Beer Cans Get Skinnier, Fatter, Cooler, Better
The last decade has seen craft brewers embrace a can-do spirit, packaging citrusy IPAs, inky stouts, and sweetly potent barley wines in aluminum vessels that, once upon a time, contained only lowbrow lagers. But as canning’s stigma has become a badge of honor, breweries have begun exploring the creative potential of the crushable container. (CraftCans.com does a terrific job covering the trend.)
Cans grew skinnier. Cans grew fatter. Cans received ridges. Some cans lost tabs, while others exchanged them for a screw top. Peruse store shelves, and you’ll spy a constellation of cans, from svelte 8.4-ouncers on up to hulking quarts. Arranged by size, here’s craft beer’s latest aluminum lookbook.
Alex Lau1/1221st Amendment Lower de Boom
Don’t be deceived by the diminutive package. The San Francisco brewery’s 8.4-ounce can contains a heavyweight, citrus-forward barley wine that weighs in at 11.5% ABV.
Alex Lau2/12Sixpoint Hi-Res
The Brooklyn-based brewery has made its bones on 16-ounce cans of beers such as Bengali Tiger IPA and the Crisp pilsner. Understandably, the brewery wanted to retain the same elongated look for its higher-strength offerings, putting bruisers like the dangerously smooth Hi-Res imperial IPA in this slim 12-ounce vessel.
3/12Founders Centennial IPA
Since 1997, Michigan’s Founders has been one of craft brewing’s leading players, with its decadent stouts and juicy, citrusy Centennial IPA. This year, Founders rolled out the crowd-pleasing bitter brew in classic 12-ounce cans.
Maui Brewing4/12Maui Brewing CoCoNut Porter
Given the tropical digs, it’s a no-brainer that the Hawaiian brewery makes its smooth, chocolaty porter with loads of toasted coconut. The beer is sold in 12-ounce cans with a unique ridged look.
5/12Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Last year, Sam Adams started selling its flagship lager in the “Sam Can.” The specially designed 12-ouncer features a a wider lid (more airflow equals smoother taste), an opening closer to your nose (more aroma!), and an hourglass ridge that, according to the brewery, creates turbulence that pushes flavor out of the beer.
Churchkey6/12Churchkey Can Co. Pilsner Style Beer
Before the pull-tab revolutionized the market in the 1960s, beer was sold in flat-top steel cans that required a pointy churchkey to punch open a hole. This Seattle brewery (founded by Adrian Grenier and a former Nike designer) revives the classic format, offering up a lightly hopped pilsner.
7/12Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Buoyed by the success of Torpedo IPA in 16-ounce cans, the veteran brewery recently decided to put its classic Pale Ale in the same supersized format. It’s the same beer you’ve loved for decades, just more of it.
Alex Lau8/12Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale
It’s no surprise that Oskar Blues, which helped kick-start the craft canning movement, is the industry’s biggest innovator, putting its liquids in an array of metal container. Last year, the brewery debuted its aggressively hopped pale in a single-serving “royal pint” containing 19.2 ounces.
9/12Base Camp Brewing In-Tents IPL
The Portland, Oregon, beer maker stands out from the canned pack by selling its beers in 22-ounce aluminum bottles. The coppery, hopped-up IPL, or India pale lager, is aged with a blend of red and white oak.
Alex Lau10/12Narragansett Lager
On sweltering summer afternoons at the beach or lake, we like to glug loads of lower-alcohol, thirst-quenching lager. A 24-ounce can or two of the Rhode Island brewery’s crowd-pleasing lager ably fits the bill.
201211/12Mission Brewery Shipwrecked Double IPA
Of the list of liquids that you should probably not consume by the quart, chief among them is a dizzyingly strong double IPA. At 9.25% ABV, the San Diego brewery’s intense Shipwrecked is best shared with a buddy.
12/12Oskar Blues Crowler
Glass growlers? Not for these canning maniacs, who in December unveiled the Crowler: a 32-ounce can filled with your favorite Oskar Blues beer and sealed right on the spot.
