Anyone canning crowlers for competition?

[Beardown]

Has anyone canned and submitted crowlers for competition? Any tips on this? Dos or donts? Thanks

[spetrovits]

I have prepared crowlers for competition. The process wasn't much different from our normal day-to-day crowler prep. I did test runs to check carbonation levels, to see if there was any difference between a draft pour and a pour from a sealed crowler. The carb level in the competition keg would often be boosted a bit, but not much; it was really only a problem with English-style beers, which were carbed a bit lower generally. Other than that, I would be careful to rinse and sanitize the cans and caps, to fully purge the crowlers with CO2, and to fill them (using a filler tube to the bottom of the can) up to just over the shoulder of the can, with the rest of the volume made up of foam, which I would cap on and then seam immediately. Our seamer was always maintained properly (cleaned and lubricated), with regular checks of seam thickness, so no special requirements there. We would also typically make a few extras, one or two of which would stay at room temperature, to see how warm storage would affect the entries. We didn't always know how the organizer would be storing the beer. Given our careful prep, we never had any contamination or oxidation problems. As to labeling, I recommend waiting until after the crowler is filled and seamed, in case there are any problems with filling or seaming. Also, fill and label one beer at a time, so you don't lose track of which is which. Because that never, ever happened to me or anything. Temporary painter's tape labels applied before filling can help with this. Finally, fill and seam one at a time; it won't take much longer, and it minimizes possible oxygen exposure. Good luck!