Cans vs Bottles: Myths Busted

By now many of you have seen SierraNevada's big green tall boys on the shelves of your local bottle shop. Maybe you've been searching for some of that delicious GoldenRoad and only been able to find cans. No longer is the “Silver Bullet” for tasteless macro brews and soda pop--its popularity with the craft brewing community is growing everyday.

Much like the controversial “natural cork vs synthetic” argument in the wine industry, canning has been on the table of “flavor and tackiness” for some time now. What are the arguments against canning and do they have any validity or are they simply “old husbands tales”? I decided to do some research and find out for myself.

c.2012 M. Mioduszewski.

During the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego I had the opportunity to sit down with the fine people of Crown Holdings. Crown Holdings creates the cans for Big Sky Brewing and Wachusett Brewing Companies. I wanted to hear about the process and couldn't have been more surprised by what I learned. Crown holds itself to some of the highest standards in the industry, through innovation and improvements on what is considered the most effective of packaging since the 1800's. They start by purchasing aluminum sheets and through a series of stamps and punches create a cylinder with a bottom on it and a separate top with an opener and perforated spout (to be added later at the brewery). They coat the inside of the cans with a special FDA-regulated coating which many canning companies do not make public because they are constantly trying to update and improve these coatings but I did get a fairly comprehensive answer after scouring some engineering and recycling forums online. The coating is a food safe polymer with vinyl-based resins (comestible polymeric coating) meant to keep metal particles (or metal salts) from migrating into the beer. This polymer is also impenetrable by anything other than industrial grade solvents or tremendous heat (as it is removed by most recycling plants) making it impossible to be eaten away by natural enzymes and acids that break down metals. Back pre-1980's before cobalt salts were regulated in beer (See History of Lite Beer) many people reported a metallic taste that came from drinking canned beers. This may not just have been naturally occurring in the beer but perhaps truly occurring in early cans that weren't coated with as sophisticated polymers as today's cans are. After coating the insides of the cans, topless wraps are sent through a screen printer to print the design appearing on the outside of the can, packaged, and shipped off to their designated breweries.

When I visited Oskar Blues Brewing out in Colorado they walked me through the canning process explaining how they ensure quality in flavor from the fermenting barrel to the can. Much as with bottling, they fill the cans using a counter-flow CO₂ displacement filler that pre-charges the cans with CO₂ and then pours the beer in to push the CO₂ out the top, leaving a healthy foam head. Using a CO₂ knife they cut the head level to the top of the can and float the can top on it before crimping it down. Unlike a bottle cap that is shaped more like a dome leaving room for air, the can tops are flat leaving no room between the carefully cured top and the foamy head. By keeping the oxygen out they are keeping the beer fresher longer by effectively preventing any oxidation.

As far as taste goes, canning seems to be the best option for keeping all the good flavors in, and all the bad flavors out of beer. Also, since oxygen is more limited in canning than in bottling, the chances of your beer becoming oxidized is decreased considerably. The other most obvious point to note is that aluminum is impenetrable by sunlight--keeping those pesky UV rays out of the beer. I think it's safe to say that canning is good for the beer, and metal being an infinitely recyclable product it's good for the earth too.

But wait there's more! I've heard many a beer snob say “...but it looks tacky to drink out of a can!” Don't worry I addressed this issue as well.

I consulted the co-founder of one of the original can-only breweries in San Francisco: 21stAmendment's Shaun O'Sullivan, who complains “So many times I end up talking more about the packaging than about the beer itself.” When they first started production it seemed to them that canning being environmentally sound and beer-safe was a no-brainer, but also that it was perfect for people with an active lifestyle as well. “I want to go sailing or hiking, not hauling a bunch of bottles with me everywhere I go” says O'Sullivan, who points out the portability of cans before and after the beer has been consumed. He also stresses that unless you're out and about on an adventure, please kindly pour your Monk's Blood into the appropriate glassware because “a can is just a small keg, not always a drinking vessel” and we all love beer from kegs!

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Fir Needle Beer Soap

Oh my Guinness! A new bathing/beer product recently hit the market and the ladies over at Outblush seem to love it! Fir essential oils, Guinness and organic coconut oil make up this luxurious little bar. Let me know if any of you guys out there get a chance to try the Fir Needle Beer Soap from Brookfarm General Store.

This all natural moisturizing soap is handmade in small batches just for us. Scented with pure essential oils. 

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How to Make a Pumpkin Keg

Now I think we saw Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione do this at the last Punkin Ale release party but I just don't remember. This is however a very cool trick that I'm hoping to do at my Halloween party. This might also be a good way to prepare a pumpkin for a future Pumpkin Beer Pie recipe forth coming.

Pouring "nice" beer in here might not be the best of ideas, however if you're not interested in pouring your beer into this pumpkin due to the possibility of it going flat here's another idea: make it into a "jockybox." Pack it full of ice and run your hoses from your keg through your pumpkin- if you have a big enough pumpkin you can add a keg handle or two!

Thanks to Melissa Klein for sharing this fun craft! Please check out Celebrations for full instructions!
Happy Halloween!

