Like it in the can? Sierra Nevada to join the ranks of canning craft brews.

[Revvy]

Just showed up on a beerblog on facebook.

Sierra Nevada to begin canning beer

Tailgaters and campers rejoice, great news from Sierra Nevada: later this year, it’s going to be easier and lighter to take their beer with you.

Our canning line should be in the building near July 4. It will be a couple of moths to get it up and running, but should start seeing Pale Ale in cans in late 2011.

We’re on the fence about what other beers to release, but I think we’ll have a couple of different brews available.

Cans will only be a small part of our output, but we’re excited to see how they’re received.

There are so many places where you can’t or won’t bring glass…up here in the foothills it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to bring a bunch of bottles with you in your backpack! This is really the reason we’re going for this.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Awesome, I was surprised to see how many can offerings were on the shelf when I was at Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati last weekend. I stick to singles when I get the chance to go there so I didn't pick any up, but I hope to see it more in my town. I'm sure we'll have the SNPA in cans. Which is great because it is always my go to for camping.

 

[DemonIAm]

Starr Hill is now canning their Festie, and their Northern Lights IPA. I can't wait to find it locally!

Nothing has been wrong with cans since the early 90s.

 

[user 21663]

"Everyone likes it in the can"

Great news. Now if they could only figure out how to do homebrew canning.

 

[moti_mo]

That's good news. It'd be great if Torpedo also made it into the can lineup

 

[wildwest450]

Woot, now we can build craft beeramids, while camping. Of course it's gonna cost a little more.


_

 

[MikeMayhem]

call me when i can get a 6-pack ring of Pale Ale tall cans

 

[humann_brewing]

awesome, just sad it won't be in time for summer at the lake or beach though

 

[r8rphan]

Now if Stone would just follow suit..

And yeah, I'd love to be able to can my homebrew...
can>bottle

 

[Golddiggie]

Sorry, but I don't like 99.995% of my brew from a can. The ONLY exception is Guinness, and the other Irish brews that use the nitrogen widget inside the cans. The bottled version of Guinness just sucks (IMO)...

I just hope they don't switch entire brews over to just cans. Although, I probably won't care since I'm not buying beer at this point.

 

[CaliBrewin]

i second the opinons on Torpedo and Stone.

mmmm...

 

[jfr1111]

Yeah, I like it in the can what does Sierra Nevada has to do with it...

Wait...

 

[DemonIAm]

canning is insanely more expensive though. An article that I was reading said that cans have to be ordered in quantities of at least 80,000.

Here's 2 articles that I saved (on this comp)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112575361
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061600881.html

 

[r8rphan]

cans are essentially mini-kegs.. Sealed better and no light can get in... They're easier to dispose of, easier to handle/redeem, and easier to carry.... easier to stack, and can get more of them in the fridge/cooler...

 

[r8rphan]

canning is insanely more expensive though. An article that I was reading said that cans have to be ordered in quantities of at least 80,000.]

Well, that's not gonna fit in the bottom of my brew stand...

 

[IffyG]

Sorry, but I don't like 99.995% of my brew from a can. The ONLY exception is Guinness, and the other Irish brews that use the nitrogen widget inside the cans. The bottled version of Guinness just sucks (IMO)...

It's all in your head. I had the same mindset until I stumbled across Caldera IPA and Ten Fidy at my local beer store. Try and get the stigma out of your mind and you won't care either.

 

[Golddiggie]

It might be partially in my head, but I still won't take it in the can.

I've had Guinness in bottles, cans, and on tap... Best is often from a properly cleaned/setup tap. Then from the can, poured into a pint glass. The bottles are good if you're looking to cook with it.

 

[cricky101]

I love the Surly brews, and you can only get them in a can (other than Darkness) or on tap.

 

[JuanKenobi]

I'm psyched. Nothing wrong with canning. Dale's is one of my favorite commercial beers. It will be interesting to do a side by side comparison. Especially with a beer we all know and love.

 

[aggiejay06]

This is awesome...our neighborhood pool allows alcohol...but only in cans. Guiness is the only thing I've seen in a can recently that I have any interest in drinking, but for some reason it just doesn't sound good on a hot summer day! hah

Only wish the cans were coming out sooner!

 

[Randar]

Woot, now we can build craft beeramids, while camping. Of course it's gonna cost a little more.


_

They will probably sell it in goofy short/stubby/fat cans that defeat all can stacking or storage mechanisms that are otherwise abundant.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

Santa Fe Brewery has some beers in a can as well. They even talk about it being for hunting and fishing and stuff. However I bought a six pack of an Imperial coffee stout that was at 8% in a can! We got pretty tipsy that day catching fish.

 

[edgeofblade]

Excellent news. I can have some SN Pale next to my Buried Hatchet Stout in the can rack in my mini fridge.

 

[bgrayson726]

This is great. I had a chance to meet Ken Grossman about 2 weeks ago and he mentioned this. He said they still were working on developing a can that won't let any bad chemicals get into the beer. He said that even when they get their brand new kegs, it's a pain in the ass because they have to thoroughly clean it prior to filling it to make sure that it won't let out any sort of chemicals. He said that he would have rather gotten used kegs because they are easier to clean correctly.

Tangent: Sierra Nevada bottle conditioning is really interesting to me. Have you ever had a beer from the same homebrew batch with a little bit more or less carbonation than the other ones? It's probably because there is slightly more or less yeast in that bottle. Sierra Nevada uses open fermenters and open bottle carbonation. They filter out the initial yeast, then add a small controllable amount of yeast to each bottle. Then, they let it ferment for a little bit longer so that the CO2 is in the top of the bottle (CO2 weighs more than O2 obviously so the O2 is pushed out of the top of the bottle). Then the bottle is capped.

To be honest, this is a much more efficient way of preventing oxygen from getting into the beer. It's probably the most efficient way to remove any chance of oxygen getting into the beer.

 

[Joe_K]

Sly Fox cans their Rt 113 IPA. I've sampled many and they are delicious, great for fishing.

 

[Homercidal]

Great for backpacking! Once you get to camp, drink a beer and then build an alcohol stove out of it!

 

[Wetfoot]

Oh no, will someone 'shotgun' a SNPA?

 

[Ravio11i]

Hey if you're gonna shotgun a beer anyway...

 

[Hex]

Cans are great for craft beer, woot Sierra Nevada! Now if you'd only can that Best Bitters you serve at your taproom...

 

[lazytaper]

I welcome the can revolution!