Different packaging options and a wide variety of products – on a single dry end

The Bischofshof brewery in Regensburg has been making beer for more than 370 years. In 1649, then-Prince-Bishop Wilhelm Graf von Wartenberg established the brewery directly adjacent to the city's iconic St. Peter's Cathedral.

At the start of the 20th century, a lack of space and the risk of fire so close to the cathedral prompted the brewery's move outside the city center to its current location in the Margaretenau district. Besides the Bischofshof beers, the location has since 1973 also been filling the beers produced by the world's oldest monastic brewery, Weltenburger Klosterbrauerei.

"The Bischofshof brewery has not only undergone but driven constant change over the centuries – from societal transformation right through to the production of its beers. This openness allowed the brewery to embrace and implement innovation while at the same time maintaining tradition. And that is exactly what safeguards a company's future," says Susanne Horn, the brewery's managing director, of Bischofshof's path into the 21st century. "It helps that we make one of the best products ever: beer."

Choosing Krones was easy: "We decided to go with the dry end from Krones because we've seen the technological advances that Krones has made and because we appreciate doing business locally and keeping transport distances short. And of course, because they offered great value for money," explains Darko Zimmer.

Although Bischofshof only uses five different beer carriers as packaging variants, the overall complexity of production is higher. That's because the brewery not only fills the Bischofshof and Weltenburger brands but also does contract filling for partners in the region. For domestic sales, Bischofshof exclusively uses returnable glass bottles. But exports are filled into new glass, which is where the Smartpac packer and unpacker can really shine: With its pick-and-place   operation and a wide range of gripper heads, it can handle a huge array of different containers and secondary packaging.