Kegging Equipment: What is needed to properly keg Cider?
Quality kegging equipment is vital to ensure the product inside the keg has its quality maintained though the entire process from the point of packaging until the point of sale. At IDL, our keg line is manufactured by Comac and is an automatic keg line that fills 20L and 50L kegs. There are several incredibly important elements of any quality piece of kegging equipment.
Keg Cleaner, Steriliser, and Filler
The first section of equipment on our keg line externally cleans the keg line. This removes any bacteria from the outside of the keg and ensures the outside of the keg tap is also clean.
The next piece of kegging equipment empties any remaining contents from the inside of the keg. As kegs are reused multiple times, the inside of the keg is cleaned with citric and caustic to ensure no remaining flavours from the previous product are inside the keg.
A steam generator is the next piece of kegging equipment we utilise. The equipment steam sterilises the inside of the keg before it is filled with the desired product. A steam generator is another piece of kegging equipment, separate from the keg line that is required for optimal operation.
Keg Invertor
Some pieces of kegging equipment sterilise and fill kegs from the bottom, meaning that they need to be inverted before being stacked on a pallet. A keg invertor is another piece of kegging equipment that is important. Without one, the inverting of kegs would have to be done by hand which would be a hazardous manual handling task. A keg pick and place machine is a piece of kegging equipment that assists in the placement of kegs onto pallets.
Velcorin®
Depending on how the cider is made, the kegs may be dosed with Velcorin® in the primary fermentation phase. Velcorin® is a chemical that extends the shelf life of products by preventing the growth of yeast, mould and other containments. Learn more about velcorin. A velcorin dosing machine would therefore be needed to properly keg cider.
Each filled keg is required to have the product code information alongside lot number information. This information is ink jet printed onto the side of the keg. An inkjet printer is another piece of kegging equipment that is vital to ensure product and packaging compliance.
Keg Pressure Check
Adequate head pressure in the keg ensures that the product stays inside the keg and doesn’t leak. This also means it can be effectively tapped at the bar or pub it’s going to be utilised by. On IDL’s keg line, kegs with poor head pressure are rejected and removed from the keg line before being filled. Kegs are repaired and utilised once the pressure is at an acceptable level.
If you’re interested in kegging with IDL, you can read more about our kegging services, and our liquid development services.
Contact us today to get Kegging your apple, pear, pomegranate or whatever combination you dream up for a delicious cider.
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