Revolution Brewing (2020)

Grabbed a pack of Ryeway from Binnys last night. Its one of the few most recent releases I haven't tried yet, so looking forward to popping that tonight. As I was organizing my cellar (which has become close to 50% Rev cans over the last two months), I finally found a complaint I have with these. It's the damned foil labels glued to the boxes. Don't get me wrong, I love the cardboard packaging, they look slick. And I understand the logistics of using the same box and applying the label to each one. However, these labels stick, and it's harder than it should be to rip the label off to break them down for recycling. I never really paid attention to it in the past as I was never buying as many at the same time as I am now. So its just a picky gripe on my part, but it makes me wonder if there could be a more sustainable way to manage them.

 

I'm with you. I have gotten pretty good at peeling them off the cardboard, though. But every time I do it, I wonder how much worse those boxes with foil are for the environment.

 

You guys have never heard of scissors, eh? Why remove the label? Foil is recyclable.

 

I don't generally have scissors next to my garage fridge where I open these.

Also - that foil seems a bit "different", so I have zero idea if it really is recyclable according to our city's program. Regular foil is usually easy to tear, and obviously those labels are not easily torn, so it seems like something else is going on here. Maybe @BeerCruncher can chime in what he knows about the "green-ness" of those labels. If it is, then that's great news.

 

Not to turn this into Recycle Advocate, but I'm pretty sure stickers are not aluminum foil, therefore not recyclable. Technically, all labels need to be removed from a bottle/can/etc before they can be recycled, but this happens at the plant.

Aside from that, I see your point, as I was just making needless commentary. But scissors? Ain't no one got time for that!

 

I was just giving you guys a hard time. I do get what @croush is saying about the foil, though. It's not easy to rip. It's obviously not your standard foil. I still think it's likely recyclable, though.

 

Rather than responding to the other comments, I'm replying to the recycling comments. Oye!

I suspect not, honestly. The large plastic lids from walmart for those plastic tubs everyone stores shit in can't be recycled, despite having a recycle symbol, so I have no belief that this sticker-foil can be. That's Cincinnati, though, no idea about Chicago. I just assume that it is similar.

 

Wow Binnys must be flush with SJ this year & looking to move some product. $2 off 4 packs with card for all your world classBA barleywine needs

https://www.binnys.com/revolution-straight-jacket-961492.html

 

I saw that as well and took advantage. I suppose it can’t be too surprising, as my Binny's still had packs from the previous release on the shelf until recently. So maybe they are just hedging their bets.

 

I'd buy another pack, but that means I'd have to enter a Binnys. And just like Popeye, my wallet "Can't stands no more!"

 

I don't think barleywines are the most popular beer style, so I can't say I am surprised. However, at that price, I may be willing to try a 4-pack next time I am there.

 

I've never given thought to this, but now that you've brought it up, I think it's extremely petty.

 

I suspect petty is not the word you’re looking for. If it was, I think you may be misreading the original post. There was not a complaint saying that this was terrible, or how dare they, etc. The post was simply asking whether there is a better way to manage these releases with foil than using foil. I think that’s a logical question. If people leave the foil on and recycle the box, the recycling plant doesn’t recycle it. It gets dumped. There’s a great NPR segment from just a couple months ago on how expensive recycling plants are simply BECAUSE people recycle crap that cannot be recycled, and do not follow the rules.

Here in Cincinnati, carton’s must have plastic lids removed. Plastic jugs can have lids on, but lids cannot be recycled on their own. Glass jars/cans can have the lids recycled ONLY if the lids have been removed. When people don’t follow the rules, the items get discarded altogether.

It’s hard for me to see how the post was petty by simply asking whether there could be a better way.

 

Also, I was basically saying I have no complaints with Rev, and this was just the closest thing I could consider a complaint. It was really more of a random thought. I don’t expect Rev to change anything based on one man’s opinion.

 

He was trying to think of how things could be more sustainable for our Earth and you call it petty? This can’t be real.

 

Here in Cincinnati, we pay people at the recycling plant to sort this stuff. (I've seen it with my own eyes.) We all get to recycle without worrying about the minutia you just spewed AND a couple more people get a job. Win-win.

Touche.

FoReal.
#FirstWorldProblems

 

You seem to miss my point entirely. No city is going to pay people to sort through cardboard and rip the non-recyclable part off, or unscrew all caps, or screw caps back on depending on the item. That is ridiculously time consuming and not worth the money/time. Every recycling plant MUST pay people to sort the non-recyclable from the recyclable. That’s just a fact. The sorting is never the point, it is what gets sorted OUT and discarded, and the inherent cost of doing so.

The ignorance in your post that “fuck it, it might be recyclable, throw it in there, we pay someone to sort it!” Is astounding. And yes, I mean ignorance, not stupidity, because I think you simply don’t know/understand. The creation of a job is not inherently win-win. That’s a ridiculously oversimplified rose-colored view of the world. That money comes from someplace - like, oh, Taxes. Money to pay people does not just materialize. We pay for people being lazy fucks and not paying attention to what they recycle. The more lazy that people get, the more taxes have to pay people to sort. NOT ONLY that, but that trash still has to be discarded, which has a cost. And what happens when people get too lazy and throw too much trash in recycling? They start cutting down on the number of TYPES of items that the plant with accept, because it is less costly to do that.

To belabor the point even more, if people only recycled the items that are recyclable and followed the rules exactly, a recycling plant is not only self-sustaining, but it actually will CREATE revenue. So many lazy people can’t follow the directions that it costs so much money to sort and discard the non-recyclables that recycling plants usually require being subsidized, just like public transportation.

 

Reading the last couple pages has made me feel pretty bad about the way I just chuck cans into recycling without even thinking about the labels...

 

With no intention on trying to make you feel worse, there's this too:

So it seems that if cans with wrap labels (ie Hop Butcher) get separated out, they either don't get recycled, or the plastic just burns off when the can is melted down for the aluminum. Either scenario is very "non-green", since burning plastic is awful.

I'm also not aware of what material modern can wraps are made of, so I could be (and probably am) completely wrong.

 

I'd rather know than not know! I'll have to step up my peeling game.

And by step up, I mean start, I guess.