The craft beer canning movement

As America’s love for craft beer has grown, so has its love for craft cans. In fact, there are more than 775 entries in the CraftCans.com database as of today. Here in the Chicagoland area, breweries like Wild Onion, Half Acre and Revolution have embraced the trend for quality, sustainability and portability reasons.

When asked why he got into canning his beer, Wild Onion owner, John Kainz said “We love the package of cans because they are basically like a mini keg. The enemy of beer is light and oxygen…a can eliminates exposure to light and there is less head space in a can of beer compared to a bottle of beer. Cans are also consumer friendly, they chill faster and are allowed in many places that bottles are not … they use less energy to produce and transport.”

Similarly, Josh Deth, owner of Revolution Brewing, stated that “cans are nice and compact for traveling,” something he says he does with his beer regularly.

One thing is for sure, the notion that “cans are only for crappy beer” is being thrown out the window as more breweries embrace the canning movement. High-gravity styles like imperial stouts, barleywines and Belgian quads can now be found in cans from reputable craft breweries across the nation.

“Consumers are now realizing you can get great tasting beer in a can,” said Kainz.

Hopefully, this trend continues for the sake of our taste buds, our environment and our beer.