Nothing feels quite like picking up that six pack of beer off the shelf, and slinging it in to the cart. Out of the cart, on to the check stand, out to your car, and finally, in its final resting spot - your fridge. This aspect of beer has always been overlooked, until recent years, when new package types have been used - which makes the consumer scratch their heads a little. What is best!?!?!

Unless you sell bottles or singles exclusively - every brewery - everywhere - has to make a decision about how to bind together that perfect six pack for transporting. At RoHa we chose to use the old-fashioned six pack ring. For several reasons which I will review in this blog. This old fashioned ring, has changed over the past few decades - and it is actually a pretty high-tech piece of plastic.

So, what are the options out there?

The most popular that we see are the six pack rings that we use (or that go around the middle of the can), the Pack-Tech snap on top rings (and some other modifications of this sort), and cardboard box.

I believe that most breweries (and all businesses) are working hard to decrease their overall impact to the environment while enhancing the overall experience for their consumer, so when we look at these options, I will look at it from those aspects. We could go on for days about this…

I will take them one at a time, Environmental Impact first:

Six Pack Ring:

• Uses far less plastic than its snap over the top competitor
• Is now made to be photodegradable so the sun will decompose this plastic
• This sort of plastic is recyclable, it just has to be recycled the same as a plastic grocery bag. 
• Cans are much easier to remove when you go to snag a beer - but sometimes too easy and slip out and hit the ground. We do have to use a machine to apply the ring to the top of the cans.

Pack Tech or Similar:

• Use a bunch more plastic - but they are recyclable (in some places), and reusable (if not damaged when removing a can) - and we always wonder how many actually make it to the recycle bin???
• Can be applied easily to the cans, without a machine.
• It can be tough to remove a can of beer from these six pack rings, shaking your can, or breaking the ring is common.

Cardboard Box:

• Very recyclable box that can be recycled in most all recycling programs
• Take a little more effort to place the cans in the box, unless you have big expensive machinery.
• You have to buy a whole bunch of boxes all at once to make it cost effective
• The box does not hold up well in a cooler full of ice, or where it can get wet.

Who knows the right answer - we just made what we felt the right choice was for us. There are some newer technologies out there that are making a six pack ring from spent grain and things like that. These are cool, but they have not yet hit the volume that make it economically possible to go that route. Also, they have not been tested (by us) for ease of can removal, and reusability.

I know that some of you will agree, some will disagree, either way - let’s drink a beer together! Cheers, Ro