Micro-canning sinks to new lows !

Canning beer always had been for the big boys. Unless brewers, cider makers and other beverage producers required volumes in excess of 150,000 units, conventional caners wouldn't touch them.Then came along WeCan Solutions - the 1st contract canning company to revolutionise canning in the UK by taking their canning line to the producer. This meant that volumes as low as 10 barrels could be filled into cans.

Pete from Hastings Brewery with
some stunning can conditioned beer

The massive success of canned 'craft' products has enabled WeCan to go one step further. Not only can they now demonstrate that for the larger runs their solution is cost competitive against the purchase of producers own lines, they have reduced their minimum volumes even further.

Bottled conditioned beers have been the choice of many consumers. There's no argument that the beer carbonates in a preferential manner. Flavors are awesome! Because there is no carbonation at the time of filling the liquid can be filled at higher temperatures, which means less issue with cooling. This in turn allows lower volumes to be required for filling.

WeCan Solutions is now offering their canning service to producers who wish to can as little as 800 litres. WeCan accept containers such as IBC's into their production facility and a day later the beer is in branded cans.

So, producers producing relatively small quantities can now compete with the rest. They can expand their markets not only geographically but more cost effectively and to a wider audience. WeCan also invite producers sell via the CraftCanDirectory - an online beer club and store offering the very best canned British Beers.

For further information please contact andy@wecan.solutions 

WeCan enter the 'craft' soft drinks market, and more !

As usual there's a lot going on at WeCan - the UKs only mobile contract canning operation. Theres's stuff we can tell you about today and other stuff that we just cant wait to tell you about very soon !

We've now canned over 250,000 craft beers this year already with over 40 new craft beers in cans. We're receiving excellent feedback and the cans being produced are flying out from the breweries.

We helped lauched the CraftCanDirectory (CCD) yesterday which offers for sale the range of brilliant British Craft Beer in cans. At the CCD we'll be talking about all the British Craft Beers in cans so make sure you follow on Twitter @craftcandirect

We also announce that we have teamed up with Jeffries Vintage Drinks to offer a service where we can develope / produce beverages such as soft drinks and can them. We're able to offer low volumes which will be attractive to start up ventures, special mixes and bespoke labels.

WeCan also sent their 1st regular newsletter out this week. If you didnt receive it make sure you sign up here to get the next one !

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Launch of The CraftCanDirectory.com

Well, its day one and we've launched !!

The Craft Can Directory is something that is new and exciting. Working WECan Solutions -  the largest producers of differing varieties of canned craft beer in the UK, we bring you the largest range of freshest, brilliant canned craft beer available in the UK.

WECan Solutions visit over 40 brewers in the UK (and this number is expected to grow and grow !) and can their beer with their unique mobile canning facility. Whilst these cans are available sepatately from the breweries and local retail outlets, The Craft Can Directory brings these beers from around the UK to your door !

buy craft beer on line

We offer a beer club, a shop and a way to get your own personalised labels on wonderful craft beer.

We'll tell you all about the beers we sell so don't forget to follow us on Twitter @craftcandirectory.

Because of the way we work with WECan Solutions we save massively on transport costs so we wont be beaten on our prices

So, pay us a visit and enjoy craft beer with us

Micro Canning in the UK - Time for an update !

My god its May already - doesn't time fly when you're having fun.

WeCan Solutions ltd is still the ONLY mobile canning facility in the UK. To date we have filled 125,000 cans and now put 20 new craft cans on the UK market. We have worked with breweries such as Oates, Wild Beer, TractorShed, Eden Mill, Redwells, Brains, Steaming Billy, Everards, Wierd Beard, 40ft and Andwells Brewery. 

Its not been completely plain sailing and we have learnt an awful lot in the last few months - there was no instruction book on 'how to start a mobile canning line'. I think its fair to say that micro-canning is not easy and there are lots of factors to get right - its certainly not as easy as buying a micro-canning line and away you go ! Although we're pretty much there now we'll never stop improving.

