Bisphenol Pale Ale: Should You Be Worried About the BPA in Your Beer Can?

Discussion in 'Article Comments' started by BeerAdvocate, Jun 9, 2017.

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  1. SoilLady

    SoilLady Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2016 Oregon

  2. erway

    erway Crusader (454) Jul 28, 2006 New Mexico

    I package beer in cans. I drink beer from cans. My man boob's have continually gotten larger every year since I started canning beer= My wife should drink more beer from cans!
     
  3. 2beerdogs

    2beerdogs Grand Pooh-Bah (4,878) Jan 31, 2005 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I'm with you. "Mipples" (man nipples) are becoming, shall we say a bit more pronounced. But I wonder how much of that is my beer drinking vs. my sporadic (putting it nicely) exercise routine. :confused:
    But, having said that, I would like to see an alternative. We have really plasticized our world in the last half century or so, and as much as @Chris912 is spot on about the oft-forgotten benefits, we should always be willing to use that good old scientific method for not just researching what IS there, but put more energy into the what COULD BE there instead.
     
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  4. Giantspace

    Giantspace Pooh-Bah (2,879) Dec 22, 2011 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Kegs are stainless I think and not lined with BPA. If I am wrong then let's stop here.

    If I am right then why are cans not made of unlined stainless steel? Is it cost? Manufacture? Some other reason?

    I still prefer a bottle but 99% of the time cans cost less. Cans are easy to transport and take up less room in my fridge. Over 90% of my purchases are now cans and I don't think about the possible Ill effect cans might have.

    Aging can beers will be an issue down the road. I collect soda and some energy drink cans and many have leaked overtime, some from the top seal and some from tiny pin holes that somehow get in the bottom of the can. I have a 10 fidy ageing and it's about 4 years old , so far no leak.

    Is it the contents eating the can away or inferior cans?

    Enjoy
     
    vabeerguy likes this.
  5. WBY

    WBY Initiate (0) Jun 18, 2017

    When I see that people have chosen a can over a bottle so we must go with the can, I wonder what people are they talking about? I walked into the local "Specs" store, and went to get a couple six-packs of my favorite home town beer, only to find it in cans.

    No one asked me what I prefer, and in some cases, the taste from a bottle to can caused me to drop that particular beer. The only people I can see making these decisions are the beer mfgr's. themselves.
     
    Brolo75 likes this.
  6. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I have nothing to quote to back me up but I am pretty sure it is a cost aspect.

    Some other tid-bits:

    Beer became available in cans in 1935. “These original beer cans were heavy; they first were tin, later steel, then eventually incorporated aluminum sides.”

    The first aluminum can of beer was in 1958.

    Cheers!
     
    russpowell likes this.
  7. redgorillabreath

    redgorillabreath Zealot (511) Mar 29, 2015 Pennsylvania

    For the record, I don't work for a can company. I'm just a lowly homebrewer.

    This whole issue reminds me of a thing I saw on TV about getting kids vaccinated (measles, small pox, etc.). The comment from a mom (kid not vaccinated) was "I don't see why I should inject my baby with unknown toxins". Just because the specifics of the vaccine are unknown to the parent doesn't mean its composition isn't well defined, understood, and controlled.

    And then there was the guy I ran into in the brew shop, just getting started, and was worried about fermenting in the plastic pail that came with the kit because of what might leach into his brew. It's pretty close to a big milk jug. ???

    I can get behind wanting to know and control what's in your brew. I do. But I'm going to wait to get worked up when there's a reason to.
     
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  8. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    The original cans may have been tin lined, not all tin, as tin is expensive.
     
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  9. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,071) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    As well as the inside of the can lined with the patented "Keglined" lining developed by the American Can Co. specifically for beer cans. (Other can companies of the era developed their own linings).
    [​IMG]
    No idea if ACC's "Keglined" lining contained BPA but I will note that many of the first consumers of those early canned beers of the 1930s are now dead ! :grimacing:
     
  10. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,326) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    BPAs are yet another chemical exposure that potentially impacts health, though probably not as much as prescription medicines, deodorant, perfumes/colognes, food additives, etc. Eventually research might tie some specific exposure to specific health issues such as increases in cancer, and increases in the spectrum of neurological disorders such as ADHD, autism, etc. Some of the increases in these disorders can be tied to improved detection though (when I was a hyper kid we were just little asshats, now they have a diagnostic name and treatments for it). I guess at my age I won't worry about BPAs unless research points to it as a real danger - I don't drink a lot of canned beer anyway. There is far more proven research on the dangers of the planned contents of beer and pop cans - alcohol and sugar.
     
