Broken cans

They're beer cans, not a basketball, don't launch cases into your trunk from 30 feet? If the case is wet, don't buy it, if this is a regular thing for you, you must be beating the hell out of that package of beer getting it home. For the smell, get a bottle of carpet cleaner with an attached brush and go over your trunk. If you can, leave your trunk open overnight in your garage. Pray to whatever deity you choose that it is only in the carpet and didn't leak in between trim pieces, you'll never get that smell out.

 

How many times has this happened?
Have you contacted the brewery?

 

Penn Brewing Co. is canning their beers and distributing them to Florida?

 

Don't let them sit in your car under the hot Florida sun.
Kind of weird for a 1st post, but if you're legit, keep 'em in the cooler backseat or something.

 

Welcome to the BA site.

I don't see a question here for any discussion. You are vague about what beer you are talking about so that anyone else in this forum who might have had the same beer could chime in that it is a persistent problem, or it may be can conditioned or over-carbonated at the brewery, etc. If it turns out that the problem is unique to you, then it sounds like you may be creating the conditions for the cans to leak/break. But what you have stated is really a complaint about a product that is best handled between you and the store or the brewery. I suggest that you take it up with one of them.

 

I worked at a brewery that cans, and know any of several ways to break them. And I have never seen them just break in transport unless something like the whole pallet of them comes loose and I need two other people to help clean up the mess. So I have to ask the obvious.
What exactly are you doing while you are driving?

 

I'd suggest keeping a plastic tub in your trunk with a blanket in it - and put the beer in to keep it from flying around. This will reduce breakage and would contain the mess if it still manages to break. Or put it on the floor in the back seat since this is closer to the center of the car and won't fly around as much. I have a plastic tub in the back of my SUV with reusable (cloth) shopping bags and a blanket, and when I buy beer I just toss it in the tub. Never had an issue, tub slides around some but never tips, and never ruptured my beer.

 

Put the in your back seat. The seat will cushion any bumps. Plus if you have anything like a tire iron or spare or literally anything in your trunk that moves around there ya go.

 

I think OP is hit and run here, but a decent topic, with so many breweries moving to can.

Other Half had a problem with a few canning runs, and in general I think canning lines are harder to dial in to get a perfect seam. I even experienced a (hilarious story actually) can of Heady Topper bursting a seam as I held it in my hand on the way to the register, so it happens even to breweries with extensive canning experience.

Maybe someone with expert knowledge can chime in and make this a helpful thread.

 

That would definitely be a WTF moment!!

 

ok

 

Funny stuff. The OP opened an account yesterday AM, posted this thread, and hasn't been seen since. Let's see. He maybe lost his nerve, lost interest, or he is pressure washing his trunk. Or trying to get the three homeless guys out of there who are looking for where he is hiding his stash.

 

I have had an over-carbonated can explode in my hand as I pulled it out of the fridge. The other can of the same beer looked like a ticking time bomb, I waited over 6 months to open it out of fear.

 

A couple years ago I had a can from Brothers Brewing that had 2 tops stamped on top, but not in the same overlay. So I popped the top only to be met with... more metal. Eventually had to use an old fashioned can opener to get the beer out.

I dubbed it the "WTF can?!?"

 

I'm certainly no expert cavedave but I do have some experience with cans and the canning process.
They are very fragile, especially before but even after they have been filled and lidded. Seaming (attaching the lid to the filled can) is the most crucial part of the process and also the hardest to do flawlessly. Every canner has seam issues occasionally. Also, any mistreatment of the empty shells before filling could cause issues once filled. Microabrasions, unnoticeable dents, irregularities in the metal lips--these can all cause tiny leaks or pressurized can failure. Additionally, the condensation that forms on a can as it cools then warms then cools again will cause microscopic fissures to form in the metal of the lid, particularly around the score (the slightly indented part around the entire rim of the lid) that will eventually lead to failure of the metal. This usually happens long after it has left the brewery. In fact, water anywhere on the can will increase the chance of corrosion or abrasion that will eventually be the death of the package. Canning is no doubt an imperfect process (more so than bottling), but the majority of can failures happen because of poor warehousing and mishandling once they are out in the market.

 

Thank you for that thoughtful post. Do the majority of the can failures occur at the brewery/wholesale distributor? As a customer I have never experienced a defective can. Is it likely that the 'bad' cans have already been removed from the system before I go to my store to buy beer?

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet

 

Was this at the new brewery?

 

No at the Mobil on Rt. 2 in Montpelier.

 

Whew I have been meaning to get up to the brewery now that it is finally open -you scared me for a second there. That's a bummer though, did they replace the can?