Joseph Haggard (pictured) and his wife Michelle Haggard got into the beer business about a year ago when they bought a manual canning system that Joseph then modified using his knowledge from an electrical engineering degree and his time in the field. He hopes to upgrade in the next year. Photos courtesy of Crossroads Mobile Canning
By Erica Tiffany-Brown
Of the Oregon Beer Growler
If you choose to look up the meaning of “crossroads” in the dictionary, you’ll find both a literal definition and a metaphorical one. Or, to save time, you can listen to the narrative of Joseph and Michelle Haggard.
“There’s his story and my story,” Michelle explained when asked about how Crossroads Mobile Canning got its name.
“Which one do you want?” Joseph asked.
I opted for both.
Michelle started, “Over the last five of six years, we’ve wanted to get into the beer industry somehow. We’d looked at several properties off and on, and unfortunately we just didn’t have the capital to actually do it ourselves. There was a property off of Portland Road (in Salem) and I was like, ‘You know, that’d be a really nice place for a taphouse — right there, right on the corner — lots of traffic … and I think I would call it Crossroads.’ That never came to fruition, so when we had this idea for the canning, I still liked the name.”
Joseph added, “That’s her story. Mine was because I became disabled. I lost my job — they let me go. I was at a crossroads in my life. I didn’t want to lay down and die, so…”
A business was born.
Just about a year ago, the Haggards were sitting at Edgefield, watching wine move through a mobile bottling line. Their own wheels got turning, and they realized they knew a lot of breweries in the Salem area and wondered if mobile canning lines existed. After doing some research and discovering both Northwest Canning and Craft Canning + Bottling in Portland, they decided to go for it.
“That’s how it started that one day — the coolness of watching them bottle wine from a trailer,” Michelle said.
When it came time to choosing the right machine, the couple decided on a manual canning system from Cask Brewing Systems in Canada that can accommodate both 12-ounce and 16-ounce cans.
“I was a field service engineer before all this, and the electronics on it were like I had invented it. I’d researched all those other machines and this one’s put together the best. It’s like someone from the field designed it instead of an engineer behind a desk that’s never worked a day in his life in the field,” Joseph said.
“And it’s pretty, too.”
While Michelle isn’t quite as involved in the business— she has a full-time job as a medical laboratory technician —she does help with canning on the weekends and contributes a lot of great ideas, such as designing a few labels for brewers and printing them on the couple’s Primera LX900 color label printer. However, Joseph does about 90 percent of the footwork.
With his electronic engineering degree and background working with voltages of medical and laboratory equipment, Joseph knew that if anything were to go wrong with this machine, he could repair it, because it’s a 220-volt system.
Ever the handyman, Joseph even added wheels to the machine and had it shortened 16 inches. Firstly, to make it fit into their 6-by-12 cargo trailer, and secondly, to make it easier on his body.
“I can’t stand all day, so sitting at it was just the right thing to do.”
Joseph also bought a generator just in case, which makes Crossroads totally mobile now.
So, why did the Haggards choose to go with canning as opposed to bottling?
The duo looked into both, but felt that cans seemed to be the way to go at the time and were growing in popularity with the industry. Their lighter weight and the fact that the entire package is fully recyclable drew them in as well.
“There still seems to be a stigma — it’s just a matter of changing people’s minds about it and pushing the ecological stuff. Plus, if you take it backpacking, you don’t have to worry about bottles breaking or anything like that,” Joseph said.
“It’s a good thing we did, because I don’t think homebrewers would come to me to bottle their beer — they can do it at home.”
But that doesn’t mean they always want to.
Case in point: the hundreds of homebrewers the Haggards have canned for since opening up for business in December 2014.
Keizer-based PBH Brewing — Mike Bauer, Bill Herring and Aaron Pittis — were the first homebrewers to use Crossroads, canning their Red Sled IPA. PBH usually brews 25 gallons at a time, six to 10 times a year. They’ve canned with the Haggards three times so far — around 60 gallons of beer total.
“The cans are a lot easier to store. I don’t have to clean bottles — no cleanup at the end,” Pittis said.
