Beer worth bottling (a lot more of)
Fans of Invercargill Brewery beers have long thought it a product worth bottling with demand this summer exceeding capacity.
Brewer Steve Nally said time had finally caught up with his hand-made four-headed filler. Operated by a dedicated dispenser with a high degree of physical fitness it could turn out up to 1100 bottles a day – a feat any operator would be way too tired and sore to replicate a second day.
New Zealand’s southern-most boutique brewery has doubled production in the past year on the back of ever-increasing demand.
“Now I understand what the phrase ‘bottleneck’ really means – we could make beer and distribute beer; what we couldn’t do was bottle it fast enough to keep up with demand,” Mr Nally said.
Enter the custom built American Meheen Merlin, which can tackle 2300 bottles an hour, rinsed, filled and capped. It’s a compact machine specifically designed for boutique breweries which will completely revolutionise the way the brewery operates.
“Now we can do a month’s bottling in a day, “ Mr Nally said.
If that sounds like over-capacity, it is. But it’s capacity the brewery plans to grow into.
Invercargill Brewery has four award winning beers – Pitch Black stout, Stanley Green Pale Ale, B.man in a New Zealand pilsner style and Wasp, a filtered wheat beer, as well as Nally’s Cider.
The Meheen’s arrival means Mr Nally will have more time to develop flavoursome seasonal brews in the ilk of Smokin’ Bishop, the smoked bock style beer that won both gold and best in class at the BrewNZ Awards in September.
“Smokin’ Bishop was a big beer with a completely new flavour. It’s certainly not an everyday beer but it did demonstrate there’s an appetite for special occasion beers.”
The Meheen is customised to a 330ml bottle so there’s still a place for the old filler, which will be put to work on big bottles for the brewery’s speciality beers.
The Meheen is being commissioned today, with its first run due at 1pm this afternoon.
The summer has been a trying one for the brewery as they’ve battled to keep up with production using worn outdated equipment.
“One of the many advantages of operating in Invercargill is temperature – generally uniform and fairly cool. This year, we’ve had heat and that’s played havoc with systems, not to mention that a couple of degrees makes a huge difference in brewing,” Mr Nally said.