Brewery Vivant opened in early 2011 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The owner, Jason Spaulding, was one of the founders of New Holland Brewing Company and is one of the pillars of the Michigan craft beer community. He is doing something unique and brewing primarily Belgian and French-influenced beer and in an unusual location.
Located in the historic East Hills neighborhood, Brewery Vivant moved into a building that was once a chapel. The owners got their inspiration from the small farmhouse breweries in Southern Belgium and Northern France and are passionate about the tradition and artistic approach of the Belgian & French styles. The former funeral chapel reminded them of a French monastery.
And they added a canning system to their brew house
They are entering the retail market with 16 oz. cans. Their first three labels are an Abbey ale called Solitude, a Belgian-style IPA called Triomphe, and a French Style Farmhouse Ale called Farm Hand. They felt that the physical footprint of the Cask canning line was very small, allowing them to better utilize their space and also requiring fewer material resources for the equipment itself.
They plan on distributing their packaged products throughout Michigan and the greater Chicago area. However, due to their popularity, they currently can’t keep up with the local demand.
Why cans?
Because of their commitment to the environment. They set out to build a sustainable brewery and felt the advantages over bottles made it clear that this was the right package for their beer (cans are lighter to ship, aluminum is easy to recycle and facilities exist in almost every area throughout the country).
And they are truly committed to sustainability. In fact, they’ve created a full sustainability policy which outlines their company goals. And their policy doesn’t just address how they interact with the environment, it also involves their customers…
Goal #6. 10% onsite renewable energy generation Bike-powered television
For the Superbowl, they debuted a large screen LED TV that is bike powered. If customers want to watch something, they have to pedal for it. The low powered LED TV needs about 120 watts of power to operate. An average person can generate about 110 watts through normal to vigorous pedaling. They have a bike generator that will power a battery in which the TV is plugged into.
Our automated and manual canning systems offer a cost effective way to enter the can packaging segment. To learn more you can go to www.cask.com and see a demonstration of our automated system and learn about all of the benefits of canning.
