Are Cans Now Really Better Than Bottles?

I prefer cans, they're easier to store portable and keep beer fresher. It's nice to be able to bring something of quality to a tailgate.

 

Cans all day (for many of the reasons above). I am liking bottles less and less unless they are Bombers. And I believe you can also display cans (Pipeworks, alchemist, treehouse etc) without it looking trashy!

 

Cans are just like mini kegs. Many of the same benefits.

 

For IPAs or other beers where freshness is important, I don't know why you would use anything other than cans. No light, less air trapped in the container, tighter seal, etc. Not to mention it dents instead of shattering. I'm pretty sure aluminum is easier to recycle than glass too. Everyone's happy.

 

I have a distinct weakness for putting my homebrew in short necks and Anchor Steam bottles. That's the main reason I choose those breweries bottles over their cans when I am offered the choice between the two.

 

I can't think of one benefit for a glass bottle over a can.

 

I wonder if people from the breweries ever come on BA and read the forums. I'd be interested to hear their take.

As far as the OP - I'm all for cans for all the reasons already stated. I won't repeat them.

So, if a representative from a brewery were to see that the vast majority of people on this site, who take time out of their day to come to a site and rad about beer and discuss it, are all in favour of cans - will they listen?

 

No

 

Yep, I can have my mini-fridge filled to capacity with bottles and still find room for a twelve pack of cans.

 

Sure brewery reps are on the forum from time to time. Sixpoint and Sierra Nevada Bill come to mind immediately. It's not a matter of listening or not. They obviously know better than anyone what makes sense for them to use and aren't going to run their business based on what the consensus opinion of the Internet might be.

 

Cans for float trips, and camping.

Bottles for nostalgia, and bottle cap collecting.

Anything in my cellar aging is stored wrapped up, so light permeating is not of any concern.

 

Care to elaborate?

 

Draft beer has been coming out of a giant can for decades now.

 

Cleanliness? I don't know, maybe it's just me, but cans kinda freak me out when I see the gutters exposed. I can't help but wonder if they have been sneezed on or handled with dirty hands or are harboring some other kind of nasties. At least the bottle cap crown covers the part of the bottle that I'm putting to my lips. Yes, I'm a paranoid germaphobe and I'm proud of it!

 

You can't wax a can to make it look cool.

You could ya know, rinse the can off before drinking from it.

 

I don't care if cans are "better," I just like em more. Plus, Carton is all can and that's what I buy the most.

 

I still think GF sculpin tastes more grapefruity from a bottle

 

I would assume that beers meant to be consumed fresh would work well with cans. I'm kind of curious how a can of a BBA imperial stout would age compared to a bottle of the same beer since a little bit of oxidation over time is a good thing in some beers.

 

For industrial bottling lines, I have to ask how much of a problem oxygen "ingress" really is. For any carbonated beer, the pressure inside>outside so unless it has gone flat, oxygen can't go against a pressure gradient very well. Some brews I have opened from 5-6 years ago weren't flat at all.

This is your quote from a thread on oxygen in home-brew and those O2 absorbing caps. Seems that TPO does not appear to be much of a problem for you:

March 2012--Thread on oxygen absorbing caps

The first thing the vendor would have to do is convince me that I have a ‘problem’ that needs to be fixed. They would have a difficult time since I have a large number of ‘experiments’ in aging homebrewed beers up to a year (and more) where I have never experienced excessive oxidation. I will readily admit that my one year old beers taste a little bit ‘old’ but they are still very drinkable. I still have a six pack of a CAP that I bottled on 3/14/11. The flavor and aroma hops of that beer have significantly diminished but I do not perceive any effects of oxidation (there are no wet cardboard or sherry-like flavors).

Sure cans have some conveniences but some of these benefits being extolled seem to try to address a problem that really isn't much of a big deal.

 

Glass is a far better insulator when the bottle is being used to drink out of but I will acknowledge that I almost always pour mine into a glass.

Interesting that few folks drink beer from metal cups.