Wold Top Brewery invests £100k in canning line

Last week saw Wold Top Brewery marking its entry into canned beer, with the launch of Wild Swim.

The new canning line, which made this possible, was supplied by British company MicroCan, and is capable of filling up to 2,000 cans per hour.

This latest addition is a result of demand for canned packaging in beer and extends the farm-based Wold Top’s portfolio of casks, kegs and bottled ales, which it brews using home and Wolds-grown malting barley, hops and pure, chalk-filtered Yorkshire Wolds water.

Commenting on the £100k investment which was supported by the Farming Sustainability Fund, brewery director Alex Balchin (pictured above), said: "Our contract customers have been asking us to provide a canned beer packaging service for quite a while, but we had to weigh up all the options before we invested.​

“​We have a strong and loyal fan base of bottle drinkers and wanted to ensure that we didn't marginalise any other area of the business. By introducing cans as a seasonal, limited edition line, we aim to develop strong markets for both forms of packaging."​

Wild Swim, 4% alc, is a series of six limited edition canned beers that will be launched throughout 2024 to complement the 21-year-old brewery's range of bottled beers.

The stripped-back, clean lager was developed by brewer Henry Culpepper and is gluten-free and suitable for vegans. It’s now available online and in selected retailers at £2.34 for a 440ml can.

The remaining beers in the range include a Vienna pale ale, a New Zealand pale ale and an American Red IPA, among others.