The Evolution of Beverage Canning for Hard-to-Hold Drinks

The beverage industry has long taken an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach to conversations surrounding can failure. However, the rising popularity of “hard-to-hold” drinks has necessitated this issue be spoken about and addressed.

This term refers to beverages that cannot be suitably transported in traditional cans or bottles, whether it be due to their carbonation, acidity, or other properties. If you try to transport them in standard cans, you run the risk of ruining them.

The good news is that evolutions in canning technology have made it possible to move these products without issue. Keep reading to learn more about the latest technology and its benefits for the craft beverage industry!

The History Of Traditional Canning

Aluminum cans as we know them today are the culmination of several hundred years of innovation. The story of beverage canning begins in late 18th century France

The year is 1795, with the infamous Napoleon seeking a way to preserve food for his vaunted army and navy forces. He offered a monetary reward of 12,000 Franks for whoever could devise such a solution, with the winner being Nicholas Appert in 1910 after he proposed sterilizing and storing food in hermetically sealed containers

Not long after, English inventor Peter Durand received a patent from King George III to use pottery, glass, and tinplated iron as food containers. He re-patented this idea in America in 1818 and kickstarted a revolution in canning state-side.

Other important milestones in the history of canning beverages include:

1935: The Kruger Brewing Company introduces the world’s first beer can to sell their “Krueger Cream Ale” in Richmond, Virginia
1940: The process of canning carbonated soft drinks begins
1957: Aluminum is introduced in metal can-making

From 1957 onwards, the industry continued to refine the can as a drink delivery mechanism in several ways, from adding pull rings to widening their mouths. Unfortunately, none of these improvements bettered the can as a transportation conduit.

The Limitations Of Aluminium Cans

While aluminum cans are a staple in the beverage industry, they present challenges for hard-to-hold drinks. The material’s reactivity can affect the taste of acidic beverages, and the standard lining might not provide adequate protection for certain formulations, leading to potential flavor changes and quality degradation.

Hard-to-hold beverages like kombucha or energy drinks can corrode the interior lining of cans, particularly if the liner application is inconsistent. Spray liners, for example, have micro-fissures that when combined with corrosive ingredients, become problematic.

Despite these limitations, cans are still considered the gold standard and preferred packaging format for nearly every beverage category. They continue to outperform bottles in areas like oxygen and light exposure, weight, recyclability, safety, and holding pressure.

Causes of Aluminum Can Corrosion

A lack of product-to-package compatibility is to blame when can corrosion occurs, but there are many other reasons to consider, including:

High internal pressure or dissolved oxygen levels
The liquid inside the can has a low pH
The presence of chloride, copper, or sulphites
High quantities of lactic, acetic, critic, and/or malic acid
A drink having a high percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV)
Inconsistent epoxy or BPA-NI can liner application

However, there are also environmental factors to consider that have nothing to do with the drink itself. Storage conditions, temperature, and how cans are handled both during warehousing and transport can affect their performance.

Types of Beverages That Require Specialized Cans

There’s undoubtedly a lot to consider when canning beverages. Below are some of the most common hard-to-hold drinks and how they interact with a traditional aluminum can.

Kombucha

Kombucha, with its natural acidity and fermentation, can interact negatively with traditional aluminum cans. The acidic nature of the drink can compromise the liner of the can, potentially affecting flavor and safety. Canning kombucha with enhanced barrier protection is necessary to prevent these issues, ensuring the drink’s integrity and extending its shelf life without compromising taste or quality.

Coffee

Coffee, especially cold brew coffee, contains acids and oils that can react with traditional aluminum cans. Epoxy or BPA-ni can liner may not provide adequate protection against these compounds, leading to off-flavors. Canning coffee with advanced barrier properties is essential for maintaining the rich, smooth flavor of coffee while preventing contamination and preserving freshness over an extended period.

Energy Drinks

Energy drinks are often highly carbonated; they contain elevated levels of dissolved carbon dioxide creating intense pressure. They also frequently contain citric acids that corrode the interior lining, which can lead to adverse reactions when their vitamins, amino acids, and herbal extracts interact with the metal.

Cannabis-Infused Beverages

Cannabis-infused beverages face challenges with potency loss due to scalping, where cannabinoids adhere to the liner coating instead of being consumed. Traditional liners can exacerbate this issue, however, not all liners are made equal. Some are inert and prevent this adhesion, ensuring the cannabinoids remain in the beverage.

Cider

Cider’s natural carbonation and acidity levels, often contain sulphites, which can react with the raw aluminum can wall. This reaction produces sulphur dioxide, leading to potential off-flavors and quality degradation. Keep your cider crisp and fresh throughout its shelf life with specially designed hard-to-hold can coating materials.

Sports Drinks

Sports drinks contain electrolytes, acidic components, and high levels of sodium that can challenge the integrity of traditional aluminum can liner material. Specialized beverage canning liners ensure sports drinks remain safe and refreshing for consumers.

