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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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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Growler On Board

No more growlers rolling around in your back seat after hitting up those fun-to-drive-to breweries in Nor Cal! These guys came up with a solution to the potential frothy mess you discover after a long drive from your favorite brewery. Very cute idea!

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Drinkwel: Saucy Science

My friend Arianna from Grapesmart and I were at an event a few months ago when she introduced me to Drinkwel. The concept alone tickled my funny bone and I of course wanted to know more. The wonderful people over at DrinkWel provided me with a sample of their goods to test out and I have been testing them out for about a month and a half. I am the type of person that wants to run a car into the ground during my test drive --I want to know if a product can handle my awesomely majestic existence. So I decided to start feeding these multivitamins, for people who drink, to my husband and wait to try them at the last moment to see if I could use them as an emergency contra-hangover. Halloween night was the perfect night to test the power of these beauties against my rock star lifestyle. I went at the bar with reckless abandon (I do NOT condone irresponsible consumption. This experiment was heavily regulated and done in the name of science by a professional.) The instructions were: eat 3 pills before I start drinking with a glass of water and then eat 3 pills after my last drink. I did the first group and then started my scientific research. I researched several kinds of San Diego County craft beers. I experimented with some whiskey sours that were amazing. I tested out my shot glasses with some Jäger, they held up quite well.  I topped the night off with a couple glasses of sangria and then washed my last 3 down with a white Russian and a cookie. I also passed out 3 pills to each of my over night guests. I slept roughly 7 hours and while at first puzzled at the color of my urine I was pleasantly surprised to be very minimally pained by my previous nights consumption. I went out to the living room to survey the damage and everyone else mentioned the same effect-- hangovers were lower than expected if at all. My husband did not take 3 before and 3 after but he felt no hangover what so ever. In my professional opinion, I would say they work both as a long term and an emergency feed good multivitamin, and would most definitely recommend them to anyone who likes to feel good in the morning.

Apparently Absinthe was also involved in the scientific method

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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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Because you know you want a pair of beer shoes!

I am not Jean Paul Gaultier, Coco Chanel or Hubert de Givenchy--I am however a fan! So what primarily started off with me playing around with a "customize your own shoe" gadget on Steve Madden's website has ended up with me opening my own store of beer geeky goodness! I encourage you to check it out and if you have any pointers I'd love to hear them. Currently I have a couple artists who will be featuring their designs on my page soon as well as some exciting contests in the works. But for now I present: The Goat's Baaazaar!

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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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