OnTap Magazine

CANS MAKE THE PRODUCT TASTE LIKE METAL AND WILL POISON YOU You can’t 'taste' the cans when you drink the beer that’s been stored in them because of the polymer lining. is lining is needed to both fully prevent possible aluminium poisoning and to protect the can integrity. ere’s a possibility that you might detect a metallic taste if your lips touch the can lid. is is OK if you’re drinking from your can out in the bush, but any self-respecting craft beer lover would have poured their beer into the appropriate glass before taking a sip. CANS HAVE A PLASTIC LAYER THAT PREVENTS RECYCLING AND THAT GIVE YOU BPA POISONING Although the lining can in fact contain BPA, a study conducted by Health Canada suggested that a person would need to consume 1000 cans of beverage a day to be able to be harmed by the BPA or by the aluminium. And as much as we love craft beer, we cannot recommend drinking 1000 cans of anything in a couple of months, let alone a day. THE CANNING PROCESS PICKS UP MORE OXYGEN Oxygen pickup can happen during various parts of the brewing process. When packaging, the pickup of oxygen depends more on the humans operating the equipment and on the quality of equipment than on whether it is being packaged into a bottle or can. In theory, the top-of-the-range canning systems will have close to zero parts per billion pickup of oxygen. Small, low-cost bottling lines are easier to come by than canning lines so there is a tendency for cans to have lower pickup due to likely machine quality, but this is not enough on which to make a decision. ere is also an argument about higher can oxygen pickup due the larger open area, but DO (dissolved oxygen) tests have proved that the combination of a carbon dioxide ush and a good head break-out prove this not to be a factor. On like- for-like packaging lines with a trained quality operator, the di erence comes post- packaging, when cans are far superior to bottles in keeping light and oxygen out. CANS ARE CHEAP AND FOR CHEAP MAINSTREAM BEERS ONLY At scale, cans are more cost e ective than bottles, but that doesn’t make the beer within them cheap. ere is a misconception that bottles – in particular green bottles – are “premium” and cans are inferior: a misconception that has been driven by marketing genii throughout the decades. Advertising execs have convinced us of many things in the past: that only a diamond ring will do when proposing to your future spouse; that Guinness is a meal in a glass when in fact, pint-for-pint it contains fewer calories than the average lager; and indeed that green bottles scream quality when it comes to packaging a beer. e truth is that brown bottles are better than green bottles and cans are best of all. And if she really loves you, the size of the diamond ring shouldn’t be the decider (sorry De Beers). FOR THE PRODUCT Much a like a keg, just on a far smaller scale, cans keep the beer as safe as can be. They keep light and air out and keep all the flavour and aroma that the brewer has worked so hard to create, in. This quality, flavour and aroma retention has pushed producers to be more experimental, bolder and less cost sensitive in putting out products that drive the palate and the world of craft forward. FOR THE PEOPLE Cans are far easier to transport, both for large logistics companies and for individual beer consumers due to their smaller, lighter package and their tendency to not shatter. This allows individuals to take cans to picnics, hikes, braais and sports matches. Cans add further convenience to the consumer due to being quicker to chill than their glass-necked counterparts. The advantage for the distributor is also significant. Bear in mind that one of the biggest cost elements in a beer is distribution. A standard pallet can hold 1200—1600 bottles of beer but 1800—2800 cans.The cost saving at scale is significant, as is the reduced carbon footprint. FOR THE PLANET We’ve already looked at how light cans are, which reduces carbon emissions significantly during transportation. What’s more, cans are infinitely recyclable. The same aluminium in the can you are drinking from today could be the exact aluminium that was used for the can that your father drank his beer out of and could be the exact aluminium that you son and daughter might one day pour their beer from. Even better than all this, the aluminium has a street value (sounds badass, I know) which means that waste-entrepreneurs seek aluminium cans out for recycling. This prevents cans from reaching landfills and makes cans the most recycled packaging type in South Africa and most of the world. These factors have given cans a global recovery rate of between 75% and 80% with a 60-day recovery loop from packaged can back into production. And if you think about the multi-node chain of retail production, distribution, sales and recovery, that really is cantastically quick. Cans are far superior to bottles in keeping light and oxygen out THE MYTHS ARE GOOD… CANS ontapmag.co.za | Spring 2019 | 21