Homebrew Canners - Can Seamers

[Morrey]

theres a brewery near my cabin that has a canning machine on the counter, the owner told me he bought the canner for $1200 and change. But he told me to be careful because some canners only accept cans that can cost up to twice as much and he has to buy his cans in large pallet orders to get a decent price on them? anyone else know anything about this? I'm considering buying a canner for a nanobrewry.. not sure on (can) size yet.

The AA canner/seamer I bought is a hand crank (I use a drill) designed for 12 ounce and 16 ounce #202 cans, so I think this may be considered a "home brew" machine. The machine is built like a tank and I can easily see this machine could take on a nano operation if maintained and lubed regularly. The can diameter is the same on both sizes, and the 12 ounce can will have the can chuck raised by a set of shims under the base. Take those shims out and reduce the height to accommodate the taller 16 ounce can. Again, this machine is designed for use with #202 cans advertised as AA or Oktober cans.

My last order for cans on or around July 4th was from a vendor on eBay. So you can cost compare, I paid $88 for 256 cans and lids (12 oz) and $99 for 192 cans and lids (16 oz) with shipping included in the price.

My craft brew watering hole uses 32 ounce cans. Their machine is an electric model which seems to be designed to use for that specific can size, so I am not sure if it can accept other can sizes with a kit. The bartender told me this seamer was proprietary and the design was sold by a brewery although she cant remember the specific name...but maybe Oskar Blues? Not sure.

But my take is that commercial operations are using the 32 ounce crowlers when canning single beers behind the bar. They occasionally hire in mobile canning units that do specialty batch canning and those are often 16 ounce cans.

 

[drez77]

I got the hand drill running the AA seamer like a swiss watch. Cans are flawless. Of course now that I'm into canning, the tax tariff has scared folks and my cans have jumped up 22%. Just my luck! LOL

Can you post any pictures of this? I am thinking of getting one and using a foot switch with a drill.

 

[Morrey]

Can you post any pictures of this? I am thinking of getting one and using a foot switch with a drill.

Sure. I have a collaboration brew set the Saturday, and we'll can a few other beers for my buddy to take home. I'll take some pics to post.

I think the foot switch with a drill is a great idea. Will you fashion some sort of frame or stand to mount the drill for hands free operation?

 

[drez77]

Sure. I have a collaboration brew set the Saturday, and we'll can a few other beers for my buddy to take home. I'll take some pics to post.

I think the foot switch with a drill is a great idea. Will you fashion some sort of frame or stand to mount the drill for hands free operation?

Thanks

Yes, I plan to have the drill attached to a frame to make it hand free. Alternatively, if I have a motor kicking around that will work I may use that and a pulley to power it but still use the foot switch.

 

[Morrey]

I first created a label which I felt was too busy and had lots going on. I printed a small order and will use them of course. This simplified label is utilizing my logo as the focal point. Our horse farm is Cross Winds Farms so we named our brewery Cross Winds as well. The faint red line is the cut line so the label will rounded as shown. Matte material writes on easily with Industrial Sharpies as discovered and shared with me by @mongoose33. Best results come from writing on the label and allowing time to dry, then applying to an empty can (room temp) before filling with cold beer and seaming. I tried applying to cold, prefilled cans and the label didn't want to apply as evenly due to condensation. Note plenty of white space to write the name of the beer.

 

[applescrap]

Super cool. Glad i found this. I had researched cans before and this resparked my interest. I like how you got a nice canner. And the label is a wonderful touch. Also appreciate the figures.

I thought this is it. Ferment and can away. Nothing to sanatize (right?) disposable. Stockpile a beer store. there is so much more freedom with cans. My math has a 5g batch at adding 34 cents a beer to 51 beers in a batch. 17.6 dollars per batch using 88 for 256 and assuming 5 batches with said 256 cans.

 

[Morrey]

Super cool. Glad i found this. I had researched cans before and this resparked my interest. I like how you got a nice canner. And the label is a wonderful touch. Also appreciate the figures.

I thought this is it. Ferment and can away. Nothing to sanatize (right?) disposable. Stockpile a beer store. there is so much more freedom with cans. My math has a 5g batch at adding 34 cents a beer to 51 beers in a batch. 17.6 dollars per batch using 88 for 256 and assuming 5 batches with said 256 cans.

I frequently said bottling was my least favorite "chore" of the brewing process. Since I keg, I tried my best to avoid bottling except when sharing beer or packing to travel. The canner is awesome, and the cans offer no back pressure to foam over like the neck of a bottle. If you can get a decent pour from your tap, all is golden.

For the sake of being ol skool, I sometimes spritz star san into the can and let it drain before filling....not sure this is even necessary with a single use can. Some folks even shoot a blast of CO2 into the can, but I am not sure how effective this actually is. When you fill a can the process is to let the beer foam slightly and form a very thin head...maybe 1/4", not much. Put lid on top and you want a tiny bit of foam to spill over so the foam creates a CO2 barrier and O2 is mostly purged with this method.

If you opt for labels, you may want to budget in perhaps 20 cents for labels depending on your needs. This adds a personal touch but it is entirely possible you may choose to write on the blank can with a Sharpie.

