# Canning Homebrew



## komodo (28/4/10)

Guys,

Just something I've wondered about - is it possible to can home brew? I know that barleycorn brewers (one of the "u-brew-it" type places in melbourne) offers canning for customers as a cheaper alternative to bottles but I'm sure they've been able to justify the setup costs.
But is there a possibility of doing it at home?
I ask because cans stack better than bottles in an esky and the heat transfer in an esky is much better. I do a fair wack of camping and I cant (always) justify taking a keg and bottles take up a lot of room and I have to bring them home with me. Where as cans can be crushed and disposed of at the nearest refuse point. 

Probably just a pipe dream - but it doesnt hurt to ask the question.

Cheers


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## Adamt (28/4/10)

The main problem with canning homebrew is that standard cans can collapse when you put the tops on, if the beer is not already carbonated, the pressure from beer's weight alone is not enough to keep the can in shape.

I know Coopers use special cans (plastic lined or smoething?) that allow them to can uncarbonated beer for natural carbonation in the can (Dr Tim's Ale).


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## Bribie G (28/4/10)

Maybe in the near future, aluminium (sorry: _aloo_-minm ) bottles will be available to the home brewer.


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## Rodolphe01 (28/4/10)

no idea about canning, but would a garden sprayer keg suit your drinking 'needs'?


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## komodo (28/4/10)

Hrmmm doesn't look too promising. I know barley corn fill the cans with carbonated beer so maybe thats the answer. I wonder how much a seamer is worth... And where you get the cans from.

Rudi Party keg is an option - but I have a couple of 9L kegs any way. Id really like cans as I do a lot of travelling trips and if experiance tells me anything by the time I get back I always seem to have more crap than when I left. So if I could take a slab of cans with me and then return with only crushed empties (which I should be able to dispose of along the way any way) it could potentially save me conciderable space - especially on longer trips.


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## alowen474 (28/4/10)

I don't think the carbonation will prevent the can crushing as it will have no effect until the seal is airtight, ie after crimping.
I have searched for a can closer to no avail so let us know if you can find one


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## FNQ Bunyip (28/4/10)

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/26762519...nt_sealing.html

the single head unit can do 1000 cans an hour and is only 200kg and looks to be $1000 FOB china


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## mxd (28/4/10)

have you asked "u-brew-it", if you can bring your own juice to them to use the canner? If it's a good/fair price, I would certainly do a box every so often.


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## komodo (28/4/10)

No I havent mxd to be honest. Might be worth sending them an email. I would assume they would be a little cautious of such a proposal though.


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## FNQ Bunyip (28/4/10)

I rang the one in Cairns when they first opened ,, no we can't do that ! so then I offerd to pay for a brew and just can mine, still No we can't do that ... 

but give them a call and see how you go , diferant operator might be diferant anwser ...

I'd love to can a few brews a year , just for fishing ....

cheers


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## komodo (28/4/10)

Yeah I have to admit if I was running a commercial venture I'd probably be a little wary of someone bringing in their own beer to can. 
Still I send off an email tonight.


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## dent (28/4/10)

The machine at the local u-brew-it (bleh) just had a couple of rollers than run around the edge of the lid and 'crimp' it onto the can - no downward pressure required, the fact that the beer is carbonated is irrelevent. 

Didn't seem like a particularly expensive machine, but they'd charge us something like 50c a can to can a brew. The cans themselves probably aren't cheap.

I'm pretty sure all cans are plastic lined, be it coke or VB.


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## kelbygreen (28/4/10)

go buy a carton of cans you like. If its 50 cents a can and you gotto do 60 cans thats $30 plus say $45 for the brew your looking at $75 and you can pick up 30 pack vb (crap but can) for 2 cartons for $80 most weeks


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## drew9242 (28/4/10)

kelbygreen said:


> go buy a carton of cans you like. If its 50 cents a can and you gotto do 60 cans thats $30 plus say $45 for the brew your looking at $75 and you can pick up 30 pack vb (crap but can) for 2 cartons for $80 most weeks



Or you could get a carton of oettinger for about $40. Plus they are 440ml. Not bad beer for the price.


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## dent (28/4/10)

.. I'm not sure how you'd go about refilling commercial cans - it would be difficult to remove the old lid without damaging the top of the can thus making it impossible to crimp on a new lid.


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## drew9242 (29/4/10)

Buy them to drink the beer when he is off travelling somewhere. Not actually reusing them


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## Effect (29/4/10)

mxd said:


> have you asked "u-brew-it", if you can bring your own juice to them to use the canner? If it's a good/fair price, I would certainly do a box every so often.




I've asked...and they quickly said no


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## Pennywise (29/4/10)

I think with U-Brew-It or the likes cannin/bottling your own brew made at home would be like asking a resturant if you could bring in your own food for them to cook. There's no way it would happen because they can't garentee that the product is safe to consume, I don't think they want to risk having a law suit on their hands.


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## sama (29/4/10)

BribieG said:


> View attachment 37605
> 
> 
> Maybe in the near future, aluminium (sorry: _aloo_-minm ) bottles will be available to the home brewer.




youd break ya foot tryin to crush them


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## horner34 (29/4/10)

dent said:


> I'm pretty sure all cans are plastic lined, be it coke or VB.



umm, I don't think so


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## dent (2/5/10)

horner34 said:


> umm, I don't think so



Brewing Science and Practice:


> The two-piece can is manufactured from a coil of plate, which is unwound, lubricated
> and fed into a blanking press (Scruggs, 1997), which forms the sheet into shallow cups.
> These cups proceed to an ironing press to form the side wall of the can. More metal is
> retained at the top and bottom of the can for strength but in the side wall the thickness
> ...


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## unrealeous (2/5/10)

dent said:


> I'm pretty sure all cans are plastic lined, be it coke or VB.





horner34 said:


> umm, I don't think so


Yes they are champ - I'm glad you mentioned coke and VB also - those are both featured in the photo.

"The can form is washed several times to remove dust and lubricant before printing and lacquering on the outside, and *coating the inner walls with a resistant polymer*."

http://www.packaging-gateway.com/projects/amcor/


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