Canned Craftiness

The original crafty can

Those of you who hang out with me on a semi-regular to regular basis, or read my illustrious blog from time to time, have heard (or read) me go on for hours about emerging trends in the craft brewing industry. One of those trends that I often discuss is canning. As far back as I can remember, the aluminum can has always been a sign of lower quality. For whatever reason, people see a can of beer and automatically associate it with industrial, corn-based, yellow, fizzy, swill beer, or if nothing else, hold it in lower esteem than it’s bottled brothers.

Now that we are in the second decade of the twenty first century, the stigma surrounding a can of beer is being cast aside and canning is becoming all the rage in the craft-brewing community. How did we get here you ask? Stand by to begin preaching in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Canned Florida sunshine

The main reason, from the technical side of things, why brewers who care about quality have always rebuffed canning is the perception that cans will give the beer a metallic taste. The reality is that aluminum cans have a water-based polymer lining that eliminates any metallic contamination or flavors. Jim Koch, for example, founder of Boston Beer Co., was adamantly opposed to the idea of canned beers, believing that tiny tears in a can’s lining could absorb the hop flavor and infuse a metallic taste. While certainly a possibility, the evidence that this is a legitimate concern isn’t there, and even Koch has noted we will soon see the day when his Sam Adams is packaged in cans.

Then, of course, there is the view of savvy and unenlightened beer drinkers alike that cans equal crap. This idea has been perpetuated, mostly, due to the dozens of generic lawnmower lagers that dominate the US beer market. Quality beers have always been packaged in bottles, so the logical conclusion drawn by the consumer is that cans are bad; bottles are good. The reality is that bottles are heavier, breakable, and transparent. As we all know, sunlight breaks down the hop flavors in beer over time, resulting in a “skunky” aroma. Not to mention that bottle caps leach some oxygen into the bottle, causing a beer to taste like cardboard, again over time. Meanwhile, aluminum cans are lighter, harder to break, opaque, and better sealed. So from a quality standpoint, the odds are that canned beer stands a better chance of maintaining its quality over time than bottled beer does.

Who can argue with that?

Another advantage of cans over bottles is that most outdoor venues, like beaches and pools, restrict glass containers, making a can of crafty goodness the ideal (and only) choice. They also get cold quicker, making it easier to cool off in the sweltering summer heat.

Cans are also cheaper to purchase for the brewers and since they are lighter and require less packaging, they are cheaper to ship. Bonus!

Perhaps the most important advantage that cans have over bottles is that they are environmentally pretty cool. Cans are twelve times lighter than glass, which means it takes less energy to ship the same amount of beer. Plus, it’s very easy to recycle cans. A recycled aluminum can will be made into another can and back on the shelf in about sixty days. Recycling is an easy, efficient thing for can manufacturers to do, and today, as many as fifty percent of all cans are recycled, and that is expected to increase in the future.

Middle-America's
doing it too

The first craft brewery to put their beer into a can was the Oskar Blues Brewing Company in Colorado, makers of the always delicious Dale’s Pale Ale. Oskar first canned a batch of brew in 2002 and the positive response from their loyal local followers sealed the deal. Shaun O’Sullivan, the co-owner and brewer of the 21^st Amendment Brewing Company in San Francisco, California (another crafty canner) first released canned beer in 2006 and today, he says they have no intention of packaging anything but cans going forward. He also added that he fields calls every week from other brewers asking about their experience with canning.

Today, according to www.CraftCans.com, there are 544 different craft beers made by 200 craft breweries that are available to purchase in a can. Some of the more high profile offerings are by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California, Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado, Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland, Harpoon Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts, Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, and Revolution Brewing Company in Chicago, Illinois. In other words, brewers all over the country are engaging in this canning revolution. Some brewers, such as DC Brau in Washington, DC, package their beer exclusively in cans.

Cans of capital craftiness

So the next time you’re on the prowl for your next great crafty brew, don’t be so quick to write off the cans. It might not be long before all beer comes that way, and the bottle becomes the endangered species of the beer world. For more information on canned craft beer, check out the complete database of canned beer at www.CraftCans.com.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!