Canning System FAQs
Your common questions about choosing, installing, operating, and scaling with a Cask canning system answered. Whether you’re packaging beer, kombucha, coffee, cider, wine, THC beverages, soda, or building a multi-SKU production line, this page is designed to help you find answers quickly.
General Canning System Questions
How much does a canning system cost?
Cask’s entry-level Nano ACS automated system starts at $38,000 USD. It’s engineered to help beverage makers launch or scale quickly while maintaining exceptional fill quality, carbonation performance, and dissolved oxygen control. Larger and higher-speed systems are also available depending on the needs of your operation. Check out the full range of canning systems here.
How long does it take to receive a canning system?
Lead times vary by model, but some equipment can be built in as little as 2-4 weeks. Your Cask Sales rep will confirm the right-fit system for your production goals and outline the current lead times based on your timeline.
Do you provide custom facility layouts?
Yes. Cask provides custom layouts created by our Engineering team. We design your line to optimize production flow, workspace, utilities, and future expansion, ensuring you get the most efficient use of your facility.
Do Cask canning systems have safety certifications?
All Cask systems are manufactured in compliance with North American and international electrical and mechanical safety standards. Region-specific documentation can be provided upon request to ensure certification alignment in your operating geography.
How many customers does Cask have worldwide?
Cask supports more than 1,800 craft beverage makers across 80+ countries, ranging from early-stage beverage startups to major co-packers and award-winning breweries.
What happens if I need parts immediately?
Cask maintains a large inventory of stocked parts with same-day shipping available for most orders. If your situation is urgent, our Support Team can escalate requests to minimize downtime and keep production running.
What does the installation and commissioning process include?
Every canning system includes a comprehensive commissioning process led by a certified Cask Technician. This includes system installation, calibration, operator training, safety walkthroughs, recipe setup, dissolved oxygen optimization, carbonation tuning, and final validation through live production runs. Support continues after installation with direct access to Cask technicians.
How does Cask enable rapid can size changeovers?
Cask systems are built for flexible, fast changeovers across a wide range of can sizes, including slim, sleek, and standard formats. Quick-change accessories such as 3D-printed inverters and rinsers support efficient adjustments. The compact footprint of each system also allows operators to transition between SKUs easily, reducing downtime during mixed production runs. Check it out here.
Does Cask offer turnkey solutions and other add-ons?
Cask offers a full range of infeed and outfeed automation and custom conveyance. We also work with trusted vendor to offer date coding, nitrogen dosing, labelling and more for a full turnkey solution. Check out the Auxiliary Equipment options here.
Filling Quality, Dissolved Oxygen & Carbonation
What makes Cask canning systems the best at controlling dissolved oxygen (DO)?
Cask systems use proprietary foam-first filling technology that minimizes turbulence, reduces oxygen exposure, and maintains exceptional fill consistency. Automated purge cycles, precise headspace control, and high-performance seamer technology work together to deliver industry-leading dissolved oxygen results, helping protect flavor, aroma, stability, and shelf life. Check out this blog post on why foam first filling technology is critical for craft beverage quality.
How do Cask canning systems limit product loss to less than 1%?
Cask systems maintain tight product control through laminar flow and fill level sensors that complete the fill when the liquid touches the valve. This is uniquely different that most canning systems the fill on a timer, causing changes in fill levels as product heats up over time in the fill lines. This engineered approach keeps product loss under one percent—far lower than the typical 5–10% loss seen on competitive systems—maximizing yield and improving overall profitability. Check out this blog post for the data on product loss and overfilling.
Can atmospheric filling support the same carbonation levels as counter-pressure filling?
