Incredible new images have been released showing three giant 30-tonne fermentation vessels being craned into position at Molson Coors after bringing Burton roads to a standstill last month.

The three large fermentation vessels measuring 20m which arrived in Burton on June 6 have been transported over Molson Coors’ Hawkins Lane bridge and craned into position on the Burton Brewery site.

Huge cranes were seen across Burton

Each 30-tonne vessels has to be manoeuvred upright for the storage of yeast and wort, the liquid that contains the sugars that will turn into alcohol during the brewing process.

Now the fermentation vessels are in position the next step is to connect and commission them. This process will take around six weeks to complete.

Capable of holding 400,000 litres, equivalent to 840,000 pints, the vessels are a vital part of Molson Coors' £100 million investment in the Burton brewery site and help secure the town's status as the home of brewing in the UK.

The vessel being moved into place

The tanks were built in Emmen, in the Netherlands, and had to travel more than 600 miles via sea and land before slowly weaving their way through Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

Crowds were in Burton to catch a glimpse of the vessels as they slowly made their way down the A38 towards Claymills, last month. The southbound carriageway was closed to allow the vessels to travel northbound from the Egginton junction.

The section of the A38 between Egginton and Claymills was closed at 8.50pm and ten minutes later the convoy had travelled down the A38 on the wrong side, getting off at Claymills and headed into the town centre. Having been stored at the Burton Brewery, it made its way to the Hawkins Road site last week.

The vessels were lifted by cranes

Over the past five years, Burton Brewery has undergone transformational change which has delivered a number of sustainability initiatives, including:

  • A new 'energy centre' to support Molson Coors' global ambition of reducing energy usage by 25 per cent by 2020
  • A new bottling line which has increased volume capacity and enabled packaging innovation
  • A new beer processing area which provides modern brewing technology
  • Shrink wrap technology for beer packaged in cans, which has enabled further efficiency to
  • improve Molson Coors' environmental impact including four per cent carbon benefit.