Barrel Aged Beer in Cans?

I like cans because they stack and travel better.

 

After reading through so much of this thread, I 100% read this as "although not a BPA aged beer..."

 

Voted "no preference". Canning technology has come a long ways over the years and I like the idea of a big beer from the pop top.

 

I carry my prejudices long and deep. Michael Jackson's DK books back in the mid 90s led me down the path to import and craft (and then the divisions were still pretty clear). Glass could be an elevated medium while mass market was trending toward cans. For me, craft meant glass, and that continues to this day. Once feelings are involved, reason and facts cease to apply. I have had a hard time wrapping my mind around cans, but it has not stopped my purchasing. BBA Ten Fidy was excellent. While I am hidebound, I also can accept new revelations. I will be happy to be proven wrong. One last feelz though... Bottles are pretty, while cans are mere vessels.

 

Barrel Aged Ten Fidy... Nuff Said

 

Thanks for the laugh. I can see how you read it that way. Yeah, I sort of doubled up on the aged bit!

 

Preference to the bottle

 

Whatever the brewery thinks is best for their beer. Like the OP, if they have a better canning line, use cans. If they have a better bottling line, use bottles.

In general I guess I prefer cans, mainly because they fit in the fridge easier. The only time I specifically look for bottled beer is if I need more homebrew bottles.

 

Really good points. Old vs. new canning lines and bowl vs. inline fillers can mean the difference between remarkably stable beer or garbage in a month beer. Generally, it seems you can get lower TPOs in budget bottling lines vs. canning lines, and the differences disappear on large, sophisticated systems. Because of the economy of scale associated with can purchases, it seems like small breweries would benefit more from going glass. But it’s certainly easier for small breweries to do cans successfully than ever before!

 

What if you can get an entire 4-pack or 6-pack for the same price as a bomber, but the liquid is just as good, if not better? A whole dynamic range of flavors? This is the type of innovation we need....

what about a 6-pack of 8.4 oz cans then? better to have a fresh can every time you want a taste than have to open a whole bottle....you can get six cans for the price of a single bomber, you get 50 ounces instead of 25 ounces, and for about the same price....

and if you think about it, every time you open a can it costs you about $3-4 instead of costing you $25

@frozyn @cavedave @scream

yup, important that is a porter and not a stout!

You nailed it. People often cellar beers that should be consumed right away, and also consume beers right away that should actually be cellared. BA beers are often going to taste the best right after packaging, especially if they have ingredients like coffee in them, which degrades quickly with oxidation. However non barrel-aged stouts and porters and barleywines will often get better over time (to a certain point), provided they were packaged in a clean environment.

You say that 750mL is optimal for looks, but cans can look pretty as well - if not BETTER than a 750mL bottle. They just have not been given enough love yet for BA beers. We're going to help out with that.

 

Agreed. If only I could get those...

 

After thinking about this and checking a few of my notes, I'd probably be fine with that size cans for sipping beers (beers that come in between about 8-10% e.g., your Xbeans porters) since most of the times when I split the 12 oz high ABV bottles into two servings it's a week night and I have things to take care of the next day so I don't want any foggy feeling. Given my metabolism, above about 10% I expect I'd still prefer splitting the 12 oz bottle into two servings.

 

to cellar, bottles
-only because i've heard the beer can absorb some of what is in the can (BPA, etc)

in general i don't care

cans take up less space in my fridge

 

@honkey if it is good they will buy it in whatever format you put it in. I have BA beers in cans and bottles and I actually have no preferences. Good luck with it and wish I could get my hands on it when you are finished .

 

It doesn't really matter to me, but I guess I voted for cans. lol

 

I would buy the lower price, regardless of which was lower.

 

Alright, I guess I will be the brave soul.

I voted bottles.

Everything does taste different (to me) depending on the format. This goes back to even having soda in can vs plastic bottle vs glass bottle vs fountain. I never enjoyed the can taste as much as bottles. -And personally, glass bottles have always tasted best (weather we are talking made with real sugar or HFCS). (This is 100% still true today for me.)

I have yet to have a canned stout that I enjoy as much as a bottled stout. Until that day comes, I will believe 100% that cans are changing the flavor.

Someone will inevitably bring up BA Ten Fidy in response: It's good no doubt, but I don't think it is as good as other BA stouts I have had in bottles. I have yet to get that WOW! factor either from a canned stout.

I have not had an opportunity to try the same exact beer from each vessel like with soda.

Hard to attribute this uniform difference across over more than 20 years across multiple styles to anything but a taste difference. With Soda, Also most people I have ever discussed this with agree there is a noticeable taste difference. -So, it is not clear to me why this would NOT exist here - because it is beer does not make sense to me.

 

Didn't vote yet, but I have to admit that this was probably one of the best barrel aged impy stouts I've had from the can, also have to admit that bourbon barrel aged Ten Fidy was pretty legit too.

 

Cans are better for beer, so why wouldn't cans be better for barrel aged beers and cellaring beers?

-More resistant to oxidation than bottle caps
-100% UV protection
-BPA is a non-issue (can would need to be heated to leech BPA)
-Easier to store, stack, and take up less space in cellar
-More volume options: 8oz, 12oz, 16oz, 19oz

I've had some bad results from aging bottles like Founders Imperial stout that got heavily oxidized after a year and Bigfoot that got a little skunky. I have had good results with aging Ten Fidy cans though. That being said I found the sweet spot for me is aging 3-6 months. Any longer and I typically start to get some off flavors.

 

I checked no preference. I am more interested in the quality of what's in the package rather than how it is packaged.