Beer Cans Are Back. . .even for the best craft beers!

Renzo, our beer consultant, is getting into the growing controversy about craft beer.


The craft brew beer business is evolving, in the same way that the wine business is changing. We’re talking about containers and capping here. Just as the wine purists were despondent about the conversion of corks to screw caps, the craft beer enthusiasts are now being asked to accept the move from bottles to cans and it is interesting to note that this is being met with mixed enthusiasm.

Cans have several advantages:
- They have less air trapped in them, leading to lower oxidation.
- No light can get through into the can. Even though the beer bottles are brown, there is still some light gets in and that's what gives beer a "skunky" smell.
- For several years now the inside of the aluminum can have been made of Vinylite, a synthetic material that eliminates the dreaded metallic taste.

Fermentation methods are evolving also... Many Belgium beers, for instance, are made using bottle fermentation. The newer technique is now to ferment the beer in aluminum cans, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a good example. Renzo tells us that if you take a bottle of Sierra and taste it next to their new can, there is a noticable difference and in fact the can is better! Suds fans seem to agree and our distributor is finding it difficult to keep up with demand of this particular product.

Regardless of the container that you buy your craft beer in, Renzo absolutely recommends that you pour your beer into a glass. But not just any glass, the glass that is intended for that style of beer. When in doubt about what glass to use, a good wine glass will always work well.

This can-versus-bottle controversy is just one of many new and exciting topics that Renzo is well-informed about. Any questions about beer. . . come in and talk to him.