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After a number of years kegging our beers and occassionally packaging into bottles, we wanted to try our hand at canning. In order to make the process as quick and easy as possible, we decided to invest in the RAPT Cannular Can & Bottle Filler. Read on to see how it performs in our detailed hands on review.
Introduction
Packaging finished beer can be a difficult process to do well, with one of the biggest challenges being oxygen ingress, which with even the tiniest amount can lead to the beer-ruining consequences of oxidation. There's also often issues with foaming which can lead to "low-fill" cans and an associated loss of carbonation.
We recently got our hands on a second hand Cannular can seaming machine, which got us looking into ways to get our finished beer out of the keg and into a can before seaming that addresses the aforementioned challenges. When bottling, we use a counter-pressure bottle filler which we've had great results with, but isn't compatible with the wider opening of a can.
So, let's dive in and take an in-depth look at our experience with the RAPT Cannular Can & Bottle Filler from KegLand.
Packaging
Packaging is basic and minimal, but pleasingly comes with a fully assembled unit which includes;
- Main Cannular filler body
- Integrated ball lock posts for liquid and gas
- Liquid and gas stainless tubes and hose connections
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| Cannular Can & Bottle Filler Packaging/Box |
All the hoses and disconnects were put together with all the necessary clamps and connections in place, so all that was left to do was to slot the stainless tubes onto their respective clips.
Key Features
The RAPT Bottle & Can filler boasts a number of great features to help make the filling process as quick and seamless as possible.
Plastic & Stainless Body
The Filler is constructured of an upper plastic module with a stainless steel platform where the filling happens. Filling bottles and cans can be messy business so stainless is a great design choice since it's hard wearing and relatively easy to clean.
OLED Digital Display
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| The Cannular Filler has one of the smallest screen displays we've seen |
Measuring only 22 x 12mm in size, this has got to be one of the smallest displays we've ever seen on any device. The display is monochrome (black/white), but is surprisingly clear and easy to read and offers up to 5 lines of text to be displayed.
Navigation Buttons
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| The standard RAPT device buttons/interface |
The control interface features four buttons (Up, Down, Select/Enter and Back) which are common across most of the products in the RAPT platform. This makes navigating the menus and interface reasonably intuitive and straight forward, especially if you've ever used any of the other RAPT devices before like the RAPT Temperature Controller.
Integrated Ball Lock Posts
The top of the filler has two plastic ball lock posts for attaching your liquid and gas lines to. They're colour coded as well using the standard colours from KegLand (yellow for liquid, red for gas) which means attaching your lines is quick and easy without needing to mess around with other types of clamps or attachments.
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| Integrated ball lock posts (colour coded) on the top of the Cannular Filler |
Pinch Valve
An integrated pinch valve is used to pinch or crimp the liquid line to block the flow of liquid. Once a fill is initiated, the pinch valve release and allows liquid to flow through the line. This is another excellent design choice as it's completely sanitary since the pinch valve doesn't actually come into contact with any liquid, so no need for additional cleaning of any extra ball valves or other mechanisms.
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| Integrated pinch valve on the Cannular Filler is an excellent design idea |
The pinch valve can also be manually depressed using your finger if you need to test or top up a small amount after a fill preset has completed. This makes total sense really, as having to initiate and stop another fill wouldn't work since the first step is for a gas purge to be run (which would lead to bubbling and spraying of the nearly-full vessel you're filling as the gas tube also remains submerged with the liquid tube during filling), and having to navigate the menu just to initiate a separate function to fill with no purge on the small screen would also be a frustrating experience.
Integrated Gas Regulator
One of the key features of a filler like this is it's ability to purge the vessel to be filled with gas (typically carbon dioxide) prior to filling. This helps to reduce the amount of residual oxygen in the vessel to prevent oxidation from occurring.
The Cannular Can & Bottle Filler features a built-in gas regulator meaning you can attach your gas source at just about any pressure and reduce (regulate it) using the adjustment screw located on the main body behind the stainless tubes - as pictured below.