I'd say that quality is the key to micro-canning and not quantity - like craft brewing perhaps. These cans are truly, truly craft - what ever that word actually means. I'll tell you what it means ..... hand crafted, - these cans ARE hand crafted. Everything from the beer, label and filling, there's no question these are crafted beings. And these beauties rightly deserve a premium price.

We think we have our labelling spot on. Not only do the labels stay on the can well in warm, cold, wet or dry conditions they hold up physically well to. Its been well worth the 18 months of development during which time we have really focused on the way the labelling works.

Whilst we can put beers into printed (direct to can) at volumes of 50,000, for smaller volumes our Pressure Sensitive Labels work really well. I truly believe that the taste of the beer occurs before the can is opened - that's all down to the label. Without any offence meant to any of the producers of craft cans at the moment, I think there's lots more to come in the way the labelling will progress in the coming months and years.

I mentioned quality earlier. That is the key to our service. I have no issue in spending several £1000 on seam testing equipment. Nor have we minded training our staff on in-depth seaming quality training. Nor do I mind that we take our time ensuring the beer is presented in a manner which ensures min Dissolved Oxygen levels (14ppb - thats parts per BILLION) and correct fill levels. These things are all inter-dependant and our understanding of them are again a key to our service.

Its probably a good point to comment on the commercials. Whilst we have open and fair pricing this is not the place to go into detail. Give us a call or send an email and we will send you the information you request. What is clear is that as the largest 'small contract canner' we pass on all of the bulk purchase savings to our customers. 

Break downs -  machines break down. So does ours ! The good news is that we understand completely technology and fix it if and when it goes wrong. One failed production day was at Tractor Shed - we were back there the next day to finish off. Lesson learnt - more spares required. Lots of lessons learnt (not major ones and I'm not embarrassed to say to be honest with you) which is now

why we are the best around.

So what does our future look like for us ? More canning lines to service the growing market, more beers canned, more brands in cans. We now boast conditioning / carbonation / filtration capacity to add to our service so we are able to take rough or bright beer to process and put into cans. We're just about to launch the CraftCanDirectory.com which will offer the widest range of canned beer on line. Not only will this be the cheapest place to buy the widest range of craft beer cans on line, customers will understand that the cans will be the freshest - because they will be for sale from the moment they are made. The way we work means that there are less storage costs, less transportation costs and certainly no middle wo(men). Thats how we will be the cheapest online in the UK for craft beer in cans. We also provide an ability for customers to design their own labels for events such as weddings, festivals, sporting events etc. That's another 1st in the UK for canned beer !! An then there's the canned beer club - a monthly collection of the widest selection of craft beer cans in the UK. And customer feedback will play a big feature as we grapple with the buzz going on in the social media which seems to drive us all these days - feedback that we will use to negotiate on price !

So, there's lots going on.

Quality and Quantity Craft Beer in Cans

There’s no surprise that Craft Beer Brewers are exploring the option of canning their beer. in 2014 the UK saw another big rise in the volume of craft beer made. Now brewers are looking for new markets to complement this growth and the can is leading the way.

Production and purchase issues have often caused Craft Brewers to overlook putting their beer into cans. With the emergence of a company called WeCan Solutions, brewers are able to compete on a more even keel.

WeCan Solutions are the only company in the UK that have shrunk not only the canning line but related processes of can production into ‘runs’ as small as 10 barrels.

Andy Hughes, co-Director of WeCan Solutions comments “the easiest part of this project was to buy the machinery, the hard part was to figure out a range of solutions to make the service easy for the brewers“.

One thing that WeCan were keen to ensure was that the small and mobile factors of their service meant no change in the quality of their service.

Canning beer is not a simple task ! Seaming quality on cans is one of the biggest factors in preserving the shelf life. For this reason staff at WeCan Solutions are trained in seaming technology. WeCan have purchased seam assessment equipment (and not just a micrometer !) which provides an assessment of the seams one would expect at the largest canning companies.

