BEER CANNING

PACKAGING AND POLLUTION

Bavarian government says to avoid cans

Although few people drink more beer than the Germans, consumption continues to slip, and the Bavarian government is taking the slide seriously.

Thomas Goppel, the minister for the environment, has called on Bavarian brewers to shun cans and stick with traditional bottles. "Canned beer is an instrument for non-Bavarian brewers to conquer the Bavarian beer market,'' Goppel said. "For ecological reasons as well as the market interests of Bavarian brewers, we need to stay away from canned beer.''

Across Germany, beer sales fell 2.9 percent during the first nine months of this year. Germans, however, continue to drink 140 liters of beer per year and trail only the Czechs in per capita consumption. There are 1,243 breweries still operating in Germany.

Many reasons have been given for the slide -- a cool summer, rising unemployment and increases in beverage taxes.

EARLY MARKET TESTING OF BEVERAGE CANS  

THE WAR... BOTTLE MAKERS FIGHT BACK  SOFT DRINKS IN CANS

Cone Top Soda Cans  Soda Virtual Museums

HISTORY OF CANS

A much sturdier container than that used for food products was required to withstand the 80 to 90 psi pressure of pasteurization, In contrast to the 25 to 30 psi used in food processing.

The major problem the early researchers were confronted with, however, was not strength, but the can's liner. Several years and most of the early research funds were spent to solve this perplexing problem. Beer has a strong affinity for metal, causing precipitated salts and a foul taste. The brewers called the condition "metal turbidity".

The can, a universally accepted container for many foods, came tip-toeing into the market place as a substitute for the bottling of beer.

Technicians at the American Can Company, even before prohibition, began toying with the idea of putting beer in a can. As early as 1929, Anheuser-Busch and Pabst experimented with the canning process. Schlitz even proposed a can design that looked like a small barrel.  

The American Can Company produced the flat or punch top can in 1934. The lining was made from a Union Carbide product called "Vinylite", a plastic product which was trademarked "keglined" on September 25, 1934.

Unlike the bottle, the can could be made in many shapes and designs, and the brewers liked the ability to use the whole can's surface to promote brand recognition.

While the punch top can lent itself to rapid filling, the equipment required was expensive. The Continental Can Company recognizing this limitation to the punch top can developed a new shape they called a "cap sealed" or cone top can. This new can, similar in shape to a bottle, could be used with existing bottle filling lines.

Three more players choose to join the scramble for the can business before the 1930's decade ended. National Can and Pacific Can produced the punch top can, and Crown Cork & Seal Company purchased the Acme Can Company of Philadelphia, PA in 1936 and produced a high profile three piece cone top can, and a two piece necked can called a "crowntainer". The crowntainer was used extensively for beer, but no soda cans of this design have been found.