How to Fish: How to Get the Empty Beer Can

The Empty Beer Can is the lure you need to summon the Spider Crab, the first boss in How to Fish. You cannot buy it directly, and you cannot clip a full beer to your rod. The only way to get it is to buy a regular beer, hand it to the Lighthouse Keeper, and take back the can he drains for you.

Quick answer: Buy a Beer for $12 at the lighthouse shop, walk to the Lighthouse Keeper, throw the beer to him, then pick up the Empty Beer Can he hands back. Equip it as your fishing lure.

What you need before you start

The whole exchange runs off a single beer, but it only works once you have started the Lighthouse Keeper’s opening quest, Who Stole My Beer. That quest becomes available after the tutorial when you speak with him near the lighthouse door. He explains that a long-legged creature has been stealing his beer while he sleeps and points you toward using an empty can to lure it out.

You need $12 for the beer. If you are short, gather clams around the starting island or catch and sell a few small fish to the Keeper first. It is worth carrying extra money for what comes after, since the Knife you will want for the boss fight costs $45 from the same shop.

Item	Cost	Purpose
Beer	$12	Converted into the Empty Beer Can lure
Knife	$45	Needed to kill the Spider Crab on land

How to get the Empty Beer Can

Head to the lighthouse door, which doubles as the shop on the starting island, and buy one Beer for $12. You only need a single can to finish the exchange, so there is no reason to stock up.

Lighthouse door shop and radio prompt where the Beer is bought for $12 — The lighthouse door acts as the shop where you buy the $12 Beer. Image credit: Dazed Games

Do not drink or inspect the beer. Keeping it sealed matters, because a full can cannot be attached to your fishing rod and the Keeper is the only one who can empty it.

Walk back to the Lighthouse Keeper standing near the entrance. Open your inventory, select the Beer, and throw it to him. He drinks it almost instantly and hands the drained can back to you.

Take Empty Beer Can prompt highlighted as the player collects the drained can — The “Take Empty Beer Can” prompt appears once the Keeper finishes the beer. Image credit: Dazed Games

Collect the Empty Beer Can. This returned version is the actual lure and sits with your fishing equipment, separate from the drinkable beer.

Equip the Empty Beer Can as a lure

Open your fishing equipment and set the active lure to the Empty Beer Can. Simply carrying it does nothing. It has to occupy the lure slot on your rod before it changes what you catch.

With the can equipped, cast into the water near the lighthouse. You do not need a special spot or a different casting method. After a short wait, you will hook the Spider Crab instead of an ordinary fish. That is how you confirm the lure is working.

Note: buy the $45 Knife before you cast. You cannot kill the Spider Crab with your fists, and Brass Knuckles are unreliable against it. Pulling the crab onto land without a proper weapon leads to a quick death and lost money.

If the Empty Beer Can is not working

If the can never shows up as a lure, you are probably still holding the unopened beer. A purchased beer does not convert on its own, so take it back to the Keeper and throw it to him first.

If the Keeper will not accept the beer, make sure you have spoken to him after the tutorial and started Who Stole My Beer. Then select the beer from your inventory and throw it rather than leaving it sitting there.

If you keep reeling in normal fish, reopen your fishing equipment and confirm the Empty Beer Can is the selected lure. Receiving the can and equipping it are two separate steps, and casting with your old lure still active is the most common mistake.

Once you defeat the Spider Crab, pick up its remains and return them to the Lighthouse Keeper to close out the quest. Doing so rewards you with the keys to his boat, which is what lets you leave the starting island and continue on. The Empty Beer Can’s job ends the moment it lures the crab, so there is no need to keep buying more once the fight is done.