This new mobile canning business is helping small craft brewers get on liquor store shelves

A new Fort Collins business is helping small craft breweries get on liquor store shelves.

Rhoadey Canning Solutions has launched with a new custom six-foot-long mobile canning machine that it wheels in and out of breweries. The machine can fill about 20 cans per minute.

“More often than not, many craft brewers are strapped in their terms of growth,” said founder Peter Rhoades. “But well-made craft beers deserve a chance. We want to give them a cost-effective solution.”

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The operation debuted earlier this month, canning 84 cases of Rally King Brewing’s blood orange sour called Bloody Good. Rally King is now available at five area liquor stores. It's the first time the brewery's product is available for retail sale outside of its 1624 S. Lemay Ave. taproom since the brewery opened in 2015.

Multiple other area breweries are considering contracting Rhoadey Canning Solutions.

“It is awesome for a brewery of our size,” said Matt Kriewall, co-founder of Rally King Brewing. “I believe it can help get the word out more about Rally King and drive people to the taproom.”

Rhoades is a mechanical engineer with plenty of ties to the craft brewing scene. His father was previously part owner of Grand Lake Brewing Co.

“I understand beer and the need for growth,” Rhoades said. “A lot of craft brewers have space constraints and don’t have a lot of solutions of how to get into liquor stores.”

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Rhoades said his canning line system cost about $100,000 to build. It was designed and created by Denver’s Twin Monkeys Beverage Canning Systems.

The system has built-in quality control that automatically rejects bad cans, rinses each can before use and constantly monitors temperatures.

The machine can fill 12-, 16- and 19-ounce cans.

“It’s not a very big system, but it's a workhorse,” Rhoades said.

Rhoadey Canning Solutions is planning to work with breweries across Colorado’s Front Range. It is working to build a distribution network.

The business also plans to help breweries with label design — each beer must have its label approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen.