Marker 48 Brewing recently accepted the delivery of a canning system that will enable it to restart the growth plans put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The brewery crew started training last week on the Evolution Series canning line from Colorado-based Wild Goose Filling Systems, and soon will be able to up the production of 16oz. cans of Marker 48 beers, which previously were filled with the help of Iron Heart Canning Co., a mobile packaging service.
“Wild Goose obviously is a great brand and they’ve manufactured lines for a long time,” said Maurice Ryman, Marker 48 co-owner and co-founder. “They have great support training, but the expansion aspect of it was what really sold us on it.”
The canning line is currently a “two-head” system, which means two cans can be filled at once, Ryman said, “and depending on a variety of factors, the line can fill from five to 10 or more cans per minute per head. Using the two heads currently on the system, he added, “on our first run, we did 22 cans a minute.”
The Evolution Series model can be expanded up to five heads, meaning “you’re pushing 45 to 50 cans per minute,” Ryman said.
He said that the limited canning they have done already has proven that their customers love to bring their beer home. Marker 48 not only sells the cans out of the brewery, but also distributes a very limited supply to a few local retailers through their distribution partners.
Greater production could mean those cans could find their way into the West Coast of Florida from Pinellas County north to Citrus County, as well as Hillsborough County, with distribution partners there.
“We obviously have to keep up with our production to be able to provide beer for the taproom as well as our retailers that currently carry our beer,” he said. “But this gets us into a format in a way that we could put our beer into a variety of liquor stores and other retailers.”
The new system will also allow more small-batch and specialty beers to be packaged for sale out of the brewery.
“We’re looking forward to canning things that we haven’t been able to can before,” said co-owner Tina Ryman. “Things that will be for in-house only, that won’t be in distribution, like Half-Fin (Hefeweizen), Meet the Heat (raspberry pepper saison), things like that. So people are excited about that.”
About Marker 48 Brewing
Marker 48 Brewing is a full production brewery located in Hernando County on Cortez Blvd (HWY 50) in Weeki Wachee, Florida. Featuring a 6,000 square-foot tasting room, large outdoor beer garden with stage, and rotating guest food trucks on site. The brewery has over 25 taps of rotating beer, cider, and sangria all made onsite.