Cans

Nice to see some craft brewers starting to sell their beer in cans. I love cans... just toss 'em in the recycle bin... about time people get over the idea that great beer only comes in bottles... New Belgium, Big Sky, Sierra Nevada are some that I have noticed in these parts...

I wonder what it would take to can homebrew...?

You definitely wouldnt be able to carb in cans, they would blow up. Look on Youtube for a canning line. It is really cool how they fill and seal the cans, just not something that looks like it could be done on a small scale. Also, from what I have read, they normally have to buy several thousand cans at once. It could be different if they were buying blank (no printing) cans though.

JoshuaW said:

You definitely wouldnt be able to carb in cans, they would blow up.

Click to expand...

This is definitely false. Surly, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, and others all successfully can-condition their beers.

You are right that canning equipment is too expensive to be practical on a homebrew level. It's also somewhere between difficult and impossible to buy cans in a small enough scale for homebrewing. I've heard that some small commercial brewers even have to buy a year or more worth of cans because that's the smallest amount they can buy at a time.

EDIT: I've heard of one business (in Portland IIRC) that has a mobile canning system and they will can beer for homebrewers for some cost per can. Don't remember anymore details off the top of my head.

Oskar Blues did it before it was cool.

I'm excited that Brooklyn has cans out now. Next year for the Mummers parade my brother and I are going to bring a cooler of Dale's Pale Ale, some Brooklyn Lager, and some Six Point as well.