When asked if he would recommend Crossroads to other homebrewers, Pittis’ response was an immediate “Yes, yes, yes. Joe is great to work with and we will continue to use him.”
Endorsement for Crossroads also comes from the two aforementioned fellow mobile canning businesses. Both Justin Brandt of Northwest Canning and Owen Lingley of Craft Canning + Bottling point quite a few homebrewers in the direction of the Haggards.
“Anything that’s too small for them, they send our way,” Joseph said.
Of the Oregon Beer Growler
If you choose to look up the meaning of “crossroads” in the dictionary, you’ll find both a literal definition and a metaphorical one. Or, to save time, you can listen to the narrative of Joseph and Michelle Haggard.
“There’s his story and my story,” Michelle explained when asked about how Crossroads Mobile Canning got its name.
“Which one do you want?” Joseph asked.
I opted for both.
Michelle started, “Over the last five of six years, we’ve wanted to get into the beer industry somehow. We’d looked at several properties off and on, and unfortunately we just didn’t have the capital to actually do it ourselves. There was a property off of Portland Road (in Salem) and I was like, ‘You know, that’d be a really nice place for a taphouse — right there, right on the corner — lots of traffic … and I think I would call it Crossroads.’ That never came to fruition, so when we had this idea for the canning, I still liked the name.”
Joseph added, “That’s her story. Mine was because I became disabled. I lost my job — they let me go. I was at a crossroads in my life. I didn’t want to lay down and die, so…”
A business was born.
Just about a year ago, the Haggards were sitting at Edgefield, watching wine move through a mobile bottling line. Their own wheels got turning, and they realized they knew a lot of breweries in the Salem area and wondered if mobile canning lines existed. After doing some research and discovering both Northwest Canning and Craft Canning + Bottling in Portland, they decided to go for it.
“That’s how it started that one day — the coolness of watching them bottle wine from a trailer,” Michelle said.
When it came time to choosing the right machine, the couple decided on a manual canning system from Cask Brewing Systems in Canada that can accommodate both 12-ounce and 16-ounce cans.
“I was a field service engineer before all this, and the electronics on it were like I had invented it. I’d researched all those other machines and this one’s put together the best. It’s like someone from the field designed it instead of an engineer behind a desk that’s never worked a day in his life in the field,” Joseph said.
“And it’s pretty, too.”
While Michelle isn’t quite as involved in the business— she has a full-time job as a medical laboratory technician —she does help with canning on the weekends and contributes a lot of great ideas, such as designing a few labels for brewers and printing them on the couple’s Primera LX900 color label printer. However, Joseph does about 90 percent of the footwork.
With his electronic engineering degree and background working with voltages of medical and laboratory equipment, Joseph knew that if anything were to go wrong with this machine, he could repair it, because it’s a 220-volt system.
Ever the handyman, Joseph even added wheels to the machine and had it shortened 16 inches. Firstly, to make it fit into their 6-by-12 cargo trailer, and secondly, to make it easier on his body.
“I can’t stand all day, so sitting at it was just the right thing to do.”
Joseph also bought a generator just in case, which makes Crossroads totally mobile now.
So, why did the Haggards choose to go with canning as opposed to bottling?
The duo looked into both, but felt that cans seemed to be the way to go at the time and were growing in popularity with the industry. Their lighter weight and the fact that the entire package is fully recyclable drew them in as well.
“There still seems to be a stigma — it’s just a matter of changing people’s minds about it and pushing the ecological stuff. Plus, if you take it backpacking, you don’t have to worry about bottles breaking or anything like that,” Joseph said.
“It’s a good thing we did, because I don’t think homebrewers would come to me to bottle their beer — they can do it at home.”
But that doesn’t mean they always want to.
Case in point: the hundreds of homebrewers the Haggards have canned for since opening up for business in December 2014.
Keizer-based PBH Brewing — Mike Bauer, Bill Herring and Aaron Pittis — were the first homebrewers to use Crossroads, canning their Red Sled IPA. PBH usually brews 25 gallons at a time, six to 10 times a year. They’ve canned with the Haggards three times so far — around 60 gallons of beer total.
