Can and bottle: Craft brewery in Budapest relies on combined filler from Kosme

Wine before beer, beer before wine … why not both together?

Monyo’s enthusiastic brewing fans stop at nothing, not even wine. For their Hungarian Terroir series, they have joined forces with regional winemakers. “We wanted to be different from other craft breweries. You can brew a good IPA anywhere. We asked ourselves: What can we produce that is typically Hungarian? Our country is famous for its wine-growing, and we had some contacts in this community – so working together was the obvious choice,” says Botond. As a result, beer-type wines or wine-type beers called grape ales are now produced four times a year. They often resemble dessert wines in both taste and alcohol content.

The winemakers suggest a grape variety or a wine, and Monyo develops a matching recipe. Some of the grape ales mature in specifically selected wine barrels, sometimes grapes are added at the end of the fermentation process. There are many options. For the current Szekszárd Hungarian grape ale – the lightest so far with only 4.8 per cent abv – Kadarka grape must and grape marc from the Szekszárd red-wine region were fermented together with the base beer. The wine yeast also comes from the winemaker. “I know of no other brewery that brings together wine and beer in this way,” says David.

Beer quality is crucially important

In line with the brewery’s motto “We take brewing seriously – everything else is fun”, Monyo never compromises on brewing and beer quality. After all, the only reason why the brewery was set up was its founder Pein Ádám’s dissatisfaction with the inconsistent quality of the Hungarian craft beer he was serving in his Monyo Bar. So he joined forces with Németh Anti in 2014, who was one of the first hobby brewers in this country. Together, they established Monyo Brewing to show how things can be done better.

And their success has proved them right, so much so that their old location with its annual production volume of around 200,000 litres could no longer keep up with demand. A good twelve months ago, Monyo started to expand and can meanwhile produce roughly six times as much as before. 6,000-litre tanks for the standard range were added in the brewhouse, with the old 2,000-litre tanks used for the special brews. And the products are now filled not only in the traditional 0.33-litre beer bottles but in cans as well. “Cans don’t break and are easier to recycle. They simplify the logistics, too. What’s more, they are impervious to light, thus protecting the beer better, and they also reach the requisite temperature in the cold store faster,” emphasises David, who is also head of production. “But many pubs prefer bottles, and therefore we need a filling line which permits us to switch between container types.”

Besides flexibility, the most important criteria for the new filling line were good process stability, automation and beer quality, of course. “We wanted to reduce TPO (Total Packaged Oxygen) still further,” says David. “The less oxygen the beer picks up, the longer it retains its full-bodied taste of hops and fruits.” While looking for equipment that would meet their high standards, the Monyo team also visited breweries that were using Krones or Kosme lines. They eventually opted for the Barifill Canto from Kosme, a machine able to handle both cans and bottles. “What tipped the scales in its favour was the combination of stability, automation and low oxygen pick-up,” explains David. “No other manufacturer was able to offer that.”

Cans are more cost-efficient than bottles but many pubs prefer bottles. Therefore, we needed a filling line that can handle both container types alternately. David SchüszlerHead of production at Monyo Brewing

One of the first Barifill Canto machines

Kosme designed and supplied the entire line – including a fully automatic depalletiser, the Barifill Canto filler and the Flexa Sensicol labeller right through to the packer. The full cartons are still palletised by hand. The new line went into production in the autumn of 2021.

Switching between containers is simple

Monyo’s Barifill Canto has been configured for 6,000 containers per hour and can fill 0.33-litre cans and bottles. Larger bottles like those for the grape ales are still processed on the old filling line. The scope of supply also included the CIP system for line cleaning installed right next to the filler. The inspector downstream of the Barifill Canto uses X-rays to check the correct fill level of the bottles and cans.

The can seamer was a pleasant surprise for David: “I used to work with canning lines before, and we always had problems with the seamer. Never once did we have such difficulties in the new line. We never have to re-adjust it, it always runs to specification. That is a huge plus.”

Monyo is currently filling more cans than bottles. Therefore, the team has only switched the line over three or four times to date – and was pleasantly surprised. “It was much easier than we’d thought,” says a gratified David. “We’re still learning, obviously, but it has become more of a routine lately. If we follow the process step by step as described, it’s actually impossible to make mistakes. It’s more or less foolproof,” he says.

No other manufacturer was able to offer us this combination of stability, automation and low oxygen pick-up. David SchüszlerHead of production at Monyo Brewing

Focussing all attention on the beer

When speaking with the Monyo team, you notice that the six-fold increase in capacity and working with all the complex new equipment was a big step for them. So the support given by Kosme is greatly appreciated, as David explains: “We can ask very uncomplicated at short notice. In most cases, we get a prompt answer that solves our problem. We’re quickly establishing our own routines. But right now, in the start-up phase, that sort of support is really valuable.”

All in all, he is very satisfied with the new line. “What was important to me was to automate as much as possible,” he explains. “In the old line, we still had to do many things by hand – in the depalletising and palletising zones, for example. Now, we only need two people to look after the entire line, that’s a huge step forward.” It is no longer necessary to place each individual bottle manually on the line, that’s another big plus, not least in terms of hygiene.

But the most important aspect of all is, of course, the beer. “We were keen to automate the process not least in order to give our people the time they need to focus on our beers. To check that everything is okay and to come up with new ideas. Automation frees your mind for things like that,” emphasises David.