Craft Beer in a Can (Bad Experience?)

I can't get 21st Amendment beers at home in CT. I'm in Atlanta for work right now and, after hearing of them on the Brewing Network, decided to pick up a 6 pack of their IPA to take back to the hotel.

Holy crap it tastes like metal. I mean bad. To be sure it wasn't just in my head, I changed glasses and opened another. Same taste and it's not subtle. It's like licking a metal fence or something. I then went and got a Sweetwater IPA (love that beer) just to compare and be sure. The Sweetwater tasted great.

Is it the can? Or did I just happen to get a bad 6 pack (I've opened 5 now and they all have the same taste).

If it tastes like metal, I wouldn't blame the can. Oskar Blues stuff comes in cans and tastes excellent. And with macros, you can't taste the difference if you pour it between a can and a bottle.

I've had 21A IPA and it's never tasted like metal to me. Maybe you got a bad batch...

A metallic taste can't be a good thing. I have had a lot of canned craft, (ska, tallgrass) and have never had one with a metallic aftertaste.

I'm thinking I must have a bad batch as well. Just strange that I would get that with the first good beer I ever tried out of a can. Oh well.. My luck I suppose!

I know there is a movement towards canned beer in the craft scene but i have not been a fan so far. Sly Fox seems to do a decent job on their canned product but the others that i've had, specifically six point, have been disappointing and have had an unquestionable metallic taste to them (if only faint).

with that said, i've picked up a case of 21st amendment bitter amierican in a can and am hopeful that i have a better experience.

I've had a bad experience or two with canned beer. But, it was more of an issue with cans being damaged either in distribution or by the seller. Mainly, it involved a can or two I. Six packs being dented or punctured to the point the beer suffered. I think both times it was Dale's Pale Ale.

If it tastes like metal, it was probably left in the heat for too long. That happens a lot.

I agree with other posters that craft beer can taste fantastic in a can if it is handled properly before it gets in your hand.

Yeah, there is nothing subtle about the metallic taste in this. It's undrinkable (and that is a word that rarely comes out of my mouth!) I just wonder if distribution issues could really cause this. I mean... I've drank bud light and other crap back in the day (early 20's, college, etc) that sat in a cooler for days hot, cold, maybe frozen, hot again, etc. It may have been off the charts ****ty but never had a metallic taste so prominent that it was undrinkable.

Are you drinking directly from the can or pouring into a glass? Depending on your hotel you may or may not have any decent glasses, but in my experience even a cheap plastic cup tastes miles better than drinking from the can.

I've had a few of the Oskar Blues and didnt have any problems with a metal taste. I have heard that the metal taste comes from your nose smelling the outside of the can and not the beer itself because all cans are lined on the inside. I really enjoyed Oskar's Dales Pale Ale. The Pilsner and Old Chub not so much. Gubna was pretty enjoyable.

I've had the same thing with 21st Amendment beer in cans but I've had wildy variable quality from 6 pack to 6 pack. I suspect it might be a storage/handling problem since I've had such variation

I drink Tallgrass from the can sometimes when I'm out partying or whatever and have never noticed a metallic taste.

Interesting

I had one on a Virgin America flight and it did taste metallic, but when I buy it locally, tastes great. So, maybe it does have something to do with handling.

Looking forward to Bitter American making back onto the shelves.

Only can i poured yet that had this taste breifly was a Brekenridge ipa. It was only immediatly right after i poured it like it was in the foam or something, rest of the beer i did not taste it.Some people think its just in our heads, but i know what a metallic beer taste like and have only had a few short experiences with it, and i specifically recall a Lakefront esb batch that had this taste from a bottle- never in my head.Im not one to say that all craft can beers taste like metal either.Most that ive tried have been excellent.

I bought my wife a six of 21st Ammenment's Hell or High Watermelon tonight. There weren't any off tastes and she drank from the can. I much prefer bottles, but it is nice to be able to bring good beer to the pool and beach.

A few years ago, when I first saw two different types of canned "craft" beer from two different brewers at a local shop, I thought it was kitschy, but cool. There was/is something ironic about good beer found in a can. Now, I still think it is kitschy, even though I've noticed a few more brands on the market.

Anyways, the few that I have tried all tasted fine.

I've had some bottled beer that tasted really metallic before, go figure. One was ommegang chocolate indulgence serving too cold was the problem there, the other was brewdog trashy blonde, which didn't really get better with temperature.

Well, one of the reasons you never get bad batches of bud, etc, is that those commercial breweries have their distribution worked out to an exact science. While Budweiser is not fantastic, its primary feat is in its ability to produce SO MUCH beer and have it all be the same.

21st Ammendment is totally local here. (Just blocks away). So I don't have that problem. But I also don't really think it's that great either.

I thought I read somewhere about the 21A cans being made with a water based liner, so that in theory, the beer doesn't rest on metal.... I've only gone through a few 6'ers of brew free or die, but never noticed a metallic flavor. All the Surly and Caldera cans I've had were great too.

I have had Brew Free or Die a couple of times and the last time wasn't a pleasant experience. It isn't local to me, so I don't have a good recollection on how the beer tastes, but I know I would have remembered to not buy it if this is what it tasted like. I bought it at Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati, which doesn't keep it refrigerated, but I am sure they move through the product pretty quickly.

If I recall correctly, metallic is probably a decent descriptor and I didn't drink any of them straight from the can. I also feel like there was a little bit of diacetyl.

I will add that I have never had metallic craft beer from a can. Canning is the way to go!

Mills

I agree Mills. I am really liking all of the new selections coming in cans. I think the problem with the beer wasn't the can.

Sierra Nevada is going to start canning also. http://beernews.org/2011/03/sierra-nevada-brewing-to-start-canning-later-this-year/

Lucky your beer tasted like metal. I bought a sixer of 21st Amendment Watermelon which smelled like poop and unfortunately I tasted it before smelling it. YUCK - it must have been infected with something or else it was poop water. Tried to get my wife to try it and ever since then she wants to know what is wrong with that beer?

I think they have some canning issues going on.

I love 21A, but I can't enjoy that beer. Their other cans have all been fine for me in NoVA, but the watermelon stuff is way inconsistent with the quality/flavor of their other beers. At least Hop Crisis is going to be coming around in cans and I won't have to track down kegs of it. It's amazing.