The 2017 Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America took place April 10-13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The event attracted 13,300 brewing professionals. The Craft Brewers Conference featured 140 speakers and 72 seminars across 11 educational tracks, while the BrewExpo America tradeshow showcased 900 exhibitors.

The following are highlights from the 2017 tradeshow:

Ball Corp., Actega DS, Dayton Systems Group (DSG) and Oskar Blues Brewery introduced the new Resealable Crowler at the conference. In 2014, Oskar Blues debuted the original Crowler, can-growler combination, which has surged in popularity and is a trademark of Ball Corp., the company says. Now, DSG provides the Cap Can domes and lined caps for the new Resealable Crowler. Oskar Blues offers the sealing machines for the package. Finally, the TPE sealing compound, SVELOX 5200 L, is a part of Actega DS’ oxygen scavenger product family.

Berlin Packaging, Chicago, reinforced its packaging solutions for craft brewers, including bottles, closures, graphic design, inventory management and more.

Bete Fog Nozzle Inc., Greenfield, Mass., highlighted its HydroClaw clog-resistant nozzle for cleaning tanks.

Bevcorp LLC, Willoughby, Ohio, promoted its bottle and can fillers, including its 28-valve bottle filler, its in-line carbonator and solutions for custom machine guarding.

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Brewery Pak promoted its insurance programs for breweries of all sizes.

Chilton, Wis.-based Briess Malt and Ingredients Co., featured two new malts. Carapils Copper Malt offers beers foam retention; stability; color, contributing copper to red hues; aroma; a balancing body; and malty, graham cracker, toasty flavors. Synergy Select Pilsen Malt is a single-varietal base malt for all beer styles, specifically good for European-style Pilsners and Lagers, the company says. The Synergy Select Pilsen Malt contributes a light golden color along with clean, sweet and mild malty flavors to brews, it adds. The company also highlighted the ASBC Hot Steep Malt Sensory Method, which enables brewers to sample malt flavors and aromas in an alternative to the chew test.

Cargill Specialty Malts, a business unit of Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc., highlighted its Prairie Malt line of malts, which are available in Prairie Malt Pils, Prairie Malt White Wheat and Prairie Malt Rye varietals. It also promoted the rest of its portfolio of malts.

Comanche, Texas-based CMBecker International LLC showcased its custom towers with flow control. Taps can include a variety of aesthetic features, including illumination, cut-outs and bands.

CMC Kuhnke, Albany, N.Y., featured its SEAMscan Package of double-seam inspection for craft brewers.

Combi Packaging Systems LLC, Canton, Ohio, featured its six- and 12-pack bottling lines. Additionally, it highlighted its BrewPack Carrier and Case Former Inserter, which makes bottle-ready cases.

Döehler North America, Cartersville, Ga., promoted its brewing ingredients, including unhopped wort concentrates, hopped wort concentrates and sort wort. Additionally, it highlighted its quality-control solutions for brewers, including the Brewers QCheck Kit and microbial detection solutions.

Deer Park, N.Y.-based DWS Printing Associates Inc. showcased its labeling solutions, including cut-and-stack, pressure-sensitive, shrink-sleeve, and roll-fed labels. It also highlighted its label and packaging design capabilities.

Schafisheim, Switzerland-based Ferrum AG highlighted its canning technology including the ferruCraft FC03 automatic can seamer and the F400 series of automatic can seamers.

Fogg Filler, Holland, Mich., promoted its carbonated filler series, including solutions for double and single pre-evacuation, mechanical and electro-pneumatic carbonated fillers for glass bottles, as well as its can filling series of solutions.

Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Fort Dearborn Co. highlighted its labeling solutions for craft beer brands, including combination printing as well as shrink-sleeve, roll-fed, cut-and-stack, and pressure-sensitive labels.

GEA Group, Columbia, Md., featured several solutions for brewers, including its Craft-Star Artisan Brewhouse, which is a 35-barrel brewhouse with high versatility that installs in two days; Hilg Hygia single-stage, end-suction centrifugal pumps, a brand that the company recently acquired; the HB-05 centrifuge; and its Orbital Series of cleaners, which feature two rotating axes, one horizontal and one vertical.

Atlanta-based Graphic Packaging International Inc. featured its QuikFlex 300 small-footprint, continuous-motion packaging system, and the MarksMan HF small-footprint hand-picking system. It also discussed premiumization and sustainability packaging trends.

HDA Architects, St. Louis, highlighted its experience in and ability to design craft breweries.

HighJump Software Inc., Denver, promoted three software solutions for craft brewers: HighJump Brewers’ Edge, a cloud-based suite of solutions that can be customized for a particular brewery; it’s mobile sales solution, which runs on the Apple iPad or Android tablet and gives sales and delivery personnel key tools at their fingertips; and the HighJump Warehouse Management System.

Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Hitachi America Ltd. highlighted its oil-free air compressors, including the SRL Series, the DSP Series and the SDS Series. It also featured its UX Series and RX2 Series ink jet printers for coding on glass bottles and cans.

