Sharp’s Brewery is a British regional brewery company founded in 1994 in Rock, Cornwall, by Bill Sharp. The brewery produces 1.5 million pints a week and is best known for its flagship ale Doom Bar. Measured by value of sales Doom Bar has become the most popular cask beer in Britain and has been instrumental in increasing the brewer’s sales.

In 2011 American beer company Molson Coors bought Sharp’s and within the first year under the new ownership sales rose by 22 per cent. Over the past seven years Sharp’s Brewery has gone from strength to strength with increased staff numbers from 70 to 148 and its distribution increasing to more than 7,000 pubs across the UK.

To support the brewer’s capital expansion plan for the further growth of its production capacity, the brewery required a productive solution for handling the extensive number of kegs and casks, which are moved on its site every day. Following a full site inspection and discussions with the warehouse team, B&B Attachments, the UK’s leading supplier of forklift attachments supplied the brewery with three KAUP Keg Clamp attachments.

The KAUP Keg Clamp attachments supplied from B&B Attachments were fitted to Toyota forklift trucks. The Keg Clamp attachment provides a secure grip of kegs and casks and ensures ease of movement of both full and empty barrels around the yard and production facility. The Keg Clamp attachment allows for up to 18 barrels to be handled in a single lift. It provides the driver with excellent visibility when approaching the load, whilst also increasing driver confidence and ensuring safe and secure handling on site.

It is the ultimate solution for improving productivity when product handling to support the growth of the brewers. The standard features of the Keg Clamp include low profile stabilisers with long lasting rubber pad, wear indicators on tines, solenoid valve and end of stroke cushioning on side shift movement. The Keg Clamp’s strong frame design includes increased overlaps between arm carrier and frame which makes the attachment durable and robust. The rubber insert grips the lower kegs and prevents slippage or loss of irregular kegs from the stack.

Christian Fitzpatrick, Warehouse Manager at Sharp’s Brewery comments “These attachments are used every day, enabling fast and reliable loading, unloading and end of line support. They also ensure that we are handling our products in the safest most productive way possible with reduced labour time.”

B&B Attachments specialise in the design and manufacture of bespoke forklift truck attachment solutions, creating products for customers’ with specific material handling requirements.