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Lite Beer (Part One)

We all know these two: Mr.Dontgiveafuck and Sir Chugalot

Odes to fizzy yellow beers coupled with accusations of beer snobbery are generally countered by snark retorts disparaging the apparent “defense of mediocrity.” Exchanges like this can be seen in almost every craft beer forum and in beerfest lines across our country. Is it one's need to be pigheaded or is it blindness that leads to this continuing banal debate? I think it's safe to say that flavor should be the call to arms and the be-all/end-all evidence in the court of personal beer preference opinion. Whether you're a hop head or a malt lover, it's fairly safe to say that we love flavor and complexity in both light and dark beers. One of my favorite “light” beers is North Coast's Scrimshaw, a staple of local living in Mendocino county. For a Pilsner it has a firm bitterness that holds fast in the crisp brightness of the beer. During a conversation with North Coast Brew Co's Mark Ruedrich, he said “Our beers are not going for the extreme--they are balanced. Balance is key for a sessionable beer...” As we know “sessionable” is many times synonymous with “successful” in regards to sales and North Coast is famous for having unique and complex award winning brews that don't forfeit in the battle of flavor in exchange for that, dare I say it “drinkability.” There I said it! Drinkability! My skin crawls at the sound of that word, but lets reverse engineer our feelings about drinkability. Pilsners have always been quite popular since they entered the scene. They were crisp, bright and see-through. This translucence made quite the impact during a time when glass was just starting to become available (early 1800s) to the masses as a drinking vessel. It shone like a golden jewel and was awe-inspiring. Aside from it's looks though, it made for very decent drinking at all hours of the day and thus came it's popularity.

Science!

Let's skip several decades into the future to the years of post prohibition: Only the larger brewing companies that went into other business during the years of prohibition managed to stay afloat long enough to start back up again when the laws were lifted. These companies were in it to win it and by win it they meant to take back the time lost during the dry years any way imaginable. In 1964 an enzyme entered the market that would change the world of beer forever, Amyloglucosidase. In an attempt to put this simply, this enzyme breaks apart the sugar bonds in starches and creates glucose and fructose. This is the same enzyme used to make high fructose corn syrup (another doom word!) Assuming you're familiar with the basic brewing process, after you sparge your grains you're left with your basic wort, but this wort is full of malt dextrins which add flavor and body to your beer but they're not necessarily fermentable starches. This enzyme breaks down those malt dextrins and makes them fermentable. Thus you have a lighter bodied beer minus the calories from the starches but creating a higher gravity beer due to the “high fructose” wort.

It wasn't until the mid1970's that Philip Morris made this popular with their acquisition of a German pilsner company through Miller Brewing. You know, Philip Morris, the tobacco guys.. yeah you know who I'm talking about. Through tactful marketing to a demographic readied by the soda companies they brought out Miller Lite. During this time the sway of power over the U.S. Food and Drug administration was “If you can prove it's not bad for you we'll allow it” and with responses like “nobody's died yet.” By the 1980's chemicals like Cobalt salts (naturally occurring) were increased to over 1 part per million in beer, dimethylnitrosamine (carcinogen) which is linked to cancer was at five times the normal amount, potassium matabisulfite (a salt that doesn't add sodium to your diet, but it makes you thirsty), Benzaldehyde an ingredient used in formaldehyde and the list goes on. The Food and Drug Administration has been cracking down on many of these things. The dimethylnitrosamine is only 2% of what it used to be and the added cobalt salts have been further regulated as well. If you want to find a full guide to what's in those beers you can make an attempt to find the ever elusive Brewers Association Report on “Adjuncts Employed in Brewing.” By 1992 “Lite Beer” was the best selling beer in the US. With sports figure driven ads challenging your machismo to this very day lite beers still control most of the market, even with over 76 chemicals in various combinations that are left to be unreported to the FDA. So we fight back. (Part 1)

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A Sixy(6-pack) For Your Fixie!

I was cruising around online today and found this cute and innovative thing on Etsy. A 6-pack holder for your bike! Now you can be green and not worry about where you're going to stick all that beer!

Six Pack Holder on Etsy

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DIY Juice to Booze Kit

It's the cutest little airlock ever!!

This morning my dear friend and part time photographer @Indoctrinated had posted on my wall the coolest little gadget: The Juice to Alcohol Kit. If you want to get something that will give you the very basic experience of fermentation here you've got it. It's way cheaper than a homebrewing kit and it takes less time too! I know this isn't beer related but it's still kind of cool. The kit comes with a little airlock meant to fit a 64oz bottle of juice and little yeast packets. Pop the yeast into the bottle of juice, stick the airlock on and Voila! Within 48 hours you can have an effervescent beverage of up to 14%.  What a great new toy for all you mad scientists out there!

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Have More Than Just One Beer In The Shower

On occasion I find some neat ways of using beer. Here's to Duffy's Brew! Up there along with beer soap is beer shampoos and conditioners. Some women have already been doing this for a while, conditioning their hair with beer (it makes it shiny!!!). These 100% vegan suds are made from the finest ingredients including Seattle's Elysian Brewing Company's Stout! You can buy them currently on Amazon until their website is up and running and they have their full line online. Now you can have more than just one beer in the shower!
Their website should be up soon! http://www.duffysbrew.com/

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Hoppy and Clean!

I have been known to take a beer into the shower with me on a rare occasion, but now you can do it without people thinking your next step is installing a garbage disposal in there a la Kramer: Beer Soap ($5 each!).
These lovely little soaps are made with all natural ingredients and will leave your skin soft from the suds. Very cute idea (and manly too). These little rounds come in Corona, Guinness, Sam Adams, Stella Artois, and Red Stripe. And don't worry, you won't smell like you woke up face down in a bush.

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