The craft beer industry has been growing rapidly over the past years. But, as the number of craft breweries increases and gains more market share, breweries are facing new challenges. One is the reliable and consistent seaming of cans.
Recently, the majority of craft breweries are swapping traditional glass containers for aluminum cans. This calls for the need for quality can sealing machines for the seaming process. In this short blog, we will discuss the beer canning process with the focus on can sealers. Let us start with why use aluminum cans instead of bottles for craft beer canning in the next section.
Why Use Aluminum Cans for Craft Beer?
Below are the main reasons why craft breweries shift to aluminum cans.
#1 Freshness
Freshness is the most important benefit of aluminum cans. Cans can protect the contents against oxygen and light. Thus, keeping the taste of the beer as fresh as it was at the craft brewery when it reaches the customers.
#2 Efficiency
Since aluminum cans are stackable and lightweight, transportation is made easier, cheaper, and more environment-friendly.
#3 Sustainability
Lastly, you can recycle aluminum cans easier and faster. You can turn them into new cans in just less than 60 days. The majority of cans today normally contain 70% recycled aluminum.
The Beer Canning Process
Beer cans are composed of 2 parts: the can’s lid or end and its body. Drink manufacturers supply both can ends and bodies. When you buy a can body, it comes with a flange and the end has a curl. In the seaming process, the body’s flange and end’s curl interlock together to form a tight double seam. Below are the detailed steps of the double seaming process.
- The filled cans proceed to the can seaming machine.
- The machine raises the can body and places a lid on it using the ”chuck” tooling. The chuck tooling holds the lid in place while the can seamer does the double seaming process.
- The machine folds the flange of the can with the lid’s curl. This “folding” process is known as double seaming and is performed in 2 roller operations by the can seamer.
- First Roller Operation
- The first operation roll tooling will come in and fold the lid’s curl into the body’s flange. In this stage, the seam formed is still a loose one so the machine performs the second roller operation.
- Second Roller Operation
- The second operation roll tooling comes in to iron out the loose seam formed from the first roller operation. This ensures that the seam formed is tight.
- The process of double seaming is not enough to guarantee that the beer will be protected from contaminants and leaks. So, the machine adds a sealing compound to the double seam. It sprays the compound onto the remaining gaps of the double seam to ensure that the seal formed is airtight
Can Seaming Machines
Can seaming machines can come in various types. Some have only one head and others can have up to 24 heads for faster productions. With each head, the machine’s seaming capability per minute multiplies.
Theoretically, 24-headed can seaming machines that rotate at equal speeds as that of one-headed can seamers would seam cans 24 times faster. Though a can seaming machine can have multiple heads, each of its head is considered as an individual machine that runs simultaneously with the others.
Manual and one-headed can seamers are quite slow in closing cans. So large beverage companies choose automatic can seamers for packaging lines. These machines can run at rates starting from 1,200 to 2,400 CPM.
For craft breweries who are just starting their own businesses, it is not practical to immediately go for automatic can seamers. So, they buy smaller can seaming machines with lower production capacities. These machines are simpler, cheaper, and have lower maintenance costs. They usually have one to four-seamer heads.
LPE’s can seamer machines have one to four heads with production capacities from 30 to 50 CPM. They also offer customization options to accommodate different production requirements.
There are a lot of things that need to be considered and fitted together to make sure that beer cans are sealed tightly. Most of these are the can manufacturer’s responsibility. They ensure that the can’s body and lid are made properly and that “easy-open” tabs do not break off. Of course, manufacturers can use different parameters to measure the quality of the produced can bodies and lids.
However, the reliability of the produced seams is not solely the can maker’s responsibility. There are things that they cannot do for breweries. The most important one is the double seaming process. Craft breweries do this themselves. So, it is their responsibility to guarantee that the seam is done properly.
