Colonial Brewing's Port Melbourne brewery has had an “added confidence” since introducing the Comac 2T keg washer and filler in July 2018, working with local Comac agent HBM Packaging Technologies for the machine’s installation and service.
Colonial Brewing head brewer Ashley Hazell said the Comac 2T has almost been running on a daily basis, with 27-30 kegs on a thorough cleaning regime per hour.
“Cleaning our kegs with caustic, acid & steam ensures the Kegstar ‘pool’ kegs that we use are thoroughly cleaned so we don’t need to worry about what was in them prior,” said Hazell.
“The sensors and automation on each cleaning step mean kegs that are not cleaned properly for any reason are rejected and they can be examined. The same applies to the steam sterilising and filling head.
“Because of this, we can leave less experienced alone to operate the machine without worrying about a problem slipping through.”
Hazell further added HBM Packaging Technologies were a great learning resource for in-house maintenance of the Comac 2T.
“The only minor fault was that the keg flipper initially had a few minor problems which were a couple of cracked welds and a broken foot support which HBM repaired very promptly. This was not unexpected, given up to 200 full kegs per day slide down it, so it does take a beating!” he said.
Alongside Comac, HBM Packaging Technologies provides a range of packaging and plastics machinery solutions, including Effytec, Vezzadini and Ocme.
