Brewery installs small-batch canning line to meet demand

In 2022, the Rittmayer Hallerndorf Brewery, one of Germany’s oldest family-owned breweries, celebrated its 600th anniversary. The company brews roughly 30,000 hectolitres of beer annually and operates as a co-packer for both smaller and larger breweries in its filling centre.

For 20 years, Rittmayer has been filling an array of beers (up to 100,000 hectolitres a year) into a total of nine different bottle shapes, making it one of the largest contract bottlers for beer in its home region. The centre mostly serves small, privately owned breweries in Upper Franconia.

In response to a growing trend in the beer sector, the brewery’s filling centre is being expanded to include beverage cans.

Managing Director Georg Rittmayer said cans will help boost the company’s sustainability. “The can doesn’t weigh much, it boasts a high recycling rate and does not entail any losses in quality,” he said.

The canning line has also been configured for small batches, allowing the brewery to fill volumes as low as 15 hectolitres per beer type, which especially benefits the small, private brewers in this region as well as breweries offering many specialty beers.

The company opted for the Craftmate C filler from Krones that has a compact layout. The Rittmayer Brewery already uses Krones technology for its bottling line, which features a Krones bottle washer, filling system and labeller.

Besides quality and optimal use of the limited space available, short changeover times are important for the brewer because it processes small batches, a vast array of different beers and many different can formats.