Wine

Wine, with its acidity and potential for oxidation, requires specialized can liners to prevent interaction with aluminum. Similar to cider, most wine contains sulphites, which when exposed to the raw aluminum can wall, can react and create sulphur dioxide. Advanced liner technology when canning wine protects its delicate flavors and aromas, ensuring a high-quality drinking experience.

Spirits

Liquor, such as whiskey, rum, and vodka, have high alcohol content, which can be particularly aggressive in compromising the efficacy of traditional can liners. Avoid aluminum can corrosion by opting for specialized cans with enhanced barrier protection to maintain the integrity and taste of spirits.

How Canning Technology Has Evolved

Fortunately, the story of canning beverages is still being written—innovation to traditional aluminum cans is paving the way for improvements!

The most common thread across hard-to-hold beverages is the risk of their contents interacting with the can’s liner, thus exposing them to the metal. That’s why American Canning made it a point of focus with aTULC, the world’s first high-performance beverage can.

The main difference between the two most common aluminum can liner types (Bisphenol A Non-Intent or BPA-NI and epoxy liners) and aTULC is that the former are sprayed onto the can internally and the latter is rolled onto both sides of the aluminum can sheet before production. This process provides superior protection and greatly reduces the chance of corrosion.

From a sustainability perspective, an aTULC liner comes out on top again. It acts as a lubricant during the forming process to limit the need for harsh chemicals, large amounts of sanitizing water, or wastewater treatment facilities within the plant.

7 Steps To Assuring Quality Control When Canning Beverages

There’s undoubtedly a lot to consider when canning beverages. Below are some of the most common hard-to-hold drinks and how they interact with a traditional aluminum can.

Inspect Raw Materials

It’s important to thoroughly inspect all raw materials—including aluminum sheets, liners, beverage ingredients, cans, lids, and packaging materials—to ensure they meet quality standards and are free from defects or contaminants. Regular testing for purity, consistency, and compliance with regulatory requirements helps maintain the integrity of the final product.

Sanitize All Equipment and Surfaces

Clean and sanitize all equipment, surfaces, and containers to ensure the safety and quality of the beverage. Contamination can lead to unexpected and adverse reactions which can compromise the cans as well as the beverages inside them.

Test Quality at Multiple Stages

Conduct quality tests at various stages of production, including:

pH levels
Sugar content
Carbonation levels
Microbial analysis
Alcohol content

This is essential to ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and maintaining product consistency throughout the process.

Compatibility Testing with Various Can Manufacturers

A major component of the beverage canning process involves evaluating your specific beverage with different aluminum can liner materials to determine which combination holds up best. This process ensures that the can and liner can adequately protect the beverage, particularly for hard-to-hold categories.

Compatibility testing is essential for obtaining a product warranty, as manufacturers need to guarantee their packaging will perform as required. This step helps prevent issues like flavor changes, aluminum can corrosion, and leakage, ensuring product integrity.

Regular Fill Level and Pressure Checks

The goal should be to remove any guesswork or inconsistency when canning beverages. Accurate fill levels and appropriate internal pressure are vital for product consistency and consumer safety. Monitoring these parameters helps maintain uniformity across the production batch, ensures that each can meets quality standards, and prevents overflows or underfills.

Monitoring Product Throughout the Supply Chain

Quality control extends beyond filling to encompass the entire supply chain. Monitoring how to product is handled from fillers to transport, distributors, and retail ensures that external factors don’t compromise can performance.

Variables such as heat and prolonged storage at elevated temperatures can expedite reactions within the can, potentially affecting the beverage’s quality. By maintaining oversight throughout the supply chain, manufacturers can identify and address issues promptly.

Check Seal Integrity

For the average producer, regular testing of the can seal typically involves can seamer equipment, using a cut can sample and manual, visual inspection. Other, more advanced techniques, like vacuum tests and pressure decay tests, can detect minor defects. However, these would be done in a separate lab.

How to Safely Ship Hard-to-Hold Drinks

Choosing the right canning material for your hard-to-hold drink and fine-tuning your processes is important, but so is ensuring they’re being shipped properly. All that careful consideration when canning beverages can be undone by an inexperienced or careless logistics team.

Partnering with a logistics team specializing in the beverage industry is the best way to ensure your product is handled with care. Third-party providers, like Brew Movers, understand the intricacies of each hard-to-hold beverage and will adjust their shipping and packaging processes and transportation methods accordingly to accommodate them.

Work with a team that provides temperature-controlled shipping solutions that further protect your beverages from heat and light exposure. Don’t underestimate the power of professionalism and experience when it comes to shipping hard-to-hold drinks!

Get More Out of Your Beverage Canning With Brew Movers

The science of canning beverages has come a long way, especially with aluminum can liner material. If navigating the complexities of hard-to-hold drinks is bogging down your operations, it may be time to streamline your supply chain with the team at Brew Movers!

Whether you’re canning kombucha, canning coffee, canning beer, or canning cocktails, we can help. Our comprehensive beverage logistics services include meticulous quality control and seamless supply chain management. Let us focus on the details of maintaining the quality of your drinks from production to consumer while you do what you do best—craft delicious beverages!