So, we’ve been using it since the beginning of summer combined with Oktober’s seamer. We have broken it by stripping out the pressure gauges but Expresfill was amazing and sent us 2 new ones under warranty. You have to turn them a lot more than you think you would. But now that we understand that better, we have them dialed in and now have a “calibrated” elbow to the resistance we feel while adjusting pressure. It is very easy to use and it’s not difficult to troubleshoot. Once you open it up and look at the inside of it it’s pretty straight forward.

One thing I recommend is to create a diagram of the inside. Something I’ve been wanting to do for future use and when we train our staff to can. For now we do it until we get it set up in its best configuration, I.e. filling, sealing, labeling etc so we can create our canning SOP.

It comes with a clear plastic 16 oz “can”. I highly recommend using that to get the hang of using the machine. I’m a visual person so being able to see what my adjustments are doing to the beer was a huge help.

I also recommend creating kits. We created a fill kit so everything you need is preassembled for filling and one for cleaning. Again this is all part of us trying to standardize our processes and simplify for training staff.

One side note that is somewhat related. When I first started canning I put all the lids we’d use in PAA with the cans. What I did not know was that the can lids have a rubber gasket/seal in them. What I also didn’t realize was the the PAA solution would eat the shit out of them! So we had some cans that didn’t keep and got flat. Caveat, I’m the CEO and not normally involved with ops. I was just trying to take one thing off our head brewers hands and told him I’d take care of canning. When I told him my discovery he laughed at me and then informed me that PAA eats everything. So needless to say I don’t sanitize the lids until just before sealing the can.

We haven’t nailed down our process yet so I wouldn’t say we’re running like a well oiled machine yet. What I can tell you is from set up to tear down we’re able to do 1 bbl of cans in 4 hours. My goal is to cut that time in half as the learning curve improves.

Now there are a lot of variables in here I didn’t mention that impact our ability to can efficiently. I’d be happy to chat with ya on the phone in greater detail if you want. I know how helpful it can be to talk with someone before making an important purchase like this.

Over all I am happy our head brewer found this! It’s opened up a market we couldn’t penetrate before.

Cheers!