Oktober can seamer

[kjm13]

I used to do this. Dip them in star San, tip them upside down etc. Now I just rinse the cans and lids with tap water and put on paper towels upside down. Notice when breweries fill Crowlers they may rinse on the same rinser they use for glasses and then put the top on. And the don’t even rinse those, the lids.

Yes. I’ve noticed that too, but when a brewery fills a crowler for you the expectation is you will drink it in the next few days. When I’m canning, it’s usually about 4 cases at a time, and some cans may not be opened for 3 months or more. So I think sanitization is more important under those circumstances. And... when I’m not brewing, I’m an RN in my day job, so... yeah - I have to clean and sanitize everything! [emoji849]

 

[WBB]

So if you’re putting in alcohol and sealing out air, what is going to grow inside the can? But then again, we sanitize kegs before transferring the finished beer into them. Didn’t have anything against using sanitizer and will most likely go back to doing that.

I wonder what the big boys do with their cans? I mean I know they’re rinsing them, but are they using purified water or sanitizer?

 

[flintoid]

One of the things I've noticed while canning with a beer gun is that the beer gun post displaces beer when in the can. Once you remove this beer gun the beer level drops maybe 5mm.

When this happens the C02 "barrier" drops and air must be pulled in.

So I have started drawing the beer gun up to the top of the can when filling. And at the end the only displacement in the beer is the tip.

I have a few "foam" and "no foam" can exbeeriments that I did with this technique in the fridge for the upcoming week. I'll be sure to report back.

 

[WBB]

So I stopped by the alchemist and they were doing a canning run. Asked the guy behind the counter what they were using to rinse their cans and he said just the RO water front their water system. The lids didn’t even get a rinse. Straight from the paper sleeve into the hopper. I said no star San? He said no that would be a hell of a lot of star San to go through.

 

[flintoid]

Update on this experiment: I canned 10 beers while leaving the beer gun fully inserted into the can (tip pressed against the bottom of the can) and 10 that I tried to keep the tip of the beer gun as close to the surface of the rising beer as possible (without foaming it or exposing it to air).

of the 10 that the beer gun remained stationary, over a months amount of time, 3 definitely oxidized horribly. 2 seemed to, but I drank them within a week of canning.

Of the 10 that I "moved" or "followed" the beer gun to the rising beer level, none of them oxidized. I made sure not to squeeze these cans as was advised earlier in this thread. I had my last of these this week- and they seemed pretty damn good. The hop aromas (NEIPA) were still pretty good and on par with a 1 month old commercial beer. Color and taste were on point, lacking oxidization.

One of the things I've noticed while canning with a beer gun is that the beer gun post displaces beer when in the can. Once you remove this beer gun the beer level drops maybe 5mm.

When this happens the C02 "barrier" drops and air must be pulled in.

So I have started drawing the beer gun up to the top of the can when filling. And at the end the only displacement in the beer is the tip.

I have a few "foam" and "no foam" can exbeeriments that I did with this technique in the fridge for the upcoming week. I'll be sure to report back.

 

[pedcana]

Well - I guess the mystery wasn't completely solved. I found a few muddy cans of a beer I canned right after this post after returning from a 3 week trip. I think I have it now though. I think I overfilled those cans. No sure how that would do it, but I found if there was absolutely no head space in the can, those are they ones that get muddy. If there is some head-space, in the can from capping on foam (vs. directly on liquid) those cans are fine. So the final lesson here (I hope) is don't overfill the cans!
Cheers!

What is the conclusion? Did you do more tests?

 

[Oberstbrau]

Here's a counter pressure cap on foam alternative:

 

[kjm13]

Well, I know it’s been a while, but I finally got it. I spoke with someone from a mobil canning company (Tim Little @state 64 who is amazing) The key points are make the beer colder, be sure there is plenty of foam, and most importantly, can to the proper weight! This is the weight of water for the size of your can (355grams for 12oz, 473grams for 16oz) x final gravity of the beer you are canning + the tare weight of the can.
Cheers! [emoji482]