Colorado Craft Brewers go Crazy for Cans

Oskar Blues was among the first in the nation and the first in Colorado to put craft brew in a can.

They currently offer: Dales Pale Ale



Old Chub



Gordon



Ten Fidy



and Mama's Little Yella Pils in cans

Ska Brewing was next.

They offer Special E. S. B. and Modus Hoperandi in cans. Ska Brewing Company



New Belgium has now released Fat Tire and Sunshine Wheat in cans.



Upslope Brewing in Boulder offers two products in cans



Steamworks, also in Durango, offers three beers in the can. Colorado Kolsch, Steam Engine Lager and Third Eye Pale Ale.



Coming in June, both Breckenridge Brewing and Wynkoop Brewing Company plan to offer their flagship beers in cans to go at the breweries.

Cool... Crushing bottles against my forehead hurts after the first few....

Our local brewery is likely the first in the country to offer braggot in cans. Thunderhead's multiple medal winning Honey Wheat is also the brewery's best seller.

Does the price come down when buying in a can? I prefer bottles due to fact I can recycle them, cans, not so much.

MikeG said:

Does the price come down when buying in a can? I prefer bottles due to fact I can recycle them, cans, not so much.

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Cheaper to ship, store, and transport. If the brewery and/or retailer doesn't pass at least some of those savings to the consumer, they're idiots.

Also, let's not forget about these guys:

There's been a few threads on this...I posted some info and links to the company that developed the small batch canning llines here;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f5/fat-tire-cans-81313/#post862165

Here's the company.
WELCOME TO CASK.COM

That's right, cans.

Being an outdoor enthusiast I generally prefer to buy the cans for a camping trip. I like bottles but I really don't want to see broken glass on the ground after a night of drinking. I am a huge fan of bottled beer but when it comes to the outdoors I am really glad that more beer is offered in cans. Also, some rivers have restrictions that don't allow glass containers to keep people from cutting up their feet.

When going outside get cans

Regarding price, I have to say I am extremely disappointed. I recently went camping and thought it would be awesome to take along cans of Fat Tire (it was, don't get me wrong) but was appalled that a 12 pack of cans cost $1 MORE than a 12'er of bottles!!!! I paid for it because of novelty, but this is ridiculous. It should be hella cheaper than bottles - like $2-3 cheaper.
I am in Boise, Idaho and the only canned micros I have seen are the Fat Tire, Dales, and Old Chub. Looking forward to the day when I can take a SNPA camping!!!

About the expense thing. It's the same with BMC Bottles are not always more expensive. Walk in one week cans are more, walk in the next week, bottles are more.

As a guy who drinks poolside for most summer weekends... Love the cans!!!

Sly Fox Phoenix Pale Ale and Dale's are my two go-to canned beers.

So you guys are saying you like it in the can?

macabra11 said:

Regarding price, I have to say I am extremely disappointed. I recently went camping and thought it would be awesome to take along cans of Fat Tire (it was, don't get me wrong) but was appalled that a 12 pack of cans cost $1 MORE than a 12'er of bottles!!!! I paid for it because of novelty, but this is ridiculous. It should be hella cheaper than bottles - like $2-3 cheaper.
I am in Boise, Idaho and the only canned micros I have seen are the Fat Tire, Dales, and Old Chub. Looking forward to the day when I can take a SNPA camping!!!

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llazy_llama said:

Cheaper to ship, store, and transport. If the brewery and/or retailer doesn't pass at least some of those savings to the consumer, they're idiots.

Also, let's not forget about these guys:

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re: cost

Cans are a different animal than bottles are; breweries has to spend a lot of money to order cans. Unlike bottles that can simply have a label applied to them, cans come with the artwork on them, and have to be ordered in large quantities. I imagine that quantities of scale may kick in at some point, but it is unrealistic to assume that cans cost less than bottles do simply because the basic raw materials may be less expensive.

ETA: Sly Fox Pikeland Pils and Royal Weiss are two of my canned beer staples!

Butternuts brewery in NY only has cans. Porkslap is ok haven't tried any of the rest yet, my son say's the Snapperhead IPA is very good.

butternuts

if you like cans you would love plastic bottles. i am going to be bottling a case of fattire clone into 12oz dr pepper bottles for a float trip coming up. thats for the camp fire drinking the float ill be drinking the bud light.

Jaysus said:

re: cost

Cans are a different animal than bottles are; breweries has to spend a lot of money to order cans. Unlike bottles that can simply have a label applied to them, cans come with the artwork on them, and have to be ordered in large quantities. I imagine that quantities of scale may kick in at some point, but it is unrealistic to assume that cans cost less than bottles do simply because the basic raw materials may be less expensive.

ETA: Sly Fox Pikeland Pils and Royal Weiss are two of my canned beer staples!

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One of the big reasons the smaller guys are going to cans is because it is significantly cheaper.
The cans cost less. The canning line costs less. It's a superior package.
www.cask.com

pen25 said:

if you like cans you would love plastic bottles. i am going to be bottling a case of fattire clone into 12oz dr pepper bottles for a float trip coming up. thats for the camp fire drinking the float ill be drinking the bud light.