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| Gas regular adjustment on the Cannular Filler |
We'll cover the adjustment process later on in this review.
WiFi Connectivity
Like most of the other products in KegLand's RAPT portfolio, the Cannular Can & Bottle Filler features built-in WiFi, allowing you to connect it to the Internet. The primary benefit from this is to enable firmware updates to be easily deployed to the device, but also allows for the Filler to be integrated into the RAPT Portal.
It's also worth pointing out that like many Internet of Things (IoT) devices, it only utilises the older 2.4GHz WiFi frequency, so you'll need to make sure your wireless router has this enabled in order to be able to connect the Filler to your wireless network.
RAPT Portal Integration
Integration with the online RAPT Portal allows some telemetry such as number of fills, average fill time and fills per minute to be logged and viewed via the portal in either a web browser or using the RAPT mobile app (available on iOS and Android).
At a homebrew scale this type of information seems fairly trivial but perhaps in a commercial environment it could offer some useful insights into staff/device performance and efficiency.
Another use for the RAPT Portal integration is the ability to update and customise fill profiles from a separate device rather than using the built-in screen and buttons on the Filler itself.
Mounting
The Cannular Can & Bottle Filler was ultimately designed to be wall mounted, which is fine, but didn't really suit our garage setup.
We found a cheap and simple mounting alternative though which is to mount the Filler onto a piece of MDF timber, and fasten a couple of high-strength magnets to the back of it.
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| Filler + Magnets + MDF = easy mounting solution |
This allows us to "mount" the Filler onto the door of our garage fridge, which is ideal for our setup as we connect our liquid line directly from the Nukatap in the fridge door using a special ball lock disconnect tap spout.
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| Cannular filler mounted to our fridge |
The heavy duty magnets we used have more than enough strength to hold the weight of the Filler - the only time it ever moved was when applying downward force to fasten a disconnect onto one of the posts on the top of the unit. This was easily countered though by supporting underneath the base of the filler with the other hand when attaching the disconnect.
Although we'd like to claim this mounting idea as our own, we have to give credit to The Portly Gentleman on YouTube who shared the idea of using the magnets in this video. In his case he used it to fasten the filler to the side of his Cannular Can Seamer which would also work really well.
KegLand also provided a mounting template that you can print and use to drill your holes if wall mounting to make sure you get the spacing of the mounting screws correct the first time.
How It Works
We think it's worth taking a moment to explain exactly how the Filler works to give the most accurate fills possible time after time. Rather than using a time or volume based measurement, the RAPT Cannular Can & Bottle Filler works off a pressure sensor that reads the pressure within the gas tube whilst filling is underway to calculate the fill height.
It's a clever way of approaching the challenge of consistent fills. Time-based would be problematic because of varying flow rates, and potentially varying amounts of foam as well. And volume based measurements either require some kind of flow meter which require contact witht the liquid and are a potential source of infection if not cleaned thoroughly.
Using pressure, in theory at least, makes alot of sense and should lead to consistent fills regardless of the flow rate or the amount of foam encountered during the fill.
Calibration
Now that we understand that the fill level is based off pressure, we need to calibrate the unit to tell it what the pressure is when the gas tube is submerged in a vessel filled with liquid to a known height. This can then be extrapolated out to calculate what pressure is required/expected at just about any fill height.
It perhaps sounds a bit more complicated than it really is, and thankfully the built-in calibration sequence is fast and straight forward to undertake with clear on-screen prompts to follow.
Prior to running the calibration, you need to mark the gas tube with a known height/distance (from the end of the tube, not from the platform). We used 100mm as this is the default option available when running a calibration, but you can use whatever distance you like.
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| Gas tube marked at 100mm with a permanent marker for calibration |
Next, after selecting Calibrate from the menu, the screen instructs you to remove any vessel/liquid from the filler so it can purge the gas line and calculate what the atmospheric pressure is.
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| Cannular Can & Bottle Filler - calibration screen |
It doesn't actually state or confirm that anything has been done - it simply just returns you to the main screen so some kind of confirmation message here would be beneficial so you can be confident that the calibration has completed successfully.
