Why is wax put on beer bottles and cans?

Thursday, February 16, 2023

We spied this random video of a brewer adding melted wax to their canned beer wares and I was like what's the point of that?


Surely the beerholder does not want a lump of wax in their mouth?


This got me thinking, why would a brewer add wax to the top of a beer bottle or a can.


It's beer, not a letter from the King right? 


I suspect the addition of wax can help a brewery differentiate its products from others on the market. By putting wax on their bottles or cans, breweries can create a unique and recognizable look that can help attract customers. 

Silly ones maybe. 

I guess this is some kind of aesthetic appeal going on. Wax can give beer bottles and cans an upscale, premium appearance that can help a brewery command a higher price for its wares.

I guess it would be are more tactile and memorable experience when opening the beer but is it worth if there is wax where you are gonna put your mouth? 

If you pour it into a glass, does the wax go with it?

I did some google-fu and it turns out that wax was actually used historically 

add wax to beer bottlesBefore the advent of modern bottling and packaging techniques, beer was often stored in barrels or bottles that were sealed with various materials, including wax.

In the case of barrels, wax was often used to seal the seams between the staves and to prevent the beer from leaking out. 

Wax was also used to seal the bungs (holes) in the barrels, to prevent air from getting in and spoiling the beer. That makes a lot of sense as exposure to oxygen can totally ruin beer!

The kind of wax that was commonly used was beeswax and paraffin. In addition to wax, other materials like clay, pitch, and resin were also used to seal barrels in the past.

For bottles, wax was used to create a tight seal between the bottle and the cap or cork. This was particularly important for bottle-conditioned beers, which rely on secondary fermentation in the bottle to carbonate the beer. The wax seal helped to keep the carbonation in the bottle and prevent the beer from going flat.

Modern packaging techniques (i.e. canning) have clearly replaced the need for a wax seal. Craft breweries continue to use wax do it as a nod to history and to create a distinctive appearance for their products.
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