Regardless of counter pressure or atmospheric filling, products at very high gas levels lose much of that CO2 in the process—so the actual in-can carbonation is far lower than many believe. Cask systems reliably tolerate 3.2+ vol CO2, verified through extensive research with Anton Paar to cover virtually every carbonation level found in the commercial market. Learn more here. Most importantly, we’ll work with you to test your specific products so you can be fully confident your capabilities are covered
Beverage-Specific FAQs
Beer
Beer is highly sensitive to dissolved oxygen, temperature, and fill turbulence. Cask systems are engineered to preserve hop aromatics, flavor stability, haze consistency, and carbonation retention by maintaining cold fill temperatures, minimizing oxygen exposure through optimized purge sequences, and using an atmospheric filling design that reduces turbulence during the fill. The result is significantly lower DO pickup than competitive systems, allowing breweries to protect the quality and shelf life of lagers, IPAs, stouts, and mixed-fermentation beers. Cask’s pioneering approach to craft beer canning provides brewers with exceptional shelf stability, flavor protection, and aromatic consistency. Learn more here.
Wine
Canned wine offers lightweight portability, fast chilling, and fresh, single-serve convenience for consumers. Cask systems are designed to manage low-oxygen, low-foam wine packaging to preserve varietal expression and aromatic integrity. This makes them ideal for rosé, white, red, and sparkling-style wine programs looking to move into cans. Learn more here.
Cider, Kombucha & Wild Fermentations
Cider, Kombucha and Wild Fermented beers require vigilante packaging processes to mitigate contamination. Cask systems use food grade stainless steel fill heads compatible with stronger sanitization agents used for kombucha cleaning processes and an automated CIP (“Clean in Place”) function. For brewers canning other drinks on the same system, our quick-connect fill head design makes for additional versatility in eliminating any risk of cross contamination and easily shifting can-size changes. Learn more here.
Coffee (Cold Brew & RTD Coffee)
Cask systems can package still cold brew, nitrogen-infused coffees, and shelf-stable RTD coffee formulations. Ultra-consistent liquid nitrogen dosing easily achieves 35 – 45 psi consistent can pressure, so each can delivers cascading pour and creamy mouthfeel crucial for the nitro-coffee experience. Learn more here.
THC & Cannabis Beverages
THC and cannabinoid-based beverages require extraordinary precision, oxygen control, and regulatory consistency. Cask’s proprietary atmospheric filling technology helps protect cannabinoid potency by minimizing dissolved oxygen exposure throughout the fill cycle. By reducing DO pickup, the system mitigates oxidative degradation of cannabinoids and terpenes, which helps retain potency, flavor, and product stability over time.
Operations, Expansion & Support
Can I scale with the same canning system as my business grows?
Yes. Many beverage makers begin on a Nano ACS and grow with it from 10BBL to 30BBL brite tanks. Others scale into higher-speed system like the ACS FleX2 systems as their demand grows and distribution strategy changes. Cask helps map your long-term production pathway, from startup volumes to full-scale operations with depalletizers, conveyors, and more.
Can Cask help me choose the right can size and format?
Yes. Cask supports a broad range of can sizes—including slim, sleek, and standard formats—and can help you determine the best approach based on your brand, SKUs, and consumers. Cask also supplies aluminum cans through Ball Corporation with the lowest printed minimum in the industry (one truck). Our can supply team can help you optimize your pricing, total landed cost, inventory strategy, and long-term supply plans.
Do you offer service, maintenance, and refresher training?
Yes. Cask offers ongoing remote support, on-site service, preventative maintenance, operator training, seamer inspections, and dissolved oxygen audits. Our support team remains available to help keep your canning system performing at its best.
Does Cask offer support for businesses with no beverage making experience?
Yes. Cask takes a consultative approach in your process to ensure customers are fully set-up for success. Our team brings 25+ years of deep industry expertise, and we crowdsource our leadership, engineering, technical and production teams to ensure you get the support you need for where you are at in your business planning. Many Cask customers have started from ground zero, and relied on our team to not only set-up their packaging operations, but the rest of their production facility. Checkout this guide for building a production facility from scratch.
Contact & Next Steps
Still have questions? Our team is here to help.
If you want guidance on selecting a system, mapping your facility, determining lead times, optimizing can supply, or planning your production workflow, you can connect directly with a Cask. We’ll help you design the right path forward—whether you’re launching your first beverage or expanding into new markets.
