You’ve been doing mead for a while now and you’ve got a basement STOCKED with bottles of mead and you think to yourself, can I can this stuff? The answer is absolutely!
As a homebrewer, you have a number of different options when it comes to putting your mead away. You can use the bottles, throw it in a keg, or put your mead in a can for a nice convenient package!
There’s a number of considerations to take when canning your mead, but rest assured it’s possible and it is awesome! In order to can your mead you’ll need to get a can seamer, some aluminum cans, and a beer gun.
Why would you want to can your mead?
There’s a number of reasons you might want to can your mead. For one thing, sometimes cans are just more refreshing than 750 ml bottles. Perhaps you don’t want to drink a whole bottle (yeah right). You might be inclined to just want a 16 oz can of mead instead. That way you pop the can and drink the whole thing. With bottles there’s always the dilemma of what to do if you don’t finish it.
Another advantage of cans over bottles is you can bring them to more places. Let’s say you go to a tailgate and you want to break out your mead. You might look insane if you’re walking around with a wine bottle (I’ve done this). If you drop your giant wine sized bottle of mead glass shards could be an issue but with cans you just smash them and call it a day.
You might be interested in canning your mead because you’re trying to keep costs down. Although the initial setup can be slightly pricey with the canning equipment you have to get, in the long run cans are less expensive than bottles. As a homebrewer, you might not be worried about this, but if you were ever looking to sell your mead it’s certainly something to ponder.
What style works best with cans?
You can put any style you want in cans, but I would suggest a mead that is both light in flavor and abv. I say this for a few reasons. For one, I associate drinking from cans with being outside. Typically when I’m outside I want a refreshment that is cooling and not too heavy in the sun.
However, a heavy mead would be nice if you’re out in fall weather and hanging around a fire. Ultimately it’s up to you. You could also consider trying a sparkling mead in a can for that fresh pop and carbonation you expect when you open up a can of beer.
In order to get your mead carbonated, you’re gonna have to either keg it or carbonate it in the can. If your mead is already in the keg carbonated and you’re looking to just get it in cans to take it somewhere, you’re good to go.
If you’re conditioning it in the can, you’ll have to figure out the amount of sugar to use. This might turn into an experiment and I advise you to use caution because you don’t want the can blowing up. The recipe might call for one thing for making a sparkling mead with a bottle, but those bottles can potentially withstand a ton more pressure.
Equipment you’ll need to start canning mead
You will need a few things to start your canning journey. You’ll need a can seamer, some cans obviously, and some type of can filler. A “beer gun” works well. I find that canning works best with 16 or 19.2 oz cans.
How to Can Your Mead
Once you have your mead brewed and it’s ready to can, you either have the choice of force carbonated mead or can conditioned mead. If you’re using the force carbonation method simply use a keg and tap to pour carbonated mead into the cans. It’s important that if you’re using this method to fill it to the top and press the tops of the can onto the foam. This way it ensures that there’s very little room for any oxygen to interact with your mead.
Otherwise you can condition your mead in the can using some priming sugar. It’s important to have a good idea of exactly how much priming sugar to use so you don’t create bombs. Too little the mead will come out flat. Too much however, and you’ll have the cans swell up and possibly explode. For me, it’s better to be conservative when using priming sugar in cans.
Follow the instructions for your can seamer to get all your cans filled and sealed. When you’re canning by yourself you might find yourself in a situation where it starts to get difficult. You’ll be like Lucille Ball in the chocolate factory. Give it some time and get your rhythm down right.
Once you have your cans filled and sealed, it’s time to let them carbonate. Watch your cans as this is happening to see if any are swelling to extreme levels. Ideally you could have a small batch to “test” with if you are doing this method. This way you can adjust slightly how much priming sugar you are using on the next go around. Give it a couple weeks for this to take place.
The moment of truth! Crack that can open and hopefully you have that pleasant swoosh sound come out and it doesn’t explode in your face. If it does, just adjust next time with slightly less sugar and you’re good to go.
Conclusion
You can can your mead, and like anything else with homebrewing, once you get it down to a system it’s really easy. There’s not a lot of people canning mead so if you do, you’ll really stand out!