News: September 2009

Lancashire brewer Daniel Thwaites has invested in a new £700,000 bottling line to meet rising demand for bottled beer. The line will double output from 12,000 to 24,000 barrels a year.

The new filler was manufactured by Eurostar of Italy and installed by Carbonation Techniques Ltd from Telford. It features a 20-head bottle rinser, 28 filling heads and a six- head crowner. It is capable of filling a range of bottles from nips (170ml) to 750 ml at up to 4,200 bottles per hour.

Ian Bearpark, Thwaites’ Production Director, said: ‘Over the last three–four years, our own bottle sales have grown by over 100 per cent. This considerable rise has happened since the introduction of our own bespoke bottle, which has enabled our sales team to tap into new markets. As a result of this steady growth, we had run out of capacity on the previous line. In the space we had available in the brewery, we've installed the biggest filler we possibly could – doubling our output.’