While breweries across Germany are closing or being taken over by corporations, there are some that are successful with new, alternative concepts. These include the private brewery run by Frank and Vivien Liebhart from Detmold. Packaging and state-of-the-art technology, such as the new combined bottle packing and palletising system from PackTec Maschinenbau in Hof, are also important components.
Frank Liebhart and his wife Vivien both studied at the VLB in Berlin. In 2003, the Liebharts opened the Brewery „Sudhaus“ in „Liebharts Detmolder Fachwerkdorf“. „But more and more visitors to the half-timbered village wanted to take the beer home with them, so at the end of 2004 they decided to build their own proper brewery,“ reports Frank Liebhart. They quickly found an empty building just a few hundred metres away from the half-timbered village.
„We planned for 500 to 1,000 hectolitres a year, and that's also the size of the machines we bought: a brewhouse with 20 hectolitres, a bottle washer in which the bottles were placed by hand. The filler was too small, the The bottles were packed and unpacked manually, as was palletising“, reports Frank Liebhart. It was clear that they, who came from the organic and health food store sector with their other products, wanted to brew exclusively organic beer and lemonades.
For the Liebharts, the aspect of organic and sustainability also means that they want to be as Regional suppliers and craftsmen commission. „It wasn't easy to find organic hops and malt. Organic sugar for the lemonades is actually only available from Chile, and we also had to search for organic fruit of the highest quality for a long time.“ The use of green electricity from the municipal utilities, the brewery's own PV system and energy recovery in the brewery conserve resources, technology and the ears and noses of the neighbours.
Convincing concept
In spring 2005, the new brewing kettle was „fired up“ for the first time. It started with a (then still filtered) pilsner, followed by wheat, dark and light beer and soon beers made from rice, spelt and rye. This marked the beginning of a great Success storyCustomers were not only enthusiastic in the half-timbered village; more and more health food and health food shops were stocking Liebhart's beers. Today, they can even be found in regional food and drink shops. The majority of the beers are filled in bottles (0.33-litre and 0.5-litre long neck with crown corks), while the soft drinks are also filled in 0.5-litre long neck swing-top bottles.
[infotext icon]Since the first brew in 2003 „Liebhart's private brewery“ on organic beer and lemonades with special ingredients and flavours. Today, it is established with its range in the area between Kassel, Hanover and Münster. The range now includes 43 different beers and 15 lemonades. „Our barrel-aged beers, which are matured for up to 14 months and labelled by hand, are brand new. Each bottle even has its own number,‚ explains Vivien Liebhart. The ingredients for the lemonades, which are just as popular as the beers, are made in her own syrup kitchen[/infotext].Special range of crates
In addition to the product range, the crates are another speciality. „From our point of view, the trend is clearly moving towards small containers, people don't want to lug around a box of 20 or 24,“ says Vivien Liebhart. That's why they have focussed exclusively on Boxes of 8 and 10 set, both with a Centre carrying handle. „So you can carry the boxes comfortably like a six-pack,“ explains Frank Liebhart.
The 10-bottle crate is constructed in such a way that there are four bottles on the long side on the right and left and then one bottle on the narrow side, offset from the others. „That wasn't easy for the manufacturer of the packing machine. In addition, our aim was to position the crates so stably on the Euro pallets that we could No safety straps need,“ says Frank Liebhart. Given the tricky specifications, they chose PackTec Maschinenbau GmbH from Hof. The initial solution with an articulated arm robot was then rejected after a visit to Detmold because the premises were too low. PackTec therefore developed a Special four-axle system.
Complete modernisation of the technology
Over time, bottling in Detmold no longer took place every two or three weeks, but almost daily. So new, modern machines had to be purchased. The Liebharts bought a new bottle washer from Klinger in Austria and a filler from Markl in the Bavarian Forest. They quickly came across PackTec for the bottle packing machine and palletiser. Owner Manfred Schiposch took a lot of time for the brewers and competently answered every detailed question. As a result, a Combined packing and palletising system which fits into the low bottle cellar with millimetre precision. „Sales manager Wolfgang Fleischer meticulously measured everything at the potential location and we had the first installation plan ready the very next day,“ Liebhart reports, impressed.
Brand new packing head
For the box of 10, the PackTec specialists had to develop a completely new design. New packing and gripper head with movable packing tulips develop. The bottles lined up on the bottle table with virtually no pressure are picked up linearly. After lifting, the arrangement of the tulips is changed so that all bottles are placed into the crates gently and quietly. Two crates are always loaded per lift.
Once the bottles have been inserted, the packing and gripper head moves further down and grips the crates that have just been filled. The centring frame required for the packing process opens to release the crates. The swivelling packing and gripper head on the machine enables composite stacking on the pallet: „This is how we do it, on the pallet 16 boxes per layer and up to seven layers high absolutely stable without the need for a safety cord,“ explains master brewer Hendrik Oehlschläger.
A lot of thought
Frank Liebhart is not only enthusiastic about the solution for packing and palletising, but also about the precise fitting of the system: „When we put the seventh layer on top of the 10-pack crates, there are still exactly Five millimetres of space up to the ceiling."
He also thinks it's great that the designers at the Hof-based family business also take care of the details. „A pallet that is equipped with a holder for the various packing and gripper heads and that can be retracted into the machine when changing formats, Shortens the set-up time immense. The spare and replacement parts are not lying around somewhere, but are stored under the machine table, protected from dirt and splash water. That's great,“ praises the master brewer.
Huge range
In the meantime, the Product range of the organic private brewery in Detmold is huge: from pilsner to wheat, dark, dark beer, Zwickel and light, in the craft beer range „Eisenhart“ (lager) or „Steinhart“ (pale ale), through to numerous non-alcoholic beers, gluten-free ginger, rice and spelt beers, as well as two seasonal strong beers. „With this variety, it is of course important that we have a good presence in the shops. We have developed very special stands for this, in which we can display almost all beers and sodas,“ says Liebhart.
[infotext icon]PackTec is a specialist for tricky packaging and palletising requirements. The company was founded 13 years ago by Manfred Schiposch founded the company. He brought his decades of experience in the design and manufacture of robust, reliable machines and systems for the beverage industry to his own company, which now operates throughout Europe. All work steps, from consultation and planning of new systems to construction and commissioning to customer service and repairs, are carried out by the company itself. Customised machines are adapted precisely to the customer's requirements[/infotext].