Craft canned beer – Oates APA Can conditioned beer

But of course it does not stop there. The manner in which beer is put into the can is critical to ensure that additional oxygen is kept to a minimum. Tests conducted at Brains and Everards on WeCan production runs have shown excellent results in terms of fill level consistancy, sanitization, carbonation and Dissolved Oxygen levels. In fact, DO levels added during the canning process were so negligible that they could not be recorded. There’s no surprise that the manufactures of the equipment boast the tiny 10 – 14ppb added in the canning process. ‘No Trace’ on micro-biology on the inside of the cans we’re two other words that we constantly repeated during trials.

Finding a labeling solution has not been easy either.

Andy continues, “When we were researching for the project we were really keen to provide an all in one operation. If we were canning for a brewery and boasting how much time we saved them over other packaging options we wanted to do as much as we could. We saw problems with some bottled labels which meant that they got damaged easily, didn’t hold their date stamp well and they would come off easily in water. This could not happen with our labels !”

WeCan have now proven that the time spent researching this was well spent and not only do they have a label that looks good it can be produced in reasonably small quantities and hits all of the criteria that a good label should.

So, we finally have it here in the UK. A solution where volumes as small as 10 barrels can be put to can. A solution that is remarkably competitive in terms of price (and volumes wasted) and a solution that saves breweries significant amounts of time as compared other forms of contract bottling or canning. Much more importantly we have a solution that has equal if not greater quality than larger canning lines – after all, few can boast that every can has been touched by a human hand, now thats craft cans !!

If you wish to find further details of the contract canning provided by WeCan Solutions, contact Andy at andy@wecan.solutions

Mobile Contract Canning - Beer presentation

Presentation is key !

So, whilst everyone else seems to be preparing for Christmas WeCan Solutions have been busy testing our equipment.

We are very pleased with the tests and have been getting some excellent results.

Obviously depending on the nature of the actual product we are putting into cans there is no reason why sell-by dates should not exceed 12 or 18 months. If that is what you are getting with a bottling option we are confident that we can match or beat that with our canning line.


To ensure the longest shelf life and in order to maintain the nature of your beer we ask that the beer is presented in the following manner:

• Beer should be carbonated to 2.4 to 3.0 volumes of CO2.

• Beer Temperature of 0 – 1.5 degrees C (colder for higher CO2 volumes).

• CO2 supply to bright tank should be set at 1 Bar (11 – 15 PSI) (depending on CO2 volume, temperature and distance from dispense tank).

As with everything these are the optimal starting points so there is a little room for manoeuvre here but by getting this right we have total confience in being able to supply your beer to a new market in the way you would expect it to be presented.

WeCan - What we do

WeCan Solutions Ltd - What we do

So, we're on the road. What do we do ? Look after your beer,  that's what !

There's no point providing a service that doesn't contribute to the product and looking after your beer has been our starting point. With well over 20 years in the industry one thing that we know is that people who make beer are precious about it. And so they should be !!


Forget about how much can be canned in a minute, how long it will take, what will the labels look like and so on, that can wait. "Will you look after my beer ?",  bloody right we will !

We use a renowned world leader for our canning machinery. We also have sourced the most appropriate aluminium cans and work closely with the manufacturer to ensure that the cans are the correct spec for the product that goes inside. Combined with staff who care and know what they are doing means that your product will not only look good but taste better after its been opened. Shelf lives are longer and the beer travels well. 6 months down the line when you open a can of your beer it will taste the same as when it went in.

So, as I have said, we're now on the road. We are ready to help you choose and design your label, choose the can size and then get our equipment over to your brewery. When we arrive its about causing you as little hassle as possible. Set-up and wash down times are ours, not yours. We will be canning with 30 mins of arriving and then leaving you with excellent looking, packaged cans. We leave you with your product ready for the (new ?) market waving good-bye until the next time.

We are now taking orders from Jan 15. As always, feel free to as any questions by way of email, phone call or allow us to pop in and see you. Face to face is always better as we get the chance to sample your product !!

For more info contact andy@wecan.solutions or vist www.wecan.solutions