Are Cans Now Really Better Than Bottles?

Cans are certainly the rage and have been rapidly gaining adherents for several years. They are a profit booster once the initial cost is recouped (and as noted the equipment has become more accessible), so there is no foreseeable end to the can trend. Therefore, my concern has been that bottles will go extinct. Here are a few reasons I prefer bottles to cans in most situations:

1. Less need to wash off the top before opening to avoid contamination.

2. Fewer BPA/mystery chemical concerns.

3. If I don’t feel like decanting or can’t get hold of a clean glass, I still have a semipleasant vessel to drink from. (How many of your favorite vessels are made of metal and/or plastic?)

4. Bottles provide a container you can reuse (without remanufacturing it), such as for homebrew, again and again.

6. No need to wonder, “Did the beer’s contact with the glass give it this weird taste?”

7. The thin walls of cans can develop cracks and pinhole leaks. This has happened several times to me over the years and makes a significant mess in the cellar.

8. For long-term storage, glass with its proven track record would seem likely the best material (and see #7).

All of the applesauce at my local grocers is now in plastic jars, after the last brand recently converted. Same has been happening with ketchup and a host of other potentially reactive food and beverage products that were traditionally available in glass. I’d hate to see glass beer bottles go away too, their demise cheered on by multitudes of Canatics who want bottles Canned because they Can think of nothing good about them.

 

I have seen folks deny climate change, have never seen anyone deny bauxite mining disasters, but I will look harder.

Cheers!

 

Lately, more of what I've been having has been from cans than in bottles, but that's because of what's inside of them. I like what I like and it seems like more of the top beers in recent months have been from a can. Once I pour it out, I can't even tell the difference!

 

Cans are certainly more convenient. I would never bring glass bottles into the woods while hiking or to the beach. This isn't a problem anymore with so many delicious offerings being canned now. The absence of light is quite a plus too.

 

This is very true but I love to bring a single DFH 120 with me on an overnight. One 12oz beer at 18% does the trick pretty well. Get on your can game Dogfish!

 

I'm 60 in not going to live forever, but whatever does me in it won't be BPA , I'm pretty sure of that.

 

And it's not that we should be in hysterics over it. But unless one is specifically going to a pool or other bottle-unfriendly locale, why in the world would anyone the package that adds a chemical of unknown impact vs. an inert bottle? People keep saying "light" but the only craft beers I drink are in brown glass and properly stored by brewery, distributor and store.

It's not like our only choices are cans, or "clear Corona Light bottles, stored warm."

 

I bought an assortment of singles in Minneapolis a month ago to take up to the Gunflint Trail. I purchased 18 singles and 11 of them were cans. I wasn't specifically trying to get cans but it ended up being the majority. I feel like Minnesota has a lot of canned beers probably because of all the hiking/outdoor activities.

 

Completely respect your points and concerns. I work with a guy who won't eat Lean Cuisines or bottled water, good for you you have a choice.

 

bottled beer taste in a can

 

I thought this would be a good thread to mention this, I did a forum search on the subject and saw last years thread wasn't well received so no use in starting a new one. Drum roll please............

Today is National Beer Can Appreciation Day!

On this day in 1935 the first successful canned beer was released. Today about one half of all beer sales in the US are canned.

 

Cans are astronomically less expensive compared to bottles. No labels, no carrier and a single can costs 10% of what the same size bottle costs along with the rise of reasonably priced canning lines are the main reason breweries are switching go cans. Do they keep out light better? That's about the only advantage. modern oxygen scavenging bottle caps out perform cans as far as O2. Cheaper...don't buy into the cans are "god's gift to brewing" hype. Canned beer has been around since the 1930's. Ask yourself why are they so much better all of the sudden?

 

outside , kayaking , boating , biking , hiking and camping I prefer cans but inside or at a bar I want bottles or draft .Other than biker bars ( who serve cans for safety ) I will not drink a can in a bar. No logical reason other than bars always served bottles in the past and I'm set in my ways.

 

Beer always taste better out of the hollowed out skulls of my enemies...but cans are a little bit more convenient.

 

Seems like I just saw something from a brewery about the current superiority of cans...
Oh, here it is:

 

I do believe Straub is still doing Returnable bottles. I live in Pittsburgh and am drinking one as we speak. Looks like a brew date of late December 2015...

 

A shortcoming with cans is that you can't steam the label off to keep as a souvenir