My allies at Cask Brewing Systems (the inventors of micro-canning) have released a brand new canning machine. It’s nearly as revolutionary as their original table-top machine that launched micro-canning in the first place back in 1999.

Cask’s ACS X2 (Automatic Canning System X2) has ten CO2 pre-purge heads, ten fill heads, and two can seamers. That’s twice the pre-purge, filling and seaming features of Cask’s ACS machine, which has been a hit with micro-canners since its debut in 2005.

The new machine fills and seams a mighty 75+ cans/minute and 190+ cases/hour and requires just two operators.

“Our customers around the world,” says Cask founder Peter Love, “are experiencing huge demand for their canned craft beer and it’s creating production pressures for them. Many of them are faced with outgrowing our machines and having to make a four- or five-fold leap in price — and a giant leap in size — to buy the next level of canning gear.”

“We created this faster, more-advanced machine,” Love says, “to help our customers keep up with their growth in a fashion that saves them significant money and space. Our focus has always been smaller breweries, the ACS X2 allows us to greatly expand that focus.”

The machine continues Cask’s legendary track record of big performance in a small space, thanks to its 2’ by 11’ footprint of just 22 square feet. The machine also fills cans with an extremely low level of dissolved oxygen (15-20 parts per billion) that protects beer flavor and extends shelf life.

The ACS X2 also features a revamped seamer system and an improved operator interface, and can be adapted to various can sizes in just minutes. Other high-performance options for the ACS X2 include an improved automatic pallet dispenser and a can pre-rinse feature.

See video of the ACS X2 in action at Cask’s newly revamped Web site: www.cask.com . Interested in covering the mighty ACS in your publication? Want more details on this wiz-bang machine for your brewery? Send a note to marty(at)martyjones.com.