Adjusting the Built-In Regulator
We previously mentioned the onboard gas regulator, which can be adjusted to increase or decrease the flow rate of gas during the purge cycle.
The process for adjusting this is incredibly straight forward, and can be done by turning the adjustment knob clockwise to increase the flow or counter-clockwise the decrease the flow rate.
In order to visualise what the flow rate of gas actually is, simply submerge the gas tube into a vessel filled with water and initiate a fill. You can use one of the custom fill profiles and adjust the purge time to something a bit longer - like 10 seconds to give you a reasonable amount of time to make the adjustment while the gas is flowing, which you can see based on the bubbling that occurs.
A nice, steady bubble rate is ideal - there's no need for a huge flow rate as you'll essentially just be using and arguably wasting more gas during the purge cycle than is necessary to effectively purge the inside of the vessel you're filling.
Operation
Platform/Tube Adjustment
The Filler is suitable for filling bottles up to 30cm in height or cans up to 27cm. In order to cater for the vast array of can and bottle sizes available, the stainless steel platform is easily adjustible by loosening the two wing nuts on either side and sliding the platform up or down, then re-tightening to secure in place.
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| Cannular Filler features wing nuts on the side for easy platform height adjustment |
The liquid and gas tube height can also be adjusted by simply sliding them up and down whilst they're clipped into place. It's definitely a good idea to have the liquid tube as close to the bottom of the vessel being filled as possible to minimise splashing and foaming.
Main Display
- Selected profile/preset
You can use the navigation buttons on the Filler to select a different preset to use for filling.
- Unit status
When not filling will show as "Ready" and changes to a progress bar during fill to show progress/level.
- Offset
You can apply an offset on-the-fly for quick, minor adjustments to the fill level rather than adjusting the actual fill preset.
- Fill Number
The number of fills that have been completed. It's not clear if this can be reset
- CPM
CPM stands for "Cans per Minute" and is a simple metric of how many cans are filled per minute based on data from previous fills.
- AFT
AFT stands for "Average Fill Time" which as you could probably guess, is the average time taken to fill each can based on data from previous fills.
You can use the navigation buttons on the Filler to select a different preset to use for filling.
When not filling will show as "Ready" and changes to a progress bar during fill to show progress/level.
You can apply an offset on-the-fly for quick, minor adjustments to the fill level rather than adjusting the actual fill preset.
The number of fills that have been completed. It's not clear if this can be reset
CPM stands for "Cans per Minute" and is a simple metric of how many cans are filled per minute based on data from previous fills.
AFT stands for "Average Fill Time" which as you could probably guess, is the average time taken to fill each can based on data from previous fills.
Interestingly, after our first filling session, the Fill number remained but CPM and AFT values reset to 0.
Selecting a Preset
A number of factory presets are provided with a standard/baseline configuration for the following vessel sizes;
- 330mL can
- 500mL can
- 1000mL can
- 330mL bottle
- 500mL bottle
- 750mL bottle
- 1000mL bottle
- Custom Fill A
- Custom Fill B
- Custom Fill C
From the main screen, the very first line states which profile is currently loaded/selected, and can be changed by using the navigation buttons on the Filler.
The "Go" Button
The main button on the front panel initiates the fill sequence. The button itself has a green-lit outline, and is of course splash resistant to ensure that no liquid can get inside and cause it to malfunction.
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| The green-lit, splash resistant Go button on the Cannular Filler |
We must admit it's pretty satisfying pressing this button then sitting back and watching the proverbial magic happen.
There's something innately satisfying about the clicking of solenoids and purging of gas that makes you feel like you're working a real brewery canning line - though we do recognise that the canning line isn't always considered the most glamorous of brewery roles, it's still kind of neat at a homebrew level.
Let's Talk About Foam
One of the most important aspects when we're talking about filling/packaging of finished beer is the amount of foam you get. This would without a doubt be the biggest issue that users of the Cannular Can & Bottle Filler will face, so there's a few things we need to cover.
