Bringing a canned beer to market from a brewpub
Cans can take a brewpub's beer far beyond its own taproom. They also expose every weakness in the process. This guide sets out the order to work in.
Check what your licence allows first
Before you buy a can, find out whether your licence lets you sell packaged beer off the premises. Brewpub licences often cover consumption on site. Packaged sale to retailers or to the public may sit under a different category. Excise is a state subject in India, so rules, forms and fees differ from state to state and change. Ask a licensing adviser or the excise office for the current notification.
Label approval is a separate step in most states. Do not order printed cans until you know what the label must show and whether the design needs approval.
Three ways to get beer into cans
You have three routes. A mobile canning service brings a small line to your site. A contract packer fills your beer at their plant. Or you buy your own line.
Mobile and contract options keep capital low and let you test one product. Their drawback is the schedule: you fill on their day, so your beer has to be ready on that day. Your own line gives control but only makes sense once you have a steady volume. Most brewpubs start with a short run of one beer. Our guide on brewpub versus microbrewery sets out how the two models differ before you scale.
Make the beer stable
A pub beer is drunk within days of leaving the tank. A canned beer may sit for months. That changes what the liquid needs to be.
Yeast and haze settle out, so decide whether you will filter, fine or accept a hazy product. Oxygen is the main threat. Aim for dissolved oxygen in the beer below 50 parts per billion before filling. Aim for total package oxygen (beer plus the air in the headspace) as low as your line can manage. A common target is under 100 parts per billion. Oxidised beer tastes of wet cardboard. The fault appears weeks after the can left you.
If your beer will travel warm, consider pasteurisation. A tunnel pasteuriser typically delivers 15 to 25 pasteurisation units for beer. Small producers often skip it and rely on cold storage, which is cheaper but narrows where the can can go.
Carbonation and the seam
Fill the beer at the right carbonation for the style, usually 2.3 to 2.8 volumes of CO2 for most lagers and pale ales. Foam during filling pulls air in, so cold beer and a counter pressure fill matter.
On the floor, the seam is what separates a good can from a leaker. The seamer folds the lid onto the can body in a double seam. Measure it. Cut open a can from each run and check the hook lengths and overlap against the seamer manufacturer's specification, or use a seam scanner. A visual check is not enough. A bad seam leaks oxygen in, or beer out, long after you have been paid.
What a can really costs
Work out a cost per can before you set a price. Here is an illustration with round numbers in a neutral unit. Beer in the can: 40. The can and lid: 18. Label or print: 5. Tray and shrink wrap: 3. Labour, line and wastage: 10. Total: 76. If you sell to the trade at 100, your contribution is 24 per can, before excise, delivery and marketing.
Printed cans come in minimum orders, so a wrong design or a slow seller ties up cash. Test with a short run of one beer. Our guide to craft beer market trends in India gives context for pricing. Your own numbers will tell you more than any average.
Prove it with a shelf life trial
Fill a batch. Hold one set of cans at refrigeration temperature and another at 30 to 35 °C, which is a hot Indian store room. Taste both every week for four weeks and measure oxygen. If the warm cans are not drinkable by week three, you know how far your cold chain must reach. That is cheap evidence before you promise anyone a shelf life.
Then decide who sells it. Your taproom first, then selected retailers within your own city, is safer than a wide launch. A cold chain you control is worth more than reach you cannot protect.
Where the numbers decide
Canning is a business decision with a technical core. If you want a worked method for costing, pricing and deciding whether a new product line pays back, that is what the business course covers. Our brewpub menu and margins guide shows the same discipline applied to food.
Common questions
Do I need a separate licence to sell canned beer from a brewpub?
Possibly. Rules differ by state and change, so check the current notification with the excise office or a licensing adviser before you buy any packaging.
How much oxygen is acceptable in a canned beer?
Lower is better. A common target is total package oxygen under 100 parts per billion. Higher levels shorten shelf life and bring on cardboard flavours.
Do I need to pasteurise craft beer in cans?
Not always. Many small producers keep beer cold and sell it fresh instead. If the beer will travel or sit warm, pasteurisation or sterile filtration reduces the risk of spoilage.
