Miami Brewing Company, the beer side to Schnebly Redland's Winery, purchased a canning line and their signature Big Rod Coconut Ale (5.4 ABV) cans will begin to appear in local stores by late August, said Schnebly's Director of Sales and Marketing Joe Reyes.
The canning line should arrive sometime in July, and once the newest addition to the operation gets rolling, MBC cans will start showing up in grocery stores, gas stations and specialty shops across Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
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The machine was purchased directly from the manufacturer after owner Peter Schnebly saw the model displayed at the Craft Brewers Conference that was held in late March.
It contains 20 fillers and four seamers, and has the capacity to sort and can 133, 12-ounce beers per minute, 7,980 per hour and 63,840 per day.
Why did Schnebly decide to go with cans? Several reasons. Besides being a superior container to glass, cans are cheaper to make, easily recyclable and their target market prefers cans over bottles.
Credit for the can design goes to Javier Gutierrez, who has designed many labels for Schnebly. The idea behind the design is to promote Miami. The steel look of the word "Miami" stands out contrasted to the textured look of the black. The tag line is "get hooked."
A tap handle is also being developed for one of their other beers, Gator Tail Brown Ale.
Take note of MBC's new label too. The purpose is to distinguish Miami Brewing Company from Schnebly, Reyes said.
The label had to be approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which is a part of the United States Treasury.
Big Rod ale will be distributed through Gold Coast Beverage Distributors which has offices in Pompano, Miami and Homestead.
Want to get a taste of Big Rod Coconut Ale? Miami Brewing Company will be pouring this Saturday at the fourth annual Miami New Times Brew at the Zoo.
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