 

[applescrap]

Looks like you can condition in the can? Haha, sorry for the gratuitous use of the word can.

Do you think you will still keg?

Also thanks a lot for the information.

 

[Morrey]

Looks like you can condition in the can? Haha, sorry for the gratuitous use of the word can.

Do you think you will still keg?

Also thanks a lot for the information.

I took a behind the scenes Beer Geek tour at Sierra Nevada in AVL last year and asked specifically if they condition in the can. Yes you can in the can...lol. Seriously, they said cans are mini kegs and are the perfect conditioning vessel. SN conditions in the can (refrigerated storage) before shipping to wholesalers.

Oh yes, I'll always keg as long as I brew - I love kegging systems. My can usage is limited to sharing and taking beer to events, etc. I enjoy fishing boats and find glass bottles very dangerous and cumbersome when the boat is in rough seas making cans the best choice. Some events don't allow glass bottles while cans are permitted.

Always glad to help.

 

[drez77]

Well, went and ordered the hand crank version. I have a 66RPM motor that I plan to hook up and see how that goes.

Now to decide on can size.

 

[jready]

Well, went and ordered the hand crank version. I have a 66RPM motor that I plan to hook up and see how that goes.

Now to decide on can size.

I really like the 16 oz can size 4 packs make nice take homes for friends

 

[smcinco]

Just received my hand crank version. Anyone want to do group buy on cans?!?

 

[Morrey]

I really like the 16 oz can size 4 packs make nice take homes for friends

I have been using the 12 oz cans, but also bought a box of 16 oz cans to try out. it may take a quick adjustment of the roller arms when shifting and changing shims on the AA, but I doubt there is much difficulty shifting between sizes.

Those 4 pk snap on lid holders are crazy expensive to buy online. I have a buddy saving me his to use for a 4 pk of cans.

 

[TravelingLight]

I have been using the 12 oz cans, but also bought a box of 16 oz cans to try out. it may take a quick adjustment of the roller arms when shifting and changing shims on the AA, but I doubt there is much difficulty shifting between sizes.

Those 4 pk snap on lid holders are crazy expensive to buy online. I have a buddy saving me his to use for a 4 pk of cans.

Two buddies! I got my brother saving them for you as well. You should be pretty stocked up here in the next month or so. Cheers.

 

[Morrey]

Two buddies! I got my brother saving them for you as well. You should be pretty stocked up here in the next month or so. Cheers.

Awesome! Drink more beer - save more 4 pk rings! Cheers!!

 

[jready]

I have been using the 12 oz cans, but also bought a box of 16 oz cans to try out. it may take a quick adjustment of the roller arms when shifting and changing shims on the AA, but I doubt there is much difficulty shifting between sizes.

Those 4 pk snap on lid holders are crazy expensive to buy online. I have a buddy saving me his to use for a 4 pk of cans.

I bought a box of the holders but have hardly used any as friends bring me them all the time. I’ve canned around 600 cans and have more holders than I started with!

 

[Morrey]

I bought a box of the holders but have hardly used any as friends bring me them all the time. I’ve canned around 600 cans and have more holders than I started with!

Wow...600 cans already? You turning that crank by hand or using a drill?

 

[jready]

Wow...600 cans already? You turning that crank by hand or using a drill?

I’ve got the Oktober canner. Had it for about 18 months.

End up sharing quite a bit with friends and beer drinkers on my team at work. I have 5 offices spread throughout KY and TN. Gotta keep my folks happy!

 

[Morrey]

I’ve got the Oktober canner. Had it for about 18 months.

End up sharing quite a bit with friends and beer drinkers on my team at work. I have 5 offices spread throughout KY and TN. Gotta keep my folks happy!

Awww, I forgot you had the "Cadillac" motorized Oktober canner. I'll keep spinning the hand crank for the time being. I watch Craigslist and occasionally something surprising like a canner pops up. I bought a 20G Blichmann kettle that was brand new in the box for half the retail price. Never know.

 

[drez77]

I really like the 16 oz can size 4 packs make nice take homes for friends

I ended up with 12oz cans. I just like them better for some reason. Can seamer gets here tomorrow! I found the motor I had, 63RPM so it should work fine for this I figure.

 

[jready]

First cans with new stickers. My canning guy sucks at putting on labels.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I want one bad but just can't pay the extra money. It seems canning doubles the finished cost and thats not even taking the cost of the machine into consideration. Cheers

 

[gnor]

I think the cost for each can is around 50 cents (not including the cost of can seamer).

 

[Blazinlow86]

Yup that's what's holding me back. I can't bring myself to spending 50c on the can to hold a 30c beer. Otherwise I'd LOVE to have one

 

[gnor]

The cost for each bottle isn't even more?

 

[Blazinlow86]

There reusable and I get mine free. I guess if you were buying new bottles for some reason and throwing them away it might be the same. Cheers

 

[grassfeeder]

label adds about $0.50 in addition to the can as well.

 

[drez77]

Slowly making progress. Motor is mounted and I just need to wire it up to the foot switch.

 

[TheFlyingSparge]

Following

 

[grassfeeder]

looks like they've got a canner that's marketed towards the home brewer now.