"Capping on foam" is the mantra when it comes to filling bottles and cans - with ideally a tiny amount of spillage when you place the cap on the bottle or lid on the can. Having the headspace above the liquid level consist of foam all but eliminates the ability of oxygen to remain in that headspace once the bottle cap or can lid is sealed into place.
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| First pours will often have lots of foam... |
The actual mantra should be "capping on the right amount of foam" because too much foam will mean too much headspace once the foam subsides post-sealing of the can/bottle. This headspace will then be filled with carbon dioxide that comes out of solution in the beer potentially leading to a packaged product that is under-carbonated.
Too little foam is also problematic and may lead to aggresive foaming when the can is opened.
As we've previously mentioned, the Cannular calculates the fill height based off the pressure in the package and foam has a minimal impact on this. Having too much foam during a fill will result in spillage as foam cascades out of the top of the vessel until the desired fill height is reached - based on the actual liquid level/pressure.
This can be a bit daunting at first, especially when filling cans as you can't actually see what the fill level is. Watching the foam steadily rise to the top and wondering whether it will stop in time or just keep going and pour mountains of foam onto the floor can take a little getting used to, but like most things once you get it dialled in and understand it, it's incredibly reliable and consistent.
Tips to Minimise Foam During Filling
A few tips to help minimise foaming during filling:
- Remove Poppets: Removing the poppets from the ball lock post and the disconnect that attaches to the ball lock post on the Filler is recommended by KegLand to help reduce foaming.
Note: after doing this the disconnect no longer becomes a "dry break" disconnect so liquid will continue to flow out of it after you disconnect it (so disconnect the other end of the attached line first).
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| A ball lock disconnect with poppet removed |
- Chill It: Get your beer as cold as possible prior to filling. We had our beer sitting between 1°C and 2°C for filling with approximately 13psi of carbonation and serving pressure.
- First pour foam: Similar to a pouring beers from a kegerator, the foam on the first pour will likely be higher because of the temperature difference between the beer and the lines it comes into contact with. This causes a rapid change in temperature that forces carbon dioxide to come out of solution rapidly and leads to foaming.
We certainly experienced this and had significantly less foam from second pours onwards, so don't freak out or give up if you first pour has lots of foam. Make the first pour a "sacrificial" one into a schooner (for quality control of course), and begin packaging from the second pour onwards. - Filling line length: Comparing to a kegerator setup again, beer line length is important to "balance" the system. A line that is too short won't provide enough resistance and lead to carbon dioxide gas coming out of solution and foaming.
For our setup, we use a 2.5m length of 4mm internal diameter (ID) beer line from our keg to our Nukatap in the door of the fridge. We then connected the Filler directly to the Nukatap (using a ball lock disconnect tap head) using another 1.5m line which worked very well, and gave us a 4m total line length from keg to liquid post on the filler
Dripping & Wastage
There's no doubt that filling can be messy, especially when you're getting your equipment and process dialled in and perhaps dealing with excessive foaming. Even then, you'll inevitably end up with some spillage and waste when capping on foam, but it's the cost of doing business when we're talking about packaging beer.
It's definitely a good idea to sit a bucket or other large container underneath the filler when using it to catch the inevitable drips and spills. Not that you can re-use what is captured, it just saves you cleaning up a sticky mess later on.
As a matter of interest, we decided to measure what was caught after our first filling session, and it was approximately 300mL of beer from filling 17 cans. A little less than a single can wasted.
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| We had approx 300mL of spillage in a bucket under our filler |
We're not sure if this is good or bad but we'd like to think we'd have a little less spillage next time now that we understand some of the foaming issues a little better.
Our Results
From our test canning run of 17 (330mL) cans, we went ahead and weighed them the following day to see how consistent the fill levels were;
- 345g - 1
- 346g - 1
- 347g - 1
- 349g - 1
- 350g - 1
- 351g - 2
- 352g - 4
- 353g - 2
- 354g - 4
From the above data, we'd conclude that the ideal fill would be 350-354g, which accounts for 13/17 of the cans. The other 4 could be considered "low" but even then, they're only a few grams off the ideal target, which equates to only a few mL of beer.
