Yes cans are no longer the sole domain of the mass produced macro swill that it once was. There is a chance that a person looking for their favorite craft beer can find it in a can. The use of the can is steadily growing each year as the breweries strive to be more "green" with their production and their imprint on the Earth as a whole. You may think that only certain beers are canned, well you are just plain wrong. You want an Imperial Stout, canned, and IPA, canned, a scotch ale, canned, an oatmeal stout, canned, just about any beer you imagine comes in a can!
What breweries are doing this wonderful thing you ask. Here are a few that I am aware of: Great River Brewing, our own local brewery in Davenport, http://greatriverbrewery.com/; Oskar Blues in Colorado, http://www.oskarblues.com/the-brews/dales-pale-ale; Surly Brewing in Minnesota, a personal favorite, http://www.surlybrewing.com/; Keweenaw Brewing, in my beloved UP of Michigan, http://www.keweenawbrewing.com/; New Belgium Brewing in Colorado, cans some beers, http://www.newbelgium.com/home.aspx; 21st Amendment Brewing in California, but actually contracted brewed by Cold Springs in Minnesota, http://www.21st-amendment.com/; and someone new to me Tallgrass Brewing in Kansas, http://www.tallgrassbeer.com/. These are just some of the fine brewers that can their beer. Also I found this online story as well about canned craft brews that includes some brewers I did not mention, http://beernews.org/2010/05/the-craft-beer-can-revolution/,
Ok so now you may be thinking why would these fine beers end up in a can. Well here are just a few reasons as to why. First the are easier to transport than bottles, a 12-pack of cans take up less space and are actually lighter than a 12 pack of bottles. Also when they are empty if you need to cans crush easily down while bottles do not. This brings up a second great advantage to cans, you can take them to places bottles are not allowed. Where? Like the beach, on a hike or even riding a bike. (so sorry for the Dr. Seuss rhyme, LOL) Cans do not break when dropped like bottles, so these places that normally outlaw bottles and thus leave you wanting your craft beer, are now open to craft beer being brought in because cans are approved. The third great advantage of cans is that cans are easy to recycle. This fits right in with the desire of many breweries that are becoming "greener" in their brewing practices. A fourth advantage is your refrigerator, they cool faster and take up less room in your fridge. Many of these reasons are in the following article http://www.beersinparadise.com/?p=3190.
From the brewers point of view there is a major drawback the amount of cans that must be purchased at the original time of purchase. I believe it is now a semi trailer load, so this means that a small brewery like Great River will only can selected beers. If you want to learn more about the trials just go ask Paul or Scott at Great River and I am sure they will fill you in on what it takes.
Overall though the benefits are beginning to out weigh the drawbacks to many brewers. I'm sure we will see more and more breweries switching to cans and we will benefit from this. So if you are thirsty for a cold one tonight reach for a can! That is a can of craft brew!
Later Taters,
QC Beerguy
No comments:
Post a Comment