Beverage Bottling

Beverage bottling typically starts with water being treated and cleansed to meet exacting quality-control standards, usually exceeding the quality of the local water supply. For beverage bottling it is critical to maintain a high quality of water, this will ensure consistent taste profiles in the finished products. The treated water is piped into stainless-steel tanks of different sizes, each one to be utilized at different stages of the beverage bottling process.

In the next  stage of beverage bottling various ingredients are added and mixed in batching tanks, these are smaller holding tanks used during beverage bottling to make syrup.
The syrup can include ingredients such as liquid sugars like fructose or sucrose, non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharin, color, flavors, nutraceuticals, preservatives as well as a host of other ingredient options. Once the syrup is ready it is pumped into much larger tanks where it is mixed with more water to create a finished solution ready for beverage bottling.

If the beverage bottling process is going to be for a carbonated (absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2)) product the solution is cooled using large, ammonia-based refrigeration systems. Carbonation is what gives carbonated products their effervescence and texture. CO2 that is going to be used for beverage bottling is stored in a liquid state and piped into carbonation units as needed. This process can be manipulated during the beverage bottling process to control the required rate of C02 absorption into the product. Beverages may contain from 15 to 75 psi of CO2. Fruit-flavored soft drinks tend to have less carbonation than colas or sparkling water. Once carbonated, the beverage is ready to be bottled.

The filling room usually is separated from the rest of the facility, protecting open product from any possible contaminants that may occur during beverage bottling. This highly automated beverage bottling operation requires a minimal number of personnel. Filling room operators monitor the equipment for efficiency, adding any components that are needed during the beverage bottling process. Empty beverage bottles are transported automatically to the filling machine via bulk material-handling equipment.

Once all of the beverage bottles are filled they are automatically packed into trays and then shrink wrapped. This finished case of beverage bottles is then placed onto pallets by a palletizer and wrapped with plastic wrap ready for shipping.

If you are interested in finding out more about the beverage bottling process contact us today and let us help you start bottling beverages.