Thirsty Dog's new bottling line arrives

Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. is adding an Italian-built bottling line to its Akron plant. Two truckloads of new equipment arrived Thursday at the Akron brewery, and more are on the way.

Co-owner John Najeway estimated that the new line and other equipment upgrades represent about a $2 million investment by the company.

The 86-foot bottling line, made by Krones Kosme in Verona, will be able to fill 2,400 bottles an hour, compared with the brewery’s current line that can produce 300 bottles an hour.

“It’s a huge step in efficiency in the manufacturing process and, no pun intended, that’s our bottleneck right now,” Najeway said.

The brewery, which produces such brands as Wulver, 12 Dogs of Christmas and Citra Dog, said the new line also will boost quality because of improved technology that will remove more oxygen from the bottle. Exposure to oxygen damages beer.

“The quality of our packaged product after this is going to be superior,” said Tim Rastetter, who heads brewing operations.

Thirsty Dog will spend the next several weeks assembling the equipment. It hopes the new line will be operating by the end of April.

The craft brewery, one of the largest in Ohio, produces nearly 20,000 barrels a year. Its beer is distributed in 12 states, and the brewery expects to add Florida and Illinois to its distribution footprint this year.