To can or not to can is no longer a craft brew quandry

Since the very early days of the American craft beer movement, right after then President Jimmy Carter signed a piece of legislation allowing home brewing in 1978, there has been a noticeable and sometimes antagonistic divide between the corporate giants of the beer industry such as Miller-Coors and Anheuser-Busch and the ever-increasing number of upstart local companies.

We’ll call this "the battle of the haves vs. the have nots"--that is beers that have flavor, like Bell’s Two Hearted Ale and Arcadia’s Sky High Rye, and beers like Budweiser and Miller Genuine Draft that have none.

OK, so now you know where the author sides in this argument. All joking aside, there have been many longstanding beliefs, some real some a matter of perception, among the general drinking public regarding the differences between mass produced and craft beer.

Ironically, one supposed difference that plays large in the minds of beer consumers nationwide has nothing whatsoever to do with the beer itself, but centers wholly around the container it comes in.

"Many people still believe that cheap beer comes in a can and good beer comes in a bottle," says Dave Sipple, head brewer at Arcadia Brewing Company.

And for quite a while, the sentiment Sipple cites was right on the money.

Craft beer was generally only available in bottles or on draught for the first 30 some odd years of its contemporary existence, save for a couple of early adopters, such as Colorado’s Oskar Blues, which began canning Dale’s Pale Ale in 2002 and Wisconsin’s Chief Oshkosh Red Lager, which began running through the canning line as early as 1991.

But as consumer demand for locally produced, creative and unique beer has risen, so too has the need for a more portable, lightweight and durable package, and it looks like our old friend the can fits the bill.

"You can bring cans to the beach, to the golf course, you can take them hiking. Cans can go a lot of places you can’t take bottles," says Kerry O'Donohue, Vice President of Saugatuck Brewing Company.

And cans are now available all over the area as Saugatuck Brewing Company, Bell’s, Latitude 42, and Arcadia Ales have joined the ranks of craft breweries offering select beers in cans.

According to craftcans.com, those four Southwest Michigan breweries are part of a club of just under 300 companies in the United States to can at least one craft beer offering. Which means that around 10 percent of all American craft breweries have a can option for their customers.

"One of the questions we’ve had to ask internally is whether to offer beers in bottles or cans or both," Sipple says.  "A lot times what we’ve seen is people will still tend to default to bottles, but I think the attitude that goes with cans is picking up steam in Michigan. With Founders (Brewing Company of Grand Rapids) and Bell’s both getting into canning, it’s going to be catching on at an even faster rate."

Bell’s, founded in 1985, is the oldest craft brewery in Michigan and with a distribution network that extends to 20 other states is one of the most widely consumed beer brands emanating from the Mitten.

It’s also the most recent area brewery to join the canning ranks as both Two Hearted and Oberon have been available in the 16 oz. metal container since April.  

"This new option will allow our fans to take our beer to places where glass is not allowed," says Laura Bell, Bell’s Vice President says. "It opens up a lot of new opportunities to enjoy Bell’s beer and that’s a win for everyone."

It’s also a win for several area businesses who are staking their livelihood on the rise of craft beer canning.

Companies like Michigan Mobile Canning, which formed in 2012 to help small- to medium-sized breweries can its beer without having to purchase a permanent canning line or build new a new facility to house it.

"There are a lot of people making real good beer all around Michigan and it’s hard to spread it all around. We want to help those guys," says Andrew McClean, co-founder of Michigan Mobile Canning.

McClean of Kalamazoo and his partner Scott Richards of Traverse City help by trucking in the pieces of a line, which the duo assembles on site to meet the specs of each individual brewery. Michigan Mobile Canning will then spend anywhere from a few hours to a few days on the premises running beer through the line and into packing boxes that are then ready to be shipped to retailers and distributors.

"We show up with the truck and everything is brought into the facilities. A lot of people have this vision of us setting up in the truck and running a bunch of hoses (from the brewery), but that’s not the case," McClean says. "There’s a lot of different configurations because we’re in a lot of different places but we tell people that our working space is 8 feet by 30 feet. That can go in a straight line or that can turn in a couple different spots if need be."

Mobile canning companies now operate out of Colorado, Florida, Washington, and California, with more ventures popping up all the time. These outfits allow breweries to skip what would, according to McClean, be an upwards of $175,000 investment in a line and get right to canning their beer.

Though Michigan Mobile Canning has quite a bit of repeat business, McClean and Richards’ hope is that many of the breweries they have already worked with will soon be able to afford their own lines.

"I don’t have any doubts that we’ll see more canning lines purchased," McClean says. "We can help them get to that point and make money in the meantime. That’s a success story for the next guy."

One of those success stories is that of Saugatuck Brewing Company, which has been using Michigan Mobile Canning to can Oval Beach Blond, a beer the company began brewing last August.

O'Donohue says that if sales for Oval Beach continue to increase the brewery will consider purchasing its own line.

"This was a way for us to put our toe in the water with craft cans," he says. "It’s a way for us to transition in to it."

For Arcadia Ales though, there has been virtually no transition period. The Battle Creek-based brewery has been canning both Sky High Rye and Whitsun since 2010 and recently moved its canning line to the brewery’s new, larger facility in Kalamazoo.

"For a lot of reasons, cans are a much more attractive package when you put the sustainability spin on it," Sipple says. For example, cans are lighter, which makes them cheaper to ship, less prone to breakage than glass bottles, easily recyclable and perhaps most important for beer quality, air-tight and impermeable to light.

Though many area brewers are excited to try their hand at canning, some folks, such as Christine Horton, co-owner of Kalamazoo's Beer and Skittles is cautious regarding how the general public continues to view canned beer.

"There's definitely a perception out there--it's not true, but many people believe it very strongly--that beer from a can tastes metallic, like the can," Horton says. "I often hear people say, ‘I know it's supposed to be better, but I still just don't like cans.’ Even after people have heard all the benefits of canning, in their mind they know it's better, but in their hearts, they still prefer bottles."

But that hasn’t stopped Horton from stocking more and more craft beers in cans.

"The reality is that brewers love cans--as I understand it, they are pretty much better for the beer in every respect, and better for the environment, easier to ship, the list of benefits goes on and on," Horton says. "So while we haven't intentionally sought out canned beers, in seeking out the best beers, we inadvertently end up buying more and more beers in cans, simply because that is what many breweries are moving toward."

And as Sipple sees it, the consumer, if they haven’t already, will very soon be moving in that direction too.

"Last year we saw double digit growth in our can sales and this year we are already on pace to blow that number out of the water," Sipple says. "The more breweries that pick up on canning their beer, the more we can start dispelling the myth. In fact, the more you start doing your homework, the more you realize in a lot of ways cans are better package for the beer."

While it’s doubtful that canned craft beer will ever be sold in the numbers achieved by the Labatts and PBRs of the world it is nonetheless becoming more apparent that micro- and craft-brewed beers will in the very near future be found in the woods, on the boat, and out on the trails that were for quite a while accessible  only to their mass-produced counterparts.

Jeremy Martin is the craft brew writer for Southwest Michigan's Second Wave.