KHS USA Inc., Waukesha, Wis., featured three solutions for craft brewers. Launching this month, the Innokeg AF-C is a semi-automatic modular filling and washing system designed for lower-capacity facilities filling kegs. The Innokeg Combikeg is a compact, combined keg washing and racking machine for running as many as 90 standard kegs an hour, while the Innofill Glass Micro DPG is a pneumatically controlled glass bottle filler with a short-tube filling system for low- and medium-capacity facilities.

Krones Inc., Franklin, Wis., featured two of its solutions for craft brewers. The Steinecker MicroCube brewing system is well-suited for small breweries due to its small footprint, the company says. Also exhibited was the Craftmate filler, which is a solution for filling beer into cans, it adds.

Chicago-based Lightweight Containers Inc. exhibited its UniKeg, a lightweight keg featuring a spear and Sankey D fitting. UniKeg is available in 20- and 30-liter capacities and is recyclable.

Mettler Toledo InGold Inc., Billerica, Mass., highlighted its quality-control solutions for craft brewers, including its Dissolved CO2 Sensor, Dissolved Oxygen measurement solutions and tools for in-line process analytics.

Brooksville, Fla.-based Micro Matic USA Inc. exhibited several solutions at its booth, including the Flexi-Draft Unit, from which it offered samples of a nitrogen-infused cold-brew coffee; the GF-14515 Growler Filler; its Pro-Line series of refrigeration and tap stations; as well as its craft soda dispenser caps for dispensing craft soda from a tap. 

Greensboro, N.C.-based Mother Murphy’s promoted its flavor solutions, including vanilla alternatives, hops flavors, TTB-certified beer flavors, and oak and herb flavors.

The National Honey Board, Firestone, Colo., highlighted the ways in which honey complements craft beers, including its ability to add depth and a complex flavor profile, add sweetness to holiday brews, and offer a unique marketing and labeling positon to craft beers. Additionally, it promoted its 2017 Honey Beer Competition, for which entries are due June 30.

Owens-Illinois (O-I), Perrysburg, Ohio, promoted its ability to offer glass packaging solutions to brewers of all sizes, while also reinforcing the benefits of glass packaging. Additionally, it highlighted its Artisan and Growler collections. 

Springfield, Mo.-based Paul Mueller Co. featured its Advanced Serving Beer Tanks, which are equipped with a bottom or front outlet and boast fresher beer at tap, longer shelf life, less beer-handling labor, eliminated beer tank cleaning and decreased consumables, the company says. The company also highlighted its stainless steel wine barrels, which are available in 31- and 75-gallon capacities.

P.E. Labellers USA, Cincinnati, exhibited its Maya thermal-shrinking tunnel running with aluminum cans. 

Pentair, Delavan, Wis., showcased its quality-control solutions for craft brewers as well as its valves and in-line process instrumentation. It also featured its beer membrane filtration solutions.

Batavia, Ill.-based Petainer Manufacturing USA Inc. exhibited its petainerKeg, a PET keg that is available in 20- or 30-liter capacities and specifically are designed for existing brewery filling lines that are used for filling steel kegs, the company says.

Los Angeles-based Rehrig Pacific Co. highlighted the PubKeg, a plastic alternative to stainless steel kegs. PubKeg features a self-venting, pressure-release valve that opens if the internal pressure reaches the maximum working pressure, and then closes when the pressure is reduced.

Roberts PolyPro, a Charlotte, N.C.-based division of Pro Mach Inc., exhibited its new 100 percent recyclable, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) injection-molded can handles, available in two-, four- and six-pack configurations. It also highlighted its MCA10 semi-automatic can handle applicator, which applies HDPE handles to four-and six-packs at speeds as fast as 10 cycles a minute, it says.

Sacmi, Imola, Italy, promoted its complete solutions for the beverage industry along with its move to providing solutions for alcohol beverage packaging.

Separators Inc., Indianapolis, highlighted its remanufactured separators as well as its new website, separatorsinc.com.

Norcross, Ga.-based Siemens Industry Inc. promoted its brewery automation solutions.

Standard-Knapp Inc., Portland, Conn., featured its EZ Picker, an economical bottle-handling tool for glass bottles of various sizes. The company also promoted its Continuous-Motion Case Sealer and its Versatron Case Packer.

Woburn, Mass.-based Vacuum Barrier Corp. featured its liquid Nitrogen dosing systems, exhibiting its EasyDose G2 injection system.

Arlington Heights, Ill.-based Weber Packaging Solutions exhibited its BestCode Series 8 high-speed, non-contact, continuous ink jet printing systems as well as its Model 141-P bottle label printer-applicator, which labels as many as 30 products a minute.

WestRock, Norcross, Ga., highlighted its packaging solutions for the craft beer segment. The company offers carriers, wraps and keg labels along with a variety of design solutions, it says. Additionally, it promoted its ability to provide a consistent brand image among a variety of packaging types.  

Plano, Texas-based World Bottling Cap highlighted its Easy Pull Bottle Cap.

The 2018 Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America, which will take place in conjunction with the 2018 World Beer Cup, will be April 30-May 5, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. BI