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Otto’s Pub and Brewery Making the Switch to Cans

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After selling its beer in bottles for the past 10 years, Otto’s Pub and Brewery is making the switch to cans, a move that is becoming more common in the craft beer industry.

“Cans just makes more sense than bottles,” said brewery manager Chris Brugger, “because cans are a superior container for beer in many ways.”

He said to think of the cans as “mini-kegs” that protect their contents better than bottles. Since cans are impervious to light, cans keep beer fresh longer than bottles.

When the brewery first stared selling packages, bottles were the way to go for crafters just starting in the packaging process. But things have changed, and canning beer has become a better and more cost-effective way for the brewery to package and transport their beer. 

There are many other pluses when it come to cans, said Brugger, including the fact that cans are more environmentally friendly because they are recycled more often and made with more recycled content than bottles.

Besides that, Brugger said that cans are much more versatile for consumers. They are lighter and take up less space, making them much easier to carry around. A case of empty bottles weighs 5 pounds, where a case of empty cans weighs less than 6 ounces. And you can fit many more cans in a cooler or fridge compared to bottles, said Brugger.

Many places don’t allow bottled beers because they can break, causing a safety issue. Cans are permitted at many beaches, stadiums and outdoor concerts where bottles have been banned.

Brugger said it was a good time for the brewery to make the change, because after 10 years of bottling, packaging and selling its beers, more than 3 million bottles have been run through the brewery’s two, manually-operated six-head fillers, and Brugger said it was time to replace that equipment. 

Where canning equipment used to be expensive and space consuming, the cost and size of the equipment has both gotten smaller, allowing a brewery like Otto’s to make the change. 

The equipment is also easier to operate. Where bottling took five Otto’s employees to run the equipment, canning will only involve two employees, freeing up the others to make more beer. 

Brugger said he thinks the trend toward cans among craft brewers will continue.

Otto’s has rolled out the mini-barrels of its first beer to be canned, and will continue to make the transition to all of its packaged beers over the next couple months as it uses up all its bottling inventory. Of course, all their beers will remain on tap at the pub and many other establishments around the area.