“The cans are a lot easier to store. I don’t have to clean bottles — no cleanup at the end,” Pittis said.
When asked if he would recommend Crossroads to other homebrewers, Pittis’ response was an immediate “Yes, yes, yes. Joe is great to work with and we will continue to use him.”
Endorsement for Crossroads also comes from the two aforementioned fellow mobile canning businesses. Both Justin Brandt of Northwest Canning and Owen Lingley of Craft Canning + Bottling point quite a few homebrewers in the direction of the Haggards.
“Anything that’s too small for them, they send our way,” Joseph said.
Crossroads Mobile Canning is certainly popular with homebrewers — they’ve helped hundreds since opening in December 2014. But the business has canned for Vagabond Brewing which marked the first canned beer in Salem in 50-some years.
Crossroads’ first official canning was actually with an already-established brewery — Vagabond Brewing in Salem.
“Vagabond was gracious enough to host us and we canned 6 barrels of their Into the Wild IPA,” Joseph said.
It was the first canned beer in Salem in 50-some years, so in a sense, Crossroads brought canning back to the state’s capital.
According to the Haggards, there’s “a ton of interest” from some of the smaller commercial breweries in Oregon, but most of them seem to be waiting until they get a little bigger and can produce more beer.
For now, the couple has been keeping busy by hosting monthly canning events for homebrewers at locations all over the state, such as F.H. Steinbart Co., Homebrew Exchange and Hi-Wheel Wine & Mead Co. in Portland, as well as Claim 52 in Eugene and Redmond Craft Brewing Supply.
“Of course, we’re always willing to just do it here (in Keizer) if none of those locations or times meet anybody’s needs,” Michelle adds.
Or, they’ll come to you — Joseph clocked in about 1,500 miles of traveling during the month of August.
Within the next year, the Haggards plan on upgrading from their current manual system to a semi-automated unit with four filler heads and two seamers that would put out triple what they’re doing now.
If all goes well, Michelle would like to be at another sort of crossroads in her life.
“Hopefully, we’d like to make this my full-time job. Get busy enough so that I can switch gears. I’ve been doing the laboratory work since 1978. It’s been a great career — really, no complaints — but I’m to the point where something different would be wonderful. To be able to work with him, side by side…”
“We have a lot of fun doing that,” Joseph concluded.
Crossroads Mobile Canning
[a] 671 Wayne Drive N., Keizer
[p] 503-910-8088
[w] crossroadscanning.com
“Vagabond was gracious enough to host us and we canned 6 barrels of their Into the Wild IPA,” Joseph said.
It was the first canned beer in Salem in 50-some years, so in a sense, Crossroads brought canning back to the state’s capital.
According to the Haggards, there’s “a ton of interest” from some of the smaller commercial breweries in Oregon, but most of them seem to be waiting until they get a little bigger and can produce more beer.
For now, the couple has been keeping busy by hosting monthly canning events for homebrewers at locations all over the state, such as F.H. Steinbart Co., Homebrew Exchange and Hi-Wheel Wine & Mead Co. in Portland, as well as Claim 52 in Eugene and Redmond Craft Brewing Supply.
“Of course, we’re always willing to just do it here (in Keizer) if none of those locations or times meet anybody’s needs,” Michelle adds.
Or, they’ll come to you — Joseph clocked in about 1,500 miles of traveling during the month of August.
Within the next year, the Haggards plan on upgrading from their current manual system to a semi-automated unit with four filler heads and two seamers that would put out triple what they’re doing now.
If all goes well, Michelle would like to be at another sort of crossroads in her life.
“Hopefully, we’d like to make this my full-time job. Get busy enough so that I can switch gears. I’ve been doing the laboratory work since 1978. It’s been a great career — really, no complaints — but I’m to the point where something different would be wonderful. To be able to work with him, side by side…”
“We have a lot of fun doing that,” Joseph concluded.
Crossroads Mobile Canning
[a] 671 Wayne Drive N., Keizer
[p] 503-910-8088
[w] crossroadscanning.com
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