Canning Your Beer?

[Golddiggie]

Kegging is easier than bottling. Initial costs make it not cheaper. Not sure how many batches you'd need to keg before te cost equalizes. But the convenience of pouring from keg makes it a win in my book.

 

[Revvy]

Kegging is easier than bottling. Initial costs make it not cheaper. Not sure how many batches you'd need to keg before te cost equalizes. But the convenience of pouring from keg makes it a win in my book.

Whether it's easier or not is really a personally matter. Bottling is a piece of cake to me. It's bang bang bang 45 minutes and I'm done.

But the guy stated that kegging is cheaper than bottling, and I want to know how he believes that.

 

[motleybrews]

What planet are you living on?

Bottles = free
Caps = 2 bucks for 12 dozen
Capper = 10 bucks.

How the hell is that more expensive than kegging? Last I heard kegging was several hundred dollars more than 12 bucks for caps and a capper.

If you don't have access to free bottles, and get them from you LHBS, kegging is waaaayyyyy cheaper. I made that mistake once. It cost me $40 for the bottles for my first brew. Since then I've been posting want ads on craigslist, Facebook, and made friends with a bunch of cute bartenders. If you are trying to get a pipeline going (I've got 4 beers fermenting, and one in bottles) that's roughly $150+ tied up in just bottles if you bought them.

Sure, you'll reuse them, but if your brewing habits are quicker than your drinking habits, that's a ton of money invested in bottles

 

[motleybrews]

I will clarify that I have not invested in a kegging setup. Why? Free bottles

 

[KevinW]

How would one go about sanitizing the aluminum bottles?
I know oxyclean is out and bleach would not be an option for me.

Scrubbing real good and boiling them maybe?

Any good, cheap, and easy ideas?

 

[Doctor_Wily]

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.

 

[dpalme]

I was reading the details on this through Cask and Ball (supplier of the cans). Looks like min order of cans is 150,000 (Truck load - 53x102). They will run around .07 per so your talking ten five for the cans and that's before shipping, which is running around 1.90/mi plus a 28% fuel surcharge.

Definitely more than I want to spend. This is all above and beyond the initial capitalization for the canning line.

 

[dpalme]

Doc:
I've been told its not difficult to call a few bars and ask them if they will save their bottles for you....you have to provide the vessel though....and then sort through them on your own....

Haven't tried it yet, but it might with a couple of pubs on Main Street in St. Charles.

 

[jmadway]

Check this out:

 

[LabRatBrewer]

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.

 

[txaggie]

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.

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.

 

[dpalme]

That machine is wickedly cool....

the name on the top says Dr. and I couldn't make out the rest..

 

[ShadowWolf]

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.

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!

 

[LabRatBrewer]

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!

Thanks for the information!

 

[mewithstewpid]

anyone ever get a quote for one of those bad boys?

 

[OhSoHumuLonely]

Also curious about a quote for that machine.

 

[JayInJersey]

I just requested a quote.


Still would need to find cans and tops though.


If I hear anything from them I'll post it.

 

[CrestBrewing]

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...

 

[TrickyDick]

What about the wild goose 50 canner?? How big and expensive??

TD

 

[LabRatBrewer]

What about the wild goose 50 canner?? How big and expensive??

TD

No idea about the price, but here is the Goose 50 in action: http://www.wildgoosecanning.com/main/mc-50/#prettyPhoto[gallery-659]/0/

 

[TrickyDick]

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

 

[TrickyDick]

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

 

[Craighead]

Bump. Any info on the quote from Dixie?

 

[dkennedy]

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.

 

[jammin]

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.

 

[dkennedy]

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.

 

[huntb]

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

 

[m00ps]

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

 

[TrickyDick]

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

 

[brrman]

You can often find a used Dixie 25D (the one in the video above) for about $1500-2K