At Copper Dragon, we pride ourselves on the high quality of our four cask ales available by the bottle. These have been traditionally brewed to reproduce their unique cask flavours and the combination of special filtration and filling technology guarantees freshness every time. Read on for a step-by-step tour of the bottling process.

01. Tanking and despatch

Our ales are specifically brewed for the bottle with a slightly higher ABV than their cask equivalent. Once fermented, they're transferred from the fermentation vessel into a sterile tanker and then are taken on a short journey across the border into Lancashire to the bottling plant at Thwaites Brewery, Blackburn.

02. Conditioning and Stabilisation

Upon arrival at Thwaites, the beer is transferred from the tanker directly into large conditioning tanks where it remains for approximately 10-days at a temperature of minus -2 degrees centigrade to stabilise and condition. The beer is then passed through 3-filters ensuring that it's bright and free from any yeast or other residue and is then transferred down to the bottling plant.

03. De-palletising & Cleaning

Clean bottles are removed from the pallet by a de-palletising machine and are then loaded onto a conveyor belt ready for the start of the bottling process. As bottles reach the filling station they are rinsed with sterile water guaranteeing maximum hygiene prior to filling.

04. Sterilisation and filling

Despite the fact that the beer has already been passed through three filters, prior to bottling it receives a final filtration when it's passed through a final sterile filter to ensure full microbial elimination.

The filling process is split into four stages 1. Bottle Evacuation 2. Bottle Pressurisation 3. Filling 4. Pressure-release and crowning. All of these steps happen seamlessly as the bottles travel around the filling machine.

05. Drying and Labelling

Filled bottles leave the filling machine and travel towards the labelling station where they are checked for filling  volume and dried prior to the all important Copper Dragon label being applied.

06. Labelling

Copper Dragon labels are self-adhesive and come pre-printed on a roll and as the bottle pass the labels are applied at a rate of 2,400 bottles an hour.
 

07. Packing

As the finished bottles leave the labelling machine, they are once again checked and then packed into cartons of 12 and then palletised ready for despatch back to the brewery.  It takes approximately 8-hours or one shift to bottle and pack once batch of Copper Dragon ales which equates to approximately 30-brewers barrels.