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The rollercoaster that is installing a bottling line.

1/14/2018

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3 Sad Panda Bottles clinking.
CHEERS!
​We expected some bumps in the road, and the road has not disappointed. 


What good news!

Our bottling line, Piper, arrived!
Bottling line (not in use).






​And the engineer (Nicola) who understands it also arrived and spent the week with us to get it up and running!
Engineer analyzing bottling line performance.


​What bad news!

They didn't send the proper fittings to get beer in there!


What good news!

Josh & Nicola are inventive, resourceful souls.  They wangled a fix and we managed to get some beer in there! 
Engineer and brewer analyzing bottling line use.

What bad news!

The labeler (that date stamps and applies labels to bottles) hates our labels.  It thinks the label stops before the label actually does.  This causes all manner of havoc. 

​

What good news!

#CRAFTBEERFOLKISGOODFOLK!!!!!

Proving yet again that craft beer folk is good folk, at about 4pm on Friday (of a 3-day weekend, no less), we gave up on the labeler for the moment but still wanted to test the filler for a full batch of beer before Nicola flew out if we could.  We texted a few folks.  On a moment's notice, a dozen of them showed up to hand-label bottles so that we could run the filler.  This is where all the fun comes in, so here's a basic pictorial view of the haps:
People applying bottle labels by hand.
Man applying bottle labels by hand.
Man applying bottle labels by hand.
Women placing bomber bottles on bottling line intake table.
Woman applying bottle labels by hand.
People applying bottle labels by hand.
People applying bottle labels by hand.
Man applying bottle labels by hand.
Full pallet of boxed bottles of beer.
Bottles on towel awaiting labels.
People applying bottle labels by hand.
Bottling line in action.
Pile of empty boxes awaiting bottles.
Woman loading bottles on intake table for bottling line.
Woman loading bottles on intake table for bottling line.
Full team working on bottling line.
These fine folk hand-labeled 2 full pallets of bottles (>2500 bottles total).  ROCKIN'! 
[There's a joke in there about how many people it takes to do the job of one labeler --]

​
Here's how it went.  Only a lot slower.  [Thanks Liz of 363 Photography for the time-lapse videos!]
First full bottle off the line!

​
Attitude makes all the difference.
"But how will I know if I buy one of these first-run, TLC-infused-hand-applied-label Sad Pandas?" you ask.
None of these bottles have a date stamp on them.  The "BOTTLED JUST FOR YOU ON:" box is sadly devoid of all print.  Y'all just have to know that if you find a bottle like this out in the wild (or more likely, in the tasting room), it was bottled on 1/12/18.   Also, unless you get one labeled by Trina, you'll find a bubble or two in that there hand-applied label.  [See the video above to see why Trina's have zero bubbles.]  Next round should have the date stamp.
​
We're all about fresh beer, so when we get up and running, please let us know if you ever find an H&D out there that doesn't merit the #freshtastycraftbeer hashtag.
The whole crew who helped do the first bottling run.
Here we all were right before we broke for pizza.

​

What bad news!

The filler quit on us after about half the bottles were filled.  A day-long diagnostic session on Saturday indicates that the wrong-sized motor was installed and it just plumb wore out after 3 hours (hey hey!  That's what a test run is all about!).  This means, sadly, that no more bottling will take place for a few weeks.

​

What good news!

There's a new motor on the way!  It'll be installed, we hope, within a month (along with a labeler that senses our fun and colorful labels better, all of us who spent Friday evening here fervently hope).  In the meantime, we will continue to serve up #freshtastycraftbeer to a bar or restaurant near you and continue raising our glasses to small, independent craft!

Thank you mucho for hanging with us through this next step of our
Horse & Dragon adventure. 
​Hopefully by sometime in 2018 you'll be able to enjoy a bottle of H&D from your local bottle shop
in addition to a great fresh pint at your local pub!



​Stay tuned....
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    ...is the dragon's wanderings through the world of craft beer. It may be hard to follow. This is best read with a great microbrew at hand!

    Categories

    All
    Anniversary
    Barleywines
    Beer Pairing
    Belgians
    Big Beers
    Biking
    Blizzard
    Book Trust
    Brewers' Olympics
    Brewing
    Buildout/Planning/Tanks
    Cans Vs. Bottles
    Charities
    Colorado
    Community
    Construction
    Craft Beer
    Craft Beer & Community
    Craftbeerfolkisgoodfolk
    Craft Beer Folk Is Good Folk
    CSU
    Earth Day
    Festivals
    Fire Captain Irish Red Ale
    Firefighter Community Compassion Fund
    Fish Restaurant & Market
    FoCo
    FOCO Cafe
    Fort Collins
    Fort Love Brewers' Jamboree
    Freshtastycraftbeer
    GABF
    Half Marathon & Pint Run
    Homebrewing
    Horse & Dragon
    House That Beer Built
    Jax Fish House
    Local
    Local Artistry
    Old Town
    Seafood Boil
    Taproom
    Taproom Team
    Team Rubicon
    Thanksgiving
    Visit Fort Collins
    Volunteering
    Water
    Website Humor

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Thank you to the ~200 web designers a year who spam us to let us know our website is "outdated" and "not up to par with our competitors'" -- we are happy with the DIY version and saving pennies to invest in our people.  No need to contact us.  Cheers!

​​
Horse & Dragon Brewing Company   ••  124 Racquette Drive  ••  Fort Collins, CO  80524  ••  970-689-8848
For bar/restaurant/liquor store beer orders, please contact Luke Margheim, 970-980-6564; LukeM@hdbrew.com