Canned beer. Am I missing something?

Has anyone mentioned updated packaging for reformulated beer on this thread yet?

Seriously though, best argument for cans. No cans, no The Crisp. /Thread.

 

Even Full Sail is going into canning with their Session lager last month. 6 and 15 pak offered.

 

Georgia needs Sixpoint! Ever since I've moved here from VA I've been craving Bengali regardless of the IPAs around here.

Any talks of some distro being sent our way?

 

Is it worth pointing out that smashing an empty can on the edge of the bar and waving it menacingly at a surly drunk just isn't as good as it is with a bottle?

 

Ever so restless... in a good way. I'm sure you'll keep us informed. Cheers.

EDIT - And speaking of innovating formats, thank you for doing the opposite as well. Enjoyed 3 pints of your cask mild last night. Please keep that alive.

 

fwiw, i've seen several iterations in San Francisco & on the Peninsula.

 

I hear ya.

 

Looking forward to seeing what's coming up. Especially the double dating (canned, best by) which some of us have been arguing for on this site for some years and which has become more important here in PA that it used to be since the number of places able to sell six packs and single bottles has been increasing.

Also, you have my personal thanks for your degree of engagement with this site. I've learned some useful stuff, and I think many brewers overlook the usefulness of the informal feedback they can get from a site like this, especially if they don't let themselves get distracted by the random, thoughless negative noise that sometimes emerges.

 

For a variety of reasons I generally prefer bottles myself.

But I've also never heard anyone complain about off flavors from the can when they didn't know which container their beer had been poured from.

Some years back, some friends and I conducted a blind 3 way tasting (pick the one sample that is different from the other two of three samples) with a couple of the locally produced beers that come in both can and bottle and were also packaged within a week of each other.

Interestingly enough, even those who claimed they could taste can, were unable to accurately identify the odd one out from three samples (either two samples from can and one from bottle, or two from bottle and one from can). Basically everyone was at chance level when they didn't know the container their beer had been poured from.

 

I gotta say, out of all of the beers that have been canned recently this one shocked me the most:


[h/t jjtaylor.com]

I remember when this beer was the gold standard of Belgian ales....now they toss it in shrink wrapped tallboys like a common pilsner. Interesting decision but if it cuts the price tag down (doubtful) and the beer tastes fresher (not doubtful) then why the hell not?

 

i've been witness to enough to know or at least it would be my opinion that it's very unlikely the difference would be detectable. curious do you remember what the beers were & which was poured from a can?

also i admit a portion of my glass vs can bias is at least in part related to old experiences from a short stint in distro.

 

Each beer was poured in to separate cups from either the can or the bottle so both were used in each flight of 3 cups of beer.

The beer I remember best, because it is so easily found around here and was the easiest test to set up, is the Yuengling Traditional Lager. It was both easy to find in lots of places and easy to find both cans and bottles filled within about a week or less of each other so freshness could be ruled out. It is also lightly flavored enough that something like a can flavor would stand out more easily. There was no way to control for batch differences but they've been brewing that beer long enough that it's remarkably consistent from batch to batch.

So using Yuengling as an example, each person participating in the tasting was given, blind, three cups of beer. Sometimes one of the three cups had been poured from a can with the other two of the set of three being poured from a bottle. Sometimes one sample was poured from a bottle with the other two of the set of three being poured from a can. Each person repeated the test 6 times, and on each presentation, whether the single sample was poured from the can or the bottle was determined by the flip of a coin.

In the test itself, the person doing the tasting was asked to identify which of the three samples was different from the other two. When the numbers were averaged out there was about a 1/3 chance any given person was correct. That's chance level for a triangle test.

 

Tom, I just gotta ask: did any of the taste testers report "they all taste the same to me". I am pretty sure that is what I would say.

Cheers!

 

Sometimes, but only after having had to first make a choice as to which was the odd beer out. Some of the group recognized early on they were just guessing. A few, however, were absolutuely convinced they were able to tell the difference. (At least they were until they saw the final data, both their own and for the group as a whole. )

 

I used to think as you do, then I began to find superior beers do come in a can and I have never looked back. As funny as this sounds I am sort of biased now towards cans over glass because I can stock more in my fridge and when going out I don't have to worry about broken glass. I would say go and try a bunch of cans from good breweries and you will be shocked how good they are, cheers and happy can hunting....

 

When in the shop, given the choice, I'll grab the can over the bottle (unless there is an age difference).

 

@Sixpoint

As in new can design? And if by formulation if you mean a change of current recipes, that would be interesting. I tend to drink sixpoint beers straight from the can unless it's brand new. Not sure if this info is relevant for you.

 

Great you had to tag them to invite another unwarranted promo