We also suspect that the low fill ones were "first pour" cans - as our filling session was interrupted a few times that required us to step away from the Filler for a few minutes which was enough time for the temperature to creep back up and lead to a bit more foam when getting things underway again.
In any case, we think the above numbers show the Filler is able to provide reasonably consistent fill levels, with a range of only 9g between the heaviest and lightest cans.
Cleaning
The least glamorous but often overlooked part of brewing (and packaging) equipment is cleaning, but thankfully it seems this was a key consideration in the design of the Cannular Filler.
Because of the clever pinch valve design, there are no other internal parts to clean besides the beer line (and liquid disconnect post) which can easily be removed by unscrewing the post, and depressing the pinch valve to release the silicone beer line. The post, silicone tube and steel tube can then be rinsed out under a tap.
The rest of the unit such as the top (where some light spillage may occur when removing the liquid disconnect) and the steel base tray can simply be wiped over.
No need for harsh cleaning chemicals or recirculating cleaners or sterilisers which makes cleaning the Filler an absolute breeze and can be done in a few minutes.
The beer line once cleaned can be left to air/drip dry.
In the event of build up, mould or anything else visibly growing in the beer line, it can easily be replaced with another piece of silicone tubing which is cheap and easy to obtain (just make sure you get the right diameter tubing).
Troubleshooting
User Guide
KegLand have been doing a bit of work in recent times building up their online documentation to support their product line, and the online documentation for the RAPT Can Filler can be found here.
There is some great info in here, including some details on removing poppets to help reduce foam, running a calibration, adjusting the built in regular, as well cleaning and installing some other optional upgrades.
However, some rather basic information like what "AFT" and "CPM" are (which are displayed on the main screen) is non-existent.
There's also no information or mention of other options within the Settings menu such as "Empty Pressure", "Calibration Function", "Minimum Fill Rate", "Fill Timeout" and "Temperature Offset". Sure, we'll admit some of these are fairly self explanatory but making no mention of them at all (except for adjusting some of them in the Troubleshooting table) seems like a bit of an oversight.
Pleasingly, we didn't encounter any errors or have any difficulties in using our Filler, however there appears to be a reasonable amount of information in the Troubleshooting section to help navigate common issues that users may experience.
Price
At the time of writing, the RAPT Cannular Can and Bottle Filler sells for AU$195.95 on the KegLand website.
Final Thoughts
Our initial experience with the Filler has been largely positive. A simple yet clever design, that's easy to clean and ultimately does what it's advertised to do it should be a tempting prospect to any homebrewer looking for a way to package their finished beer more consistently and arguably, more quickly.
The price point should put it in reach of most homebrewers but may be hard to justify if you're not packaging your finished beers very often, or only need to do a few at a time for competitions or to share with others.
We also feel like a counter-pressure bottle filler is a better option if you're packaging into bottles. Using a counter-pressure device (we believe) has less risk of oxygen ingress and foaming from occurring, but is a bit more manual/labour intensive. However, we'll admit a counter-pressure filler isn't anywhere near as fun as the button-initiated, solenoid clicking and gas hissing experience of using the Cannular Filler.
If you're packaging into cans it's almost a must-have, with the only realistic alternative being an old-school beer gun, which would probably work fine but given it's manual nature may be a little less consistent.
Once you get your settings and setup dialled in, it makes for a reasonably streamlined and efficient filling session, but getting to this point may take a bit of trial and error, so be prepared for a bit of foam and associated mess and loss. It's certainly worthwhile giving the online documentation for the Filler a read through to help familiarise yourself with the features as well, but keep in mind that not all settings and options are currently covered.
Ultimately, we feel the Filler does what it's advertised to do, so if you're looking for a way to make packaging day a little more fun and you're prepared to spend the money, it's certainly worth a go. We can also see how it would be beneficial to small-scale breweries looking to move into the packaging game without breaking the bank with a full-scale canning line.
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