Beer in a Can

[chandler44]

This weekend some friends and myself are entering as a cooking team into a local chili/beans/bbq cookoff.  Since my main job on the team is to drink beer, I'm looking for some recommendations for good beers that are sold in cans.  We're not supposed to have glass bottles out there at all, so I'm turning to the best beer experts I know.  I know I can get something like Shiner Bock/Blonde in a can, and that would work if nothing else, but I'd like to find something else to try.

So, any suggestions on something that's good in a can and can be found at a Spec's?

(Any of you guys are welcome to drive the 80-100 miles south down 59 and critique our BBQ, chili, beans, and salsa Saturday)

[Bench]

Modelo Especial

[chuck]

You guys ever hear of cups?

[austro]

You guys ever hear of cups?

Come on, it's a baseball group. Of course we've heard of cups. What's that have to do with drinking beer?

[Greg M]

http://www.oskarblues.com/

The best canned beer I've ever had, although after a couple of Old Chubs, I invariably need a nap.

[chandler44]

Last year I bought bottled beer and poured them into cups.  This year I didn't want to mess with that if I didn't have to plus we have snazzy new koozies we had made that I want to use.

[BudGirl]

(Any of you guys are welcome to drive the 80-100 miles south down 59 and critique our BBQ, chili, beans, and salsa Saturday)

That sure is a lot of information regarding the location.  Good luck on your beer hunt and the cookoff.

[Lefty]

Red Stripe

[Ebby Calvin]

Austin Beerworks IPA is damn fine, sold only in cans (at least in Houston).

[chandler44]

That sure is a lot of information regarding the location.  Good luck on your beer hunt and the cookoff.

Texana Chili Spill

Thanks!  It's our second year.  Last year we placed in salsa and chili, this year hopefully our meats will fare better.

[Savage]

FWIW, we have a buddy who is a brewmaster at New Belgium.  Basically, he tastes beer fresh out of the tank all day long.  When we got the personal tour a few months ago, he said fat tire in a can was really good - he preferred it to the bottle.

[Noe]

Second on the Fat Tire recommend.  FWIW - Shiner Bock in a can is disgustingly bad beer.  May as well serve them Falstaff Beer (if it is still sold in stores), that stuff was N-A-S-T-Y.  I cannot believe Shiner taste that bad in a can, but it does.

[headhunter]

Second on the Fat Tire recommend.  FWIW - Shiner Bock in a can is disgustingly bad beer.  May as well serve them Falstaff Beer (if it is still sold in stores), that stuff was N-A-S-T-Y.  I cannot believe Shiner taste that bad in a can, but it does.

come on Noe, canned shiner isn't bad, it's just not as good. plus, after the first few the rest taste even better.

[HudsonHawk]

I keep Shiner in a can around all the time for drinking around the pool. It ain't so bad.

[hostros7]

Southern star makes some solid can beer. 

[drew corleone]

Second Oskar Blues, though I usually opt for Mama's Yella Pils. I love all of the ABW beers, and Big Sky Trout Slayer is also refreshing (Moose Drool ain't bad, either).

[GreatBagwellsBeard]

Southern star makes some solid can beer. 

This.  A Pine Belt Pale ale or Bombshell Blonde would go well with chili.

[MRaup]

Austin Beerworks IPA is damn fine, sold only in cans (at least in Houston).

Anything Austin Beerworks. It only comes in cans and kegs. Either ABW or Southern Star Bombshell Blonde.

[Ebby Calvin]

Anything Austin Beerworks. It only comes in cans and kegs. Either ABW or Southern Star Bombshell Blonde.

Then fuck it, get a keg.

[sporadic]

FWIW - Shiner Bock in a can is disgustingly bad beer.

Lone Star in a can is the same way.  I love the longnecks, though.

[Andyzipp]

I keep Shiner in a can around all the time for drinking around the pool. It ain't so bad.

Shiner Bock in a can tends to skunk a lot sooner than Shiner Bock in a bottle or other beers in cans.  Not sure why, exactly, but even when I worked for the distributor, it was a known issue.

[Limey]

Shiner Bock in a can tends to skunk a lot sooner than Shiner Bock in a bottle or other beers in cans.  Not sure why, exactly, but even when I worked for the distributor, it was a known issue.

It's the formaldehyde.

[sporadic]

Shiner Bock in a can tends to skunk a lot sooner than Shiner Bock in a bottle or other beers in cans.  Not sure why, exactly, but even when I worked for the distributor, it was a known issue.

The attorney I work for says that Lone Star in a longneck is the exact same product that comes out of a Keg, a cold filtered draft. while the canned version is pasteurized.  Not sure where he got that from, but he likes him some Lone Star and refuses to drink it out of a can.  I may use the interwebs to solve this mystery.  So much for work this afternoon...

[Lurch]

The attorney I work for says that Lone Star in a longneck is the exact same product that comes out of a Keg, a cold filtered draft. while the canned version is pasteurized.  Not sure where he got that from, but he likes him some Lone Star and refuses to drink it out of a can.  I may use the interwebs to solve this mystery.  So much for work this afternoon...

While you're in there: plastic vs glass, please.

[chuck]

There is a lager here called Panama that in a bottle tastes decidedly different and vastly better than its canned sibling. I doubt that these guys are much into pasteurization but who the hell knows.

[Limey]

There is a lager here called Panama that in a bottle tastes decidedly different and vastly better than its canned sibling. I doubt that these guys are much into pasteurization but who the hell knows.

The bottles get re-used, so there will be a hint of backwash in the bottled version.

