Problems with cans?

I have never had a problem with cans. Beer seems to be preserved better in them.
What was the beer, and the best by date? If it was a low ABV lager, it may have been not too fresh.

 

This could be related to a couple of a issues. First, it could be the seamer. The seamer is the device that crimps the lid onto the can. It must do it with the right amount of pressure to ensure the can is properly sealed. Too loose and beer and gas will leak out. Too tight and it can puncture the can.

The other issue could be a faulty fill-tec. The fill-tec is the device that scans the fill levels of all cans before they are validated for packaging into a 4-pack, 6-pack, 12-pack, or case. If the fills are short, its supposed to reject the can. If the fill-tec is not working properly, it will allow short fills to go by.

 

In Colorado it seems like every small brewery has jumped on the canning train and a lot of them have issues, IMO. I've never had any problems with the bigger guys (Oskar Blues, New Belgium, etc.) but I've had many issues with smaller canning operations and beers that go flat in a matter of weeks.

 

Which brewery?

 

If its a local brewery...stop by and let them know that there could be as issue with their canning setup and they should check it out. Show them Sixpoint's comments from above, I bet they know a thing or two about canning setups. I'm sure they want sub par product going out as much as you want to drink it. And use the visit as an excuse to pick up some more of their beer...

 

If you haven't had a problem for the last 18 months, I'd just write those two off. It sucks, but it happens.

 

Problems with Cans? Is there such a thing???

To the OP, that does suck about the unfilled cans of flat beer. I've had one of these myself, but I noticed at the time I bought the 6-pack (it was the only one on the shelf) and pretty much had already come to the conclusion I was buying a 5-pack. So to your original question, yeah, I've run into it a time or two...but I just chalk it up as a production fatality.

My only advice would be to give the cans a squeeze next time, could probably save yourself some heartache.

 

never and after the first 1 the whole thing would have been taken back to the store...

 

When my son got a can of 16 oz. Rolling Rock that clearly was not 100% full, he kept it as a souvenir. Not a bad idea - who knows when someone will be ISO one.

 

Man, that's good stuff right there.

I love canned beer, and I love great customer service.

 

I had a low carb issue with some cans from a local'ish brewery. They acknowledged the issue and said they were still figuring out the canning process as they were using a mobile canning service. They fixed the issue. hopefully it's temporary.

 

When COOP in OKC was getting started they had countless amounts of problems with their canning. especially with Native Amber. now they're killing it with em.

 

When you take a tour of the brewery take note of what type of canning line they have. In particular, look to see if they have this one:

 

@Badger72 ...and if they have that manual canner, you might want to reconsider getting their cans in the future due to really poor oxygen handling. The brewer's kegs and growlers are probably fine, but can quality could be questionable.

I recently learnded from @JackHorzempa that one should be skeptical of cans from a mobile canning service... because it may use that manual canner he posted above.

There's a lot more great information from professional brewers about issues with oxygen, cans, bottles, storage, and temperature in this recent thread for anyone interested: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/old-ipas.177842/ (I've been on these forums for many years, and I learned a few new things)