Resurgence Brewery has come up with a very clever system to can its beer in-house. The process of craft canning is the next generation of glass growlers. Resurgence picked up the canning machine a couple of weeks ago, after being introduced to the system by a friend from the Tap and Mallet gastropub in Rochester.
“The owner of the pub drives to Buffalo to pick up our beer,” Resurgence Brewery owner Jeff Ware explained. “He told me about a canning system that he bought last month called The Crowler (can-growler). So I drove to Rochester to see The Crowler in action. I placed an order for one the very next day.”
The in-house canning phenomenon started about ten years ago when Oskar Blues Brewery (Dale’s Pale Ale) discovered an old canning company (so the story goes) that still made canning machines. After purchasing one of the machines, they began to fill up the cans with beer in order to sell directly to customers. The process became a big hit, and The Crowler was born.
“We ordered our canning machine directly from Oskar Blues,” said Ware. “We’ve been sealing our own beers for two weeks now, adding our own label, and then marking the label with the type of beer that’s inside. The process allows customers to walk away with fresh can of beer, and the aluminum can protects the beer from light and oxygen. We fill the can just like a growler and then purge the beer of air, before seaming it with the machine – the beer lasts longer and the can is not breakable like a glass growler. It’s also recyclable.”
According to Ware, the canning machine is basically a rekindled relic from the turn of the century. “It’s an old school canner,” he explained. “Think of some mother canning s#@t in her basement. It’s the same process. We could be canning peaches if we wanted to. But we’re all about canning beer right now.”
Resurgence Brewery | 1250 Niagara Street | Buffalo, NY 14213 | (716) 381-9868