Canning Your Beer?

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Doctor_Wily said:
What are some good ways to get a hold of free bottles? I've read that the twist off bottles are a no go.

One a side note: I have about a dozen glass coke bottles that I thought about bottling a dark beer in just for kicks. It's on the to do list, but for now I'm off to buy bottles for my first brew. 14 bucks for a case of 24.
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I bought most of my bottles, and they came with free beer inside of them. So I drank the beer, then soaked the bottles in Oxi-Clean, rinsed, and tada! Bottles fit for homebrew.

My SWMBO is firmly against me buying empty bottles. SWMBO has let me buy a lot of nice premium beers that were in sweet bomber or swingtop bottles because of this, so it works out quite well for me. Aside from that, I have a lot of Sierra Nevada bottles, quite a few Smithwick bottles, and a few swingtops and bombers from various brands.

Also if you tell your friends you need beer bottles, you will be amazed at how many you wind up with. Just ask them to rinse them well before they give them to you.
 
LabRatBrewer said:
I'd like to see more about that machine. There's no info in the comments section on youtube, other than it's can conditioned. Looks awesome.
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Good Evening, just registered to provide you an answer to this: The machine used is a Dixie brand Canning Machine. They do not give any prices on their website, just advise you to request a quotation.

Cheers!
:mug:
 
Jay; did you ever hear back from them?

Bringing cans up on a week long hunting trip sure would be a lot better than bottles or kegs...
 
Thanks! It seems pretty slick way to do it. I wonder how practical it is in reality. Cans are highly practical as containers though. First you'll need to probably keg the beer, carbonate and chill the beer, and maintain during the canning process I assume. Then you'll need to quickly fill then seal the cans individually without contamination. I suppose you could condition in the can though and can warm. not sure. either way you'd need a keg I would imaging unless you had a gravity fed option. You'd need to buy cans and lids - probably cheaper than bottles and caps, but imagine they are sold in bulk. Then there is the space requirement..
I called them and asked about pricing. will see if I get a response.

TD
 
Better yet, found a local mobile canning co. Going to see if I can work something out. Price is right, under $10 per case.
He's not located too far from me, so hopefully can see what minimum volume he'd be willing to make the trip set and can for. I've got a crap ton, but most is Sours. Sort of wonder how that'd work, methinks bad idea... Stick to normal beers


TD
 
Pretty sure that cans are sold by the pallet or more, although I'm not positive about plain ones. Know that printed cans have an insane MOQ.

Oskar Blues had a manual seamer at their taproom for a while, to seal the early versions of the Crowler. One of those + a deal on cans from a local brewery would be wicked.
 
According to this article Oskar Blues is selling their canning machines for about $3k.
http://www.westword.com/restaurants...other-breweries-for-canned-beer-to-go-5753091

A local growler joint has one and it is an amazing piece of equipment. It seals the cans VERY quickly and does a great job. The place caps on foam so they hold up great. I sent 2 crowlers of IPA and IIPA down to San Diego and the guy kept in the fridge for a little prior to opening. He said the beer was in great condition.
 
The new ones are pretty wicked, version 1.0 was a bit Rube Goldberg- very manual, bit labor intensive, but it worked! I'd settle for all manual on the cheap.
 
Bringing back an old thread. I think this is a pretty neat idea when you look at the benefits of canning. If it became a main stream thing LHBS's would probably stock cans just like they do bottles. I'm just wondering how to get the cost down of a can seamer. I'd probably pay pretty decent money for one and I know there are a lot of equipment nuts on these forums that would love one
 
My local brewery that Im working with got a new canning machine and its pretty sweet. They wanted something besides boring old growlers. The cans are 32oz! I didnt even know they made them that big
 
CCB uses those I believe that they called them Crowlers...

I looked into having a group canning session. There was also an article in BYO or Zymurgy within the last year about this. Found a local small mobile canning outfit, but it sort of fell through during the planning stages. His gear needed special high voltage outlet with 220V and a twist style receptacle. Heck, the dryer outlet for 50A 220V isn't a twist lock so not sure how much amps it pulls. That was the proverbial straw, but also he wanted super chilled beer. I agrued that warm primed beer would be easier for homebrewers doing "bottle" conditioning, and that was the end of it.

I wonder how you sanitize the cans? I also wonder if pricing on smaller units will ever fall into the reach of home enthusiasts budget. Last I checked was several thousand dollars.

TD
 
TrickyDick said:
CCB uses those I believe that they called them Crowlers...

I looked into having a group canning session. There was also an article in BYO or Zymurgy within the last year about this. Found a local small mobile canning outfit, but it sort of fell through during the planning stages. His gear needed special high voltage outlet with 220V and a twist style receptacle. Heck, the dryer outlet for 50A 220V isn't a twist lock so not sure how much amps it pulls. That was the proverbial straw, but also he wanted super chilled beer. I agrued that warm primed beer would be easier for homebrewers doing "bottle" conditioning, and that was the end of it.

I wonder how you sanitize the cans? I also wonder if pricing on smaller units will ever fall into the reach of home enthusiasts budget. Last I checked was several thousand dollars.

