Craft brewers say yes, we can
Every craft brewer worth their hops is putting their product in a can, once the most loathed of packaging.
A while back I was seeking sedation en route from nowhere memorable to somewhere equally forgettable when I noted that, among the rattle of Euro and local lagers on the aeroplane drinks trolley, was a can of James Squire Golden Ale.
The only other decent drink I had seen on a plane was the London Pride served by British and the odd black-market stout I have smuggled aboard myself. To that point, anything vaguely resembling craft had kept itself well clear of cans and planes. Cans were another era. They were as old as Suzi Quatro’s first hit (Can the Can). They were fat blokes in blue singlets. They, scientists have since proven, introduced the bogan virus to this formerly cultured continent. They were everything that was wrong with Australian beer.
The tinnie tasted tinnie. That’s a myth, actually, because cans are coated with a sort of epoxy resin and have been forever since anything was really in tin. I suspect they got a bad name because of that bad taste left when the last mouthful has spent too long in the heat at a barbecue. Cans evolved but never really walked on their hind legs because of what was put in them.
I am old enough to remember when drinks needed to be pierced by a can opener in two places to be decanted. I suspect the can of beer four friends and I bought from the local delinquent at primary school needed to be opened in this manner. I know it wasn’t refrigerated and was so horrible we didn’t have another one for many years to come.
The can was the antithesis of good beer and that meant craft beer. So what the hell was Chuck Hahn, godfather of the industry, doing putting his product into the most loathed of packaging?
Hahn was at the Imperial Hotel in Eumundi, promoting his revival of Eumundi Lager when we dragged him away from a crowd that was trying the newfangled old brew.
“Qantas came to us and asked us to put the Golden Ale in cans and I said no, I didn’t want to put the beer in a can,” he said.
“I went away and thought about it and agreed to do it, and now they tell me it is one of the most popular beers on flights.”
Hahn says he noticed the craft industry in the US started to turn to cans about a decade ago and he slowly has come around. The Squire 10-can packs of One Fifty Lashes are a huge hit and he is looking to do more beers in cans in future.
This summer every craft brewer worth their hops is putting their product in a can. I blame the hipsters. At the groovy Continental Deli in Sydney’s Newtown they are not only canning food products, they also serve martinis from a can.
A lot of small brewery bars are using a one-off canning device that allows a customer to order a tap beer that is poured straight into a can, then sealed. The beer doesn’t last too long because too much oxygen is sealed in with the beer, but it’s handy for lugging something home when you want to kick on with what you were having.
With some of the new cans you can remove the entire top of the can and drink it as if from a glass. This is a great development as you are missing out on a fair amount of the flavour profiles when you drink a beer straight from the packaging. Aroma is important.
Cans have several advantages over bottles. First up, they are lighter and more easily recycled so they are more environmentally sound. Second, they cool quicker. Most important, they eradicate any chance of light strike which, after heat, is one of beer’s biggest enemies. Bottles are brown for that reason. Hops are sensitive to light, even fridge lights. Oh, and the other bonus is that cans don’t smash when you drop them. They are perfect for pools, festivals and sporting events.
Adelaide’s bullish Pirate Life Brewery does all its products in cans and several smaller operators are the same. Canning lines are an expense too far for many, but in the US there are scores of mobile canneries that will visit your brewery and do the job for you. A mob called East Coast Canning has set up in Australia and is offering the same service.
The other fantastic thing about the can is the beauty of some of the modern products. The Weekend Australian’s Top 20 Beers featured some beautiful cans, but nothing better than the Mosaic IPA, which is almost a work of art. The Colonial Brewery also puts out some great-looking cans. Do not rush to can the can. Sorry, Suzi.