{"id":804222,"date":"2020-02-15T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=378958"},"modified":"2020-02-15T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T21:00:00","slug":"summit-suds-are-beer-bottles-or-cans-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/summit-suds-are-beer-bottles-or-cans-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Summit Suds: Are beer bottles or cans better?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Beer is bottled at the Dillon Dam Brewery in Dillon on Wednesday, Feb. 12.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The number of craft breweries distributing outside the taproom is growing each year. Beer aficionados have more choices than ever when browsing a grocery or liquor store. But aside from deciding on what type of beer they purchase, should consumers pay more attention to how the product is packaged?<\/p>\n

Since 1997, the Dillon Dam Brewery has been bottling its beer to increase its distribution to the surrounding counties. The bar and restaurant packages three of its most popular beers \u2014 Sweet George\u2019s Brown, Dam Straight Lager and Extra Pale Ale \u2014 in six-packs of 12-ounce bottles alongside specialty beers in 22-ounce bombers.<\/p>\n

Head Brewer and Brewery Manager J.J. Miles wasn\u2019t at the business when it started bottling, but he assumes glass was chosen because it was the norm for independent breweries at the time. Cans were seen as too mainstream and stereotypically suited for cheaper beer, especially since the equipment and materials needed for bottling was \u2014 and still is \u2014 more expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why a lot of people have chosen to go the canning route, because it is a lot more streamlined,\u201d Miles said.<\/p>\n

Pug Ryan\u2019s Brewery went the canning route, shortly after Longmont\u2019s Oskar Blues Brewery set the precedent for self-canned craft beer, and became the second in the state to do so.<\/p>\n

People now can find Pug Ryan\u2019s Pilsner, dunkel and helles in cans across the state. The brewery also sporadically cans seasonal and specialty beers like Hey Pocky Way imperial brut India pale ale and its Winter Black Lager, in addition to all of its sours.<\/p>\n

John Jordan, co-owner and brewmaster of Pug Ryan\u2019s since 2017<\/a>, figures it costs roughly 27 cents to make one can, not including the beer, and has stuck with the tradition since there\u2019s less overhead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a bottling line is at least twice as much new as a canning line would be,\u201d Jordan said about the cost.<\/p>\n

Jordan said the affordability of canning has made packaging a reality for even the smallest brewers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does seem like the industry, with the less expensive canning lines and the ease of canning, has just opened up the market for almost any size brewery to package now, which is awesome,\u201d Jordan said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Jefferson Geiger<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Environmental impacts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rachel Zerowin, community programs director of High Country Conservation Center, agrees with the brewers that nothing is wrong with either packaging material since both are easily recyclable in Summit County.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day here in Summit County, we\u2019re really lucky because buyers and markets want both of those materials,\u201d Zerowin said. \u201cOne valley to the west, and the economics of transporting glass becomes less favorable just because it\u2019s so heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glass, which has to be dropped off at a recycling center or one of the new glass centers across the county<\/a>, can\u2019t be recycled in single-stream recycling. The product goes to the MillerCoors-owned Rocky Mountain Bottling Co., which turns it into a new bottle in about 30 days.<\/p>\n

Aluminum is more desirable, fetching more money per ton than glass, according to Zerowin, and has a smaller emissions footprint because it is lighter. The aluminum is shipped out of the state and recycled in the country, taking about 60 days to become a new can.<\/p>\n

However, a popular trend in canned beer is to use hard plastic carriers, such as PakTech CanCarriers, instead of the classic, clear plastic rings. While these colorful products are often made from recycled materials and can be reused to secure a new four- or six-pack, they can\u2019t be recycled.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnd markets just don\u2019t want them or can use them,\u201d Zerowin said. \u201cWhile it\u2019s great that they\u2019re made from recycled plastic, that kind of shows that plastic is downcycled, where as aluminum and glass are not.\u201d<\/p>\n

A more environmentally friendly option is to seek out the cans or bottles that use cardboard carriers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a cereal box, it\u2019s recyclable in the cardboard dumpsters at the drop-off centers, or you can put it in your single-stream bin,\u201d Zerowin said.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re really concerned about the environment, there are better measures to take than only buying canned beer. Zerowin wants people to focus on one of the other Rs of the green mantra: reuse. Take a growler and fill it up locally rather than buy packaged beer from a store.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fresh, it\u2019s always changing, it goes to the local economy, and it reduces waste,\u201d she said. \u201cYou also get to meet people when you fill it up \u2014 all of the good things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crowlers, though recyclable, aren\u2019t has favorable since they only have one use. As for what material a growler should be made out of, Zerowin encourages people to go with whatever is the most durable and will last the longest. She noted, though, that tempered glass such as Pyrex can\u2019t be recycled.<\/p>\n

To make even more of an impact, carpool, bike or walk to the store or brewery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of good ones in every town,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jefferson Geiger is the arts and entertainment editor for the Summit Daily News and managing editor for Everything Summit. Have a question about beer? Send him an email at jgeiger@summitdaily.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beer is bottled at the Dillon Dam Brewery in Dillon on Wednesday, Feb. 12.Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com The number of craft breweries distributing outside the taproom is growing each year. Beer aficionados have more choices than ever when browsing a grocery or liquor store. But aside from deciding on what type of beer they purchase, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-804222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 11:49:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}