[sporadic]

http://www.tree.com/food-dining/draft-or-bottled-beer.aspx

Some brewers produce beer that they call bottled draftbeer. Unlike other bottled beers, they haven''t undergone pasteurization. However, to make sure the beer doesn''t spoil, bottled draft beer is subjected to cold, sterile filtration, removing much of its flavor. Most informed beer drinkers think that bottled draft beer is no better than other bottled beers.

Beer is filtered before it''s canned and then undergoes pasteurization once canned. Brewers have developed products that can withstand these processes and the end result is often enjoyable. However, canned beers can pick up and retain unpleasant flavors from the environment in which they were packaged. Fortunately, this problem is not common.

Now, to plastic v glass...

http://www.brewplus.com/making-beer/should-home-brew-beer-be-stored-in-glass-or-plastic/

Disadvantages of Plastic Beer Containers

Most beer lovers naturally cringe when someone mentions plastic storage containers, and this is because the disadvantages of use plastic beer bottles far outweigh the benefits in most cases. The most major problem with using plastic beer containers is that plastic is not as solid of a material as glass. Over the passage of time, carbon dioxide will actually pass through the plastic material of your storage container, and oxygen will enter. If you do not use beer that is stored in a plastic storage container soon enough, you will find that your beer has become flat and oxidized as a result. Additionally, most plastic storage containers are completely clear, allowing ultra-violet light to change the flavor of the bottle over time if the container is not stored properly. Lastly, plastic storage containers simply have a rather cheap appearance that many home brewers feel does not give the proper respect to the beer that they have spent so much time and care brewing at home.

[HudsonHawk]

Shiner Bock in a can tends to skunk a lot sooner than Shiner Bock in a bottle or other beers in cans.  Not sure why, exactly, but even when I worked for the distributor, it was a known issue.

How soon are we talking about?  I mean, I don't keep them around for months, just a few days to a week, typically.  I've never noticed any skunkiness.

[mrpink]

Pearl in a can and Jack Daniels Black.

[Lurch]

http://www.tree.com/food-dining/draft-or-bottled-beer.aspx

Some brewers produce beer that they call bottled draftbeer. Unlike other bottled beers, they haven''t undergone pasteurization. However, to make sure the beer doesn''t spoil, bottled draft beer is subjected to cold, sterile filtration, removing much of its flavor. Most informed beer drinkers think that bottled draft beer is no better than other bottled beers.

Beer is filtered before it''s canned and then undergoes pasteurization once canned. Brewers have developed products that can withstand these processes and the end result is often enjoyable. However, canned beers can pick up and retain unpleasant flavors from the environment in which they were packaged. Fortunately, this problem is not common.

Now, to plastic v glass...

http://www.brewplus.com/making-beer/should-home-brew-beer-be-stored-in-glass-or-plastic/

Disadvantages of Plastic Beer Containers

Most beer lovers naturally cringe when someone mentions plastic storage containers, and this is because the disadvantages of use plastic beer bottles far outweigh the benefits in most cases. The most major problem with using plastic beer containers is that plastic is not as solid of a material as glass. Over the passage of time, carbon dioxide will actually pass through the plastic material of your storage container, and oxygen will enter. If you do not use beer that is stored in a plastic storage container soon enough, you will find that your beer has become flat and oxidized as a result. Additionally, most plastic storage containers are completely clear, allowing ultra-violet light to change the flavor of the bottle over time if the container is not stored properly. Lastly, plastic storage containers simply have a rather cheap appearance that many home brewers feel does not give the proper respect to the beer that they have spent so much time and care brewing at home.

Fine work, sir.  Take the rest of the day off

[Andyzipp]

How soon are we talking about?  I mean, I don't keep them around for months, just a few days to a week, typically.  I've never noticed any skunkiness.

Normal rotation is 110-120 days, meaning if beer hasn't sold in 110-120 days, it is supposed to be pulled.  Shiner Bock cans had to be pulled at 80-90 days in most cases.  Of course this was now 7 years ago, so maybe thing have changed.  Sounds like maybe not.

[Noe]

Normal rotation is 110-120 days, meaning if beer hasn't sold in 110-120 days, it is supposed to be pulled.  Shiner Bock cans had to be pulled at 80-90 days in most cases.  Of course this was now 7 years ago, so maybe thing have changed.  Sounds like maybe not.

There seems to be something about Shiner and Cans that causes the math to be off quite a bit.  As is: sometimes it doesn't matter, when you get a Shiner in a Can, then good luck, hope it's not skunky beer!

[Bench]

Modelo Especial is infinitely better from a can than from a bottle. 

[Guinness]

Modelo Especial is infinitely better from a can than from a bottle. 

Agree. 
I also think Milwaukee's Best isn't bad in a can, has a decent "beer" taste.  No, really.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Agree. 
I also think Milwaukee's Best isn't bad in a can, has a decent "beer" taste.  No, really.

Same with Tecate.

[Andyzipp]

There seems to be something about Shiner and Cans that causes the math to be off quite a bit.  As is: sometimes it doesn't matter, when you get a Shiner in a Can, then good luck, hope it's not skunky beer!

Combine that with a les than diligent distributor/merchandiser and you have a good problem base.

[Astros Fan in Big D]

Pearl in a can and Jack Daniels Black.

Where do you keep your tobacco?  And do you have any pets?

[MRaup]

Same with Tecate.

Jesus Christ. Your beer street cred just circled the toilet and vanished forever.

[ybbodeus]

I took Drummond as sarcasm.  Maybe my meter's tuned way too high.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Jesus Christ. Your beer street cred just circled the toilet and vanished forever.

It's not bad whilst kayaking the Laguna Madre in 100 degree heat.

[mrpink]

Where do you keep your tobacco?  And do you have any pets?

I'd rather not talk about it.  Right now I'm drunk and mean as a rattlesnake.