Bottling lines are

production line A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward ...

s that fill a liquid product, often a

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...

, into

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal ...

s on a large scale. Many prepared foods are also bottled, such as sauces, syrups, marinades, oils and vinegars. Bottling lines usually include label application equipment, capping operations, date stamps, etc. Quality assurance verification equipemt is often included.

Beer bottling process

Packaging of bottled beer typically involves drawing the product from a holding tank and filling it into bottles in a filling machine (''filler''), which are then capped, labeled and packed into cases or cartons. Many smaller

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

send their bulk beer to large facilities for

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

bottling—though some will bottle by hand. Virtually all beer bottles are

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

. The first step in bottling beer is ''depalletising'', where the empty bottles are removed from the original

pallet A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a Loader (equipment), front loader, a Jack (mechanical), jacking device, or an erect cra ...

packaging delivered from the manufacturer, so that individual bottles may be handled. The bottles may then be rinsed with filtered

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

, and may have

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

injected into them in attempt to reduce the level of

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

within the bottle. The bottle then enters a "filler" which fills the bottle with beer and may also inject a small amount of

inert gas An inert gas is a gas that does not readily undergo chemical reactions with other chemical substances and therefore does not readily form chemical compounds. Though inert gases have a variety of applications, they are generally used to prevent u ...

(usually carbon dioxide or

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

) on top of the beer to disperse the oxygen, as oxygen can ruin the quality of the product via

oxidation Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

. Finally, the bottles go through a "capper", which applies a bottle cap, sealing the bottle. A few beers are bottled with a cork and cage. BallastPointBottling

Next the bottle enters a labelling machine ("labeller") where a label is applied. To ensure

traceability Traceability is the capability to trace something. In some cases, it is interpreted as the ability to verify the history, location, or application of an item by means of documented recorded identification. Other common definitions include the capa ...

of the product, a ''lot number'', generally the date and time of bottling, may also be printed on the bottle. The product is then packed into boxes and

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

d, ready for sale. Depending on the magnitude of the bottling endeavor, there are many different types of bottling machinery available. Liquid level machines fill bottles so they appear to be filled to the same line on every bottle, while volumetric filling machines fill each bottle with exactly the same amount of liquid. Overflow pressure fillers are the most popular machines with beverage makers, while gravity filling machines are most cost effective. In terms of automation, inline filling machines are most popular, but rotary machines are much faster albeit much more expensive.

Wine bottling process

The process for bottling

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

is largely similar to that for bottling beer, except

wine bottle A wine bottle is a bottle, generally a glass bottle, that is used for holding wine. Some wines are fermentation (wine), fermented in the bottle while others are bottled only after fermentation. Recently the bottle has become a standard unit of ...

s differ in volumes and shapes. Traditionally, a cork is used to provide closure to wine bottles. After filling, a bottle travels to a corking machine (''corker'') where a cork is compressed and pushed into the neck of the bottle. Whilst this is happening, the corker

vacuum A vacuum (: vacuums or vacua) is space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective (neuter ) meaning "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressur ...

s the air out of the bottle to form a

negative pressure Negative may refer to: Science and mathematics * Negative number * Minus sign (−), the mathematical symbol * Negative mass * Negative energy * Negative charge, one of the two types of electric charge * Negative (electrical polarity), ...

''headspace''. This removes any oxygen from the headspace, which is useful as latent oxygen can ruin the quality of the product via

. A negative pressure headspace will also counteract pressure caused by the

thermal expansion Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to increase in length, area, or volume, changing its size and density, in response to an increase in temperature (usually excluding phase transitions). Substances usually contract with decreasing temp ...

of the wine, preventing the cork from being forced from the bottle.

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

s and

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...

s may further be sealed with a muselet, which ensures the cork will not explode off in transit. Alternative wine closures such as screw caps are available. Some bottling lines incorporate a ''fill height detector'' which reject under or over-filled bottles, and also a metal detector. After filling and corking, a

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

or tin capsule is applied to the neck of the bottle in a ''capsular''. Next the bottle enters a ''labeller'' where a

wine label Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...

is applied. The product is then packed into boxes and warehoused, ready for sale.

References

External links

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Liquid Filling Lines
{{packaging Wine packaging and storage Brewing Packaging machinery Beer vessels and serving Food storage containers Packaging Food packaging Line

Beer bottling process

Wine bottling process

See also

References

Further reading

External links