16-12-2019
For our new beer we have opted for canning in 44 CL cans. This is completely in line with our philosophy: doing what we think is best. For an IPA we think cans are better than bottles for many reasons. In this blog post we’ll explain why we feel that way.
In every brewing and bottling process there is a possibility that oxygen will come into contact with the beer. Something we don’t want, especially not with beers with an extremely high hop like our IPAs. Contact with oxygen causes oxidation, which has a bad influence on the beautiful hop aromas and the color of the beer. The use of a lot of dry hop makes the beer extra sensitive to this.
Canning the beer ensures that there is no room for oxygen above the beer, something that can sometimes happen with a bottle. The can also closes off the beer better than a bottle cap. That way oxygen doesn’t stand a chance!
Light, especially UV radiation, is disastrous for the hops in the beer. The UV radiation can cause the so-called skunked effect: nasty sulfur compounds are formed and that is really not tasty at all.
Using dark bottles helps a bit, but guess what else is better? The almighty can! Nothing gets through. In this area, can simply beats any bottle. That is good for the quality of our beer.
Almost 100% of the aluminum that cans are made of is recyclable, in contrast to the recyclability of glass bottles. In addition, we need much less weight for the same number of filled units. 1600 bottles is about 480 kilos of glass. The same amount in cans is less than 26 kilograms in material!
Metallic taste in canned beer? Simply not true. If a canned beer tastes like metal, something went wrong elsewhere in the process. The idea that canned beer tastes like metal is mainly something from a gray past. Today, cans are made in such a way that no metallic taste is given off. If you do taste metal (it really is mainly between your ears) then pour your beer into a glass anyway.
A can is easier to transport due to its lower weight. A bag full of cans is considerably lighter than a bag full of bottles. In addition, a can cools down much faster and better. And you can build beautiful walls of cans (try stacking bottles…).
Cans give us more options to play with the look of our beer and the associated labels, certainly the 44 CL cans. We are also inspired for our beer by the American and British craft beer culture, and there cans have actually been commonplace for breweries for years.
In particular, the beers where refermentation and storage potential play a role, it is better not to fill them in cans. This applies especially to spontaneously fermented beers such as lambic and other wild beers. The beer ‘lives’ for a long time and will not stop fermenting quickly. Glass is much more suitable for this type of beer.
We have opted for canning, because we especially want our beer to remain as good as possible for as long as possible. We are therefore very happy that we have now been able to fill our beer in cans.