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Well plastic is fine for home use, but the can is a much better package again(oxygen and light being the big one here). I have no idea on the cost of plastic vs aluminum.

z987k said:

One of the big reasons the smaller guys are going to cans is because it is significantly cheaper.
The cans cost less. The canning line costs less. It's a superior package.
www.cask.com


Well plastic is fine for home use, but the can is a much better package again(oxygen and light being the big one here). I have no idea on the cost of plastic vs aluminum.

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very true. before i realized i could use a pop bottle i was going to use a bunch of those alum bottles. but the cost of 2 cases of dr pepper was well worth the investment for this trip. but bottles will always cost more to ship unless they make stubbys to fit more in smaller spaces. why spam is in sq cans

z987k said:

One of the big reasons the smaller guys are going to cans is because it is significantly cheaper.
The cans cost less. The canning line costs less. It's a superior package.
www.cask.com

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sure the actual cost per can may be less...

but the cans are specific to a certain beer, and have to be ordered in very large quantities which creates a very significant investment for a brewey. Add in the cost for a new canning line, additional packaging (those cans don't fit in the same cases that bottles do) and small businesses just can not feasibly capitalize upon some perceived "cost savings" and send a lower priced product to market.

Over time, maybe... but consumers can not just expect a finished product to retail for less $$ just because it is in a can.

I really like this trend. Cans are just more convenient, especially in the summer. I would love to see this trend hit all of the major microbreweries to the point that it brings the cost of the equipment down. Right now, everyone is thinking "That just won't work for homebrewing." But I think given enough interest, someone will find a way to make it work.

Jaysus said:

sure the actual cost per can may be less...

but the cans are specific to a certain beer, and have to be ordered in very large quantities which creates a very significant investment for a brewey. Add in the cost for a new canning line, additional packaging (those cans don't fit in the same cases that bottles do) and small businesses just can not feasibly capitalize upon some perceived "cost savings" and send a lower priced product to market.

Over time, maybe... but consumers can not just expect a finished product to retail for less $$ just because it is in a can.

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No but for a place that doesn't have a bottling line it is a very economical alternative.

And no one has made a flippant remark about how a canned craft beer is just 'wrong'? Shocking.

Might be an HBT first.

flyangler18 said:

And no one has made a flippant remark about how a canned craft beer is just 'wrong'? Shocking.

Might be an HBT first.

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Fine.

"Unless dey gots dem liners like dat der Miller Lite, I ain't drinkin' it. Gonna taste like 'luminum. Blech."

Happy?

PseudoChef said:

Fine.

"Unless dey gots dem liners like dat der Miller Lite, I ain't drinkin' it. Gonna taste like 'luminum. Blech."

Happy?

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Quite.

Thanks, PC!

*As I sit with a freshly poured Old Chub*

Poured. Psh. What, that magical can of yours isn't good enough to drink out of? 'Cause it's not vented? Feckin' hypocrite.

flyangler18 said:

And no one has made a flippant remark about how a canned craft beer is just 'wrong'? Shocking.

Might be an HBT first.

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Cans are just fine for holding beer. the liner that is in a can is great. Aging beer has not been tested, and I would never drink from a can, but I don't think that the idea that cans leave a metallic taste are valid anymore.

I am surprised to only see two from Ska Brewing... they were canning when I left Durango in 2004... Ten Pin ale was the only one they had, but their line was operational then.

No light penetration into cans to skunk the beer... yay!

Nobody has mentioned a lot of the imports are starting to offer cans in the US. I think its a great idea for them. Although I'm not a huge fan, canned Newcastle is MUCH better than the bottled variety.

z987k said:

One of the big reasons the smaller guys are going to cans is because it is significantly cheaper.
The cans cost less. The canning line costs less. It's a superior package.
www.cask.com


Well plastic is fine for home use, but the can is a much better package again(oxygen and light being the big one here). I have no idea on the cost of plastic vs aluminum.

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Rogue's canning line until a few years ago was a used pepsi line that was bought for about 10K.

I've never heard a brewery claim that canning lines are economical vs bottling lines (all else being equal) and I have heard the opposite repeatedly.

Not surprised that you are getting a different story from the vendor of the small canning lines.

Oskar Blues Gordon. Yes. Do yourself a favor and go get some.

The Ten Fiddy is a treat and Dale's is great beer too.

carnevoodoo said:

Cans are just fine for holding beer. the liner that is in a can is great. Aging beer has not been tested, and I would never drink from a can, but I don't think that the idea that cans leave a metallic taste are valid anymore.

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Oh I hear you, Derek. I'm a fan of the can as a package as intended, not as a serving vessel.

Hmmm minimum order on the cans looks to be about 150,000. That's a lot. But I see the systems go for about 10-20k for a 1,800 can per hour filler. That's not bad at all. In fact I'm pretty sure the bottling lines go for that used.

There seems to be a lot of micros going to cans, and what seems to me only because of cost. Sure they're greener and a better package than bottles, but if it costs more, it wouldn't really be worth it for the little guy to go to it.