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Forget Bottles, What About Cans?
Enjoying some Oskar Blues right now. This beer comes in a can and not in a bottle. Really a cool idea, I think. It shows that cans are not just for Bud Light and the like.
My question is this: anyone know of any homebrewer canning options? I'd love to see how I could package my own beer into cans.
I really don't think there's a feasible home option. Even a tiny used canning line can run you $50K easily. The thing is it isn't some small machine you could squeeze into your basement. It's an actual line that takes up huge rooms in a factory. If you find anything different, let me know. 
yeah man its not something u just buy a small handhelp machine and poof u can can beers
plus , i dont know if u have ever tasted beer from can vs bottle but there is a HUGE metalic flavour to canned beers! (could just be me and EVERYONE i know )
I don't have any particular reason to believe that there's no such thing as a hand-operated canning device. Before I started brewing, I wouldn't have thought I could just put a bottle cap onto a bottle. And I thought it a mystery of industry to fill a keg. So until the people that make the canning machines tell me the smallest canning option takes a 2000 square foot room and costs $10K, I'll keep looking.
If you read the original post, you'll see I was drinking an awesome craft beer from a can. I am working on three different packs of Oskar Blues beer, from cans, and there's no metallic taste whatsoever. Think about Guinness pub cans vs. the widget bottle - they're the same thing. It has been a lot of years since cans imparted a metallic taste to beer. After all the work A-B and their massive brewing friends put into making a perfectly consistent product, do you really think they're going to package it in something that creates an unwanted flavor? I think the preconception of a metallic taste from canned beer comes from the fact that most canned beer (BudMillerCoors, etc) tastes like mineral water in the first place. But it tastes the same from a bottle, too. Take a can of anything and a bottle of the same thing and pour each into its own glass. Then ask anyone you know to tell you which came from the can and which came from the bottle. If anything, the canned sample will seem fresher, since there's no light penetration into a can and less air/headspace in a can.
Wizlock23 wrote:
yeah man its not something u just buy a small handhelp machine and poof u can can beers
plus , i dont know if u have ever tasted beer from can vs bottle but there is a HUGE metalic flavour to canned beers! (could just be me and EVERYONE i know )
If I poured two beers into two glasses one from the can and one from the bottle and gave it to you blind, I'd challenge you to find the canned beer.
Cans are superior to bottles. I think most people smell the aluminum can when they drink from it, and assume that are tasting it. But there isn't any aluminim in the beer. pour out the beer and taste it.
Its an easy experiment because you can get any american lager in both can and bottle form.
We all agree that lagers are so delicate to brew and there is nothing to hid off lfavors. SO if there is metal taste in the canned beer, then on a poured side by side taste test it should be obvious....
It won't be. Tried it myself.
If you find a home canning idea let me know... it'd be fun to have cans occasionally ( but I am still attached to my bottles)
I think ksbrainard makes a good defense. I actually prefer the Guinness pub cans to the bottles. Maybe people don't like cans because of the beer they associate it with (ie Bud, Miller, Coors).
FirePitBrew wrote:
I think ksbrainard makes a good defense. I actually prefer the Guinness pub cans to the bottles. Maybe people don't like cans because of the beer they associate it with (ie Bud, Miller, Coors).
Pay attention to what you are buying with guiness. The cans are one type of beer and that's the traditional Draught Stout you are used to. You can get an export Stout in a bottle and a Porter in a bottle. All Guiness products, but not always the guiness you are looking for.
There are about 5 stout-like Guiness products on the market. So when you buy one and you don't like it take a closer look at the label and be sure you purchased Draught Stout and not something else.
brewchez wrote:
Pay attention to what you are buying with guiness. The cans are one type of beer and that's the traditional Draught Stout you are used to. You can get an export Stout in a bottle and a Porter in a bottle. All Guiness products, but not always the guiness you are looking for.
I guess I should have been a little more specific. The 2 Guinness that I was talking about are the nitro can and nitro bottle with the black plastic label; not the extra stout in the short brown bottle.
OK, Here it is, this is how it can be done. Be sure to navigate to the vids, it's way cool. I guess you have to contact the company for prices. If anyone does, please post it.
How you can can your own beer
www.cask.com
this is how your craft brew got into cans
I got the price list from them,
http://www.cask.com/quotes/Canning%20Quote.pdf
be for warned, it's not cheap, but I'll venture it's the best value you will find.
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