Canning line brand comparisons - who is the best for the money?

[Tahoebrew]

Like many many brewers out there we are also wanting to start using a canning line

25-35 cpm rate all machines seem to be the same in cost from CASK, Wild goose and ABE

the only 3 we have looked at and spoken to reps about - got prices for are the cask abe and wild g.

all have about 12-15 week lead times

all are able to do either 12 oz and / or 16 oz cans EXCEPT wild goose - you are set on one can size from production and cannot swap a few parts to use a varying can size I have been told

all have pretty steep set up and on site training fees associated ( a bit of an annoyance to us I must admit.) and mandatory, so its kind of a we got 'em lets get 'em as they HAVE to do this/pay this type fee sch. in our opinions.

Chime in brewers and let me know who you used and if I am missing a good canning line let me know who builds it and why it is great

Thanks for your input and experiences - we appreciate the help very much

Aaron
Tahoe Mountain Brewing Co
Tahoe City, CA

[Starcat]

Go out in the Field

Aaron, the best thing you can do before you lock into buying anything is visit and watch as many in real time-real world operation as you can and TALK to the Mechanics that are tasked with keeping them running. There cannot be a value placed on this simple maneuver and it will pay off in spades. We are running a Cask ACS 5. If you come out and visit I will show and tell you everything I have dealt with. You will get yet a different perspective from the guys that are operating.
IN my view its a mistake to attempt this kind of thing without getting into a live setting.

SC

[JWV]

Aaron,
Which Wild Goose model are you looking at? I spent some time with a mobile canner and we used the WGC250 and swapping between 12 oz and 16 oz was pretty simple. add or remove some rails from the twist rinse and reposition some clamps on the fill heads and you were good. Not sure if all their models work the same way but, I would definitely ask. (I am not pushing Wild Goose one way or the other, just offering a little input)

Jon

[ccrabtree]

I agree with Aaron. We run a WGC system (250 mobile) and we can switch between 12 and 16 oz cans. We love the system, although we have limited experience with others. I have heard from others who have used both that WGC is much easier to run than Cask.

[gitchegumee]

Check out Microcanner

They don't spam this site as much as the rest, so you might not have heard of them. They have a very nice canning machine with some premium features. We've just commissioned one and it was quite easy. Accurate fill volumes and very easy to operate in small footprint with a reasonable price. Individually controlled fill valves, underlid CO2 gassing, pre-and post-rinse of cans, air knife, 110v operation, simple HMI, both 355 and 500ml changeout, and portable. Low on utilities, uses standard spare parts, simple design, smart engineering. To be fair, I've only had experience with Cask in the past. We considered Goose and ABE, but for the money we're quite happy with what we bought. I'd buy again from Microcanner.