Three years ago, Boulder’s Wild Goose Engineering was a four-person design, engineering, manufacturing and fabrication outfit with 12 years of experience in churning out products from firefighter safety gear to underwater cameras and airplane parts.

Now, Wild Goose is nearly two-dozen people strong, fills out a 10,000-square-foot facility and is anticipating a 67 percent jump in annual revenues.

Its boost came from a seemingly unlikely source: beer.

Two-and-a-half years after fashioning a canning line for Boulder’s Upslope Brewing Co., Wild Goose has jumped full bore in the beer business, developing manual and automatic canning lines for more than 20 craft breweries across the United States. On Tuesday, Dry Dock Brewing Co. announced that Wild Goose would supply the canning line for the brewery’s new 30,000-square-foot production facility in Aurora. ….

Read the full article here: http://www.dailycamera.com/business/ci_20632132/boulder-area-firms-benefit-from-craft-beers-ripple

5) More cans, canning lines and tallboys
Colorado’s canned beer revolution took some big steps forward in 2011 and got ready to make another big leap in 2012, the tenth anniversary of the year Oskar Blues became the first craft brewery in the nation to can its own beers. One of the biggest changes in 2011 was the addition of Wild Goose Engineering in Boulder, which makes full-size but less expensive canning lines, and Mobile Canning of Longmont, which carries its canning line from brewery to brewery at an even bigger discount. The two firms allowed smaller brewers like Eddyline, Aspen Brewing and Crabtree to get into the packaging game with both twelve and sixteen-ounce cans. As for the big boys, both New Belgium and Oskar Blues have purchased massive new, million-dollar-plus lines that will allow them to significantly expand their canning options as well.

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Read the whole thing Here:  http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2012/01/the_ten_biggest_colorado_beer_1.php

Here’s a little taste, but the whole thing is a great read-   Brian did a great step by step of the system in action with pics!  Thanks for putting that up Joleen!

“Our two-head, automatic “Micro Can” canning system arrived from Wild Goose Engineering in Boulder, CO on Monday.  Tristan Shaffer and Roger Walz delivered the machine, helped us install it and do our first run of canned beer.  McKinney Eddy Amber Ale got the nod, since it was the first beer we made on the 7-barrel system and it was sitting there in the brite beer tank.”
Read the whole story Here:

http://pineyriverbrewingcompany.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/a-show-me-guide-how-craft-beer-was-first-canned-in-missouri/

Click here to get started!

“The great American explosion in craft breweries and the desire to drink ales, lagers and pilsners anywhere has spawned a renaissance in canned brews. Taking it with you has never tasted this good.
The greatest invention since sliced bread may just be high-quality beer in a can—no, really. Today craft brewers across the country are putting cans of the tasty stuff directly in the hands of tailgaters and backyard barbecuers across America.
Why the sudden switch? Pop a tab, and you may find it’s hard to find fault with what’s inside. To wit: canned beer is less likely than bottled beer to go bad due to oxygen seepage and light exposure, both of which can break down hop molecules and let off a reek that’ll put you right off your drink. Canning technology has also evolved. New equipment lets microbrewers can beers with carbon dioxide to minimize the presence of oxygen, new cans are lined to ensure there’s no metallic taste transferred to the liquid and wide-mouth can openings let you enjoy that cold-beer rush in a steady stream. But let’s be honest here: there’s no denying the casual appeal of drinking beer right from the can. There’s something about it that personifies the idea of “Just chill.”
Brewers are quick to point out that canned beer is also more eco-friendly, since ultra-light aluminum cans require less energy to transport and recycle. But artisan beer-makers are moving out of the bottling business for the same reason savvy drinkers are reaching for cans at the convenience store: value. Since cans are less expensive and less prone to breakage, American craft brewers can charge better prices than all those Belgian monks with their fancy bottles.
If there is one problem with this bonanza of beers in a can, it’s choice. With almost 400 craft brews in a can from more than 100 breweries now available, and with more on the way every year, playing favorites isn’t easy. But we did our best. Follow this coast-to-coast guide to some of the best six packs of ales, lagers, pilsners, porters and stouts in the land.”

The rest of it is here:

http://wildblueyondermagazine.com/the-magazine/in-good-taste/its-in-the-can/09/2011/

Take a look!

Every one of America’s close to 1800 breweries has a story to tell. Joleen and Brian Durham’s story is one that a few others may share parts of but its also one that is uniquely theirs. For this husband and wife team a love of brewing became a business earlier this year in the form of Piney River Brewing Company. Now that brewery is expanding and adding a canning line and the years not even over yet! We sat down (virtually) with Joleen who was great about answering all of the questions we had about running a small craft brewery in the Ozarks and their upcoming move to cans. Thanks so much Joleen and we wish you and Brian all the best! Cheers!

Entire Article

Q & A with Wild Goose Engineering Makers of the Micro-Can System

Colorado has certainly distanced itself from the other states when it comes to canned craft beer. The state clearly has the lead with 14 different breweries canning their beers (and more to come). It should come as no surprise that one of America’s first company’s to produce canning lines for craft brewers should hail from such hallowed ground. This is precisely where Wild Goose Engineering calls home and they’re on the verge of making a big impact on the craft beer industry in this country with their “Micro-Can System”. We wanted to know more about them and their canning lines so we posed a few questions to which they were nice enough to respond. Cheers and best of luck to you guys!

Entire Article

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