TD
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You sanitize the cans the same way you do with bottles, by rinsing them with a sanitizing solution! The full size can lines will typically have a twist/rinse section where they will rinse and flip the cans. For smaller lines, you can just use a spray bottle or dip them in a bucket of sanitizer.

Warm primed beer? Im not sure you can condition beer in a can. I know the mobile canners I have seen offering this service typically just have you dose it out of a cold keg using a beer gun, then run it through the seamer. They dont typically bother hooking the machine up or using the sanitizer for the line.
 
The seamers that are out there that are manually operated are still very industrial and cost quite a bit. You definietly can condition in cans from a pressure standpoint. In fact its much safer, the most you can do is push out the concave bottom or split the seam along the tab opening as opposed to bottle bombs.

I don't think purchasing cans would be that big of a deal. I'm sure if someone could make an economical can seamer they would also be able to provide cans
 
Well it's been a long time coming, but there is finally an economical can seamer for home brewers. Check it out!

Mk12 Can Seamer

This is one of two prototypes. Final asthetics are still being worked out, but functionally it does exactly what it should.

If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Cheers!
 
I judged at a homebrew comp a few weeks ago, and one of the entries was canned...so folks are figuring out how to do it.
 
huntb said:
well it's been a long time coming, but there is finally an economical can seamer for home brewers. Check it out!

mk12 can seamer

this is one of two prototypes. Final asthetics are still being worked out, but functionally it does exactly what it should.

If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Cheers!
Click to expand...

ISO.

caps
 
Doctor_Wily said:
What are some good ways to get a hold of free bottles? I've read that the twist off bottles are a no go.

One a side note: I have about a dozen glass coke bottles that I thought about bottling a dark beer in just for kicks. It's on the to do list, but for now I'm off to buy bottles for my first brew. 14 bucks for a case of 24.
Click to expand...

Buy a case of beer with pop tops, drink, refill. Never buy bottles empty!
 
huntb said:
Well it's been a long time coming, but there is finally an economical can seamer for home brewers. Check it out!

Mk12 Can Seamer

This is one of two prototypes. Final asthetics are still being worked out, but functionally it does exactly what it should.

If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Cheers!
Click to expand...


How much are we talking here?
 
A local pub has a can rimmer at the bar. They sell, to go, what they call 'keglets' of any beer they have on tap. They're 25 oz cans and they run a little more than what a pint sells for at the bar (depending on the beer, they have 60 some beers on tap).
 
huntb said:
Well it's been a long time coming, but there is finally an economical can seamer for home brewers. Check it out!

Mk12 Can Seamer

This is one of two prototypes. Final asthetics are still being worked out, but functionally it does exactly what it should.

If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Cheers!
Click to expand...

Holy **** I want this so bad.
 
We haven't come up with a set price just yet. But think somewhere in the ballpark of $1k.

We will also be selling the cans and lids.
 
Subdivisions said:
A local pub has a can rimmer at the bar. They sell, to go, what they call 'keglets' of any beer they have on tap. They're 25 oz cans and they run a little more than what a pint sells for at the bar (depending on the beer, they have 60 some beers on tap).
Click to expand...

Our final version will be able to do 12 and 16 Oz cans. We've had interest from several breweries so far!
 
Assuming this thing comes in at under $1k, count me in.

Got an ETA for going into full production?
 
huntb said:
We haven't come up with a set price just yet. But think somewhere in the ballpark of $1k.

We will also be selling the cans and lids.
Click to expand...

If you manage to keep it under a 1000 bucks and the cans and such is reasonable youre gonna sell more than a few of these Id say. I keg 90 percent of my beer but if I could can Id probably can more just for mobilities sake. Its not something I need but something id want eventually...
 
Well fellas, website is up and orders are being accepted! Sorry about the price bump, but we are really happy with the robustness of the final design. Several breweries have been using it now for a while and everyone seems to be really happy with it! I just canned a batch of my harvest ale a couple weeks ago and conditioned in the can. Turned out perfectly carbonated!

www.oktoberdesign.com

Cheers!
 
Wow. Wow. Wow.

Did i mention Wow?


The machine price is inline of expectations. For this to really take off I think the can price needs to come down some. But of course like with anything early adopters will pay a premium until quantity of scale can be leveraged.

Also once it's possible to can your beer bigger distributers would have incentive to start carrying empties.


Very cool. Keep it up and keep us informed!!
 
Hey all,

I'm new to the forum. If anyone is looking for an affordable can seamer for sealing beer cans, Wells Can Company is selling them.

Right now the price is sitting at just over $1000.00 Canadian dollars. That's under 1k USD. Check out our landing page at www.homebeercanning.com.

Love to hear what you guys think!
 
huntb said:
Well fellas, website is up and orders are being accepted! Sorry about the price bump, but we are really happy with the robustness of the final design. Several breweries have been using it now for a while and everyone seems to be really happy with it! I just canned a batch of my harvest ale a couple weeks ago and conditioned in the can. Turned out perfectly carbonated!

www.oktoberdesign.com

Cheers!
Click to expand...


Really solid looking and reasonably affordable machine. I've been interested in a canning machine for a while now. One of the biggest downsides was that you could really only buy cans by the pallet...nice to see you guys offering smaller quantities. I know what my Christmas bonus might be going to this year :)
 

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