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  11. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    JK, according to the below linked article the liner of the first beer can was a plastic called Vinylite.

    “By the early 1930's, American Can had developed a can strong enough to withstand the pressures of packaged beer. They had also finally solved the problem of lining the can by using a moldable plastic called Vinylite.”

    https://www.thespruce.com/beer-can-history-353265

    Cheers!
     
    russpowell likes this.
  12. HouseofWortship

    HouseofWortship Pooh-Bah (2,629) May 3, 2016 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I hate cans. Especially for the BPA reasons.
    -We know BPA isn't good for you.
    -Advent of the 16oz can- more surface area=more leaching
    -Higher acidity beers= more leaching
    -Anyone taste BPA? Wonder what the effects on beer flavor are...
    -How much BPA winds up in our oceans, landfills and water tables as a result of "recycling" of cans...

    Props to brewers who continue to care enough about their product and consumer to use bottles.
     
    tolar111 likes this.
  13. LambicPentameter

    LambicPentameter Initiate (0) Aug 29, 2012 Nebraska

    I thought his post was pretty straightforward and objective, including actual citations of studies.

    In fact, it filled in what I thought was a fairly critical gap in the article to which he was responding. The article covered the "are we exposed to it?" question but essentially ignored the "is that level of exposure harmful?" side of things.

    Without answers to both questions, we don't have really any way of answering the question posed by the headline.

    Exactly this. I'm not really sure what the takeaway is supposed to be. I feel like this article could have been written three years ago in its current form and substance

    But do we know that?
     
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  14. tolar111

    tolar111 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,060) Aug 17, 2008 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Debate BPA all you want, cans are foul. Anything that touches the top of the
    can ends up in your glass. How many people handled that can before you
    bought it? Drink from the can, contact a filthy surface directly, pour into a glass
    and the beer runs over the top of the can through whatever has collected there.
    The only thing cans are good for is taking them to places where glass isn't
    allowed. And yes I do occasionally drink canned beer.
     
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  15. mikeinportc

    mikeinportc Grand Pooh-Bah (3,331) Nov 4, 2015 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society

    :astonished:
    It's an open question, with no certain answers, which is a major point of the article. Ignoring topics until there are certainties (claimed) would seem (to me) to be an odd way to operate, for anyone, let alone a media/news/etc site, such as BA.
     
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  16. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,071) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Yeah, as I recall "Vinylite" was a Union Carbide product, and they and American Can developed a way to apply it to beer cans on top of an enamel base which resulted in the trademarked "Keglined" process. Some of the other can companies also used UC's Vinylite in their process.
     
  17. EvenMoreJesus

    EvenMoreJesus Initiate (0) Jun 8, 2017 Pennsylvania

    Total toxic load is important in these scenarios. The liver can only detoxify so much. One toxin, by itself and in small amounts, is usually no big issue. Add that toxin to the array of toxins already in our environment and in our food and water and you might have yourself an issue. Sensitivities also differ quite vastly in humans, so there's that to take into consideration. It is really no insignificant issue.
     
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  18. WesMantooth

    WesMantooth Grand Pooh-Bah (4,820) Jan 8, 2014 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    No. We should be worried about people not vaccinating their children, misuse of antibiotics, over population, but BPA is toward the very bottom of the list of things that will kill us prematurely. Well below the alcohol itself for many of us.
     
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  19. bmrattay

    bmrattay Devotee (361) Dec 29, 2014 New Jersey

    I'm not asking for certainties. I'm just wondering what the point is of an article basically rehashing everything we already don't know about BPA. No new information, no opinion, no story to tell. Sure, journalism should force us to ask questions, but not by simply asking it for us.

    Agree to disagree, maybe?

    Cheers!
     
  20. Optifron

    Optifron Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2012 Minnesota

    16 oz beer, very likely (I do not have one to measure) = less surface area/volume, not more, compared to 12 oz. surface area/volume will scale roughly as 1/sqrt(volume), depending on specifics of can design. That claim of yours is bogus rubbish.

    Anyone taste glass? Wonder what the effects on beer flavor are... (this is equivalent to your opining on cans).

    Finally, there are plenty of props to be given to brewers who care enough about the world to reduce the energy cost of transport and storage, and increase the stability of the beer thanks to using cans, all without negative effect.
     
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