scale operations, it is compact in size yet incredibly versatile. It can accommodate bottles ranging in size from 6 to 25 ounces (750 mL), and can be easily adjusted to change between sizes and bottle types.

The MicroBottler® features an easy to use operation panel with a timer and can be easily operated by one person. It’s affordably priced and requires minimal maintenance, making it a great investment for new coffee brewers looking to enter the cold brew coffee market.

Some key features of the MicroBottler® that are especially helpful to those brewing — and bottling — coffee are:

• Accommodates bottles of various sizes and styles
• You can bottle with nitrogen or other gases with the MicroBottler®
• Combines the bottling and capping processes on one bottling line
• Can be paired with a number of add-ons and accessories to further simplify the coffee bottling process
• Can be easily reconfigured
• Can be operated by one individual
• Requires minimal maintenance and upkeep!

Interested in learning more about how the MicroBottler® can help your cold brew or iced coffee bottling efforts? Find more details about the MicroBottler® here, or give us a call at (518) 747-0626 or contact us online!

Want more insight and updates from our team? Be sure to follow us on Facebook!