In the battle between beer in a can and beer in a bottle, glass gets all the respect.
But a new batch of small brewing companies — including Midvale’s Bohemian Brewery — are helping make cans a contender.
“We took canning on because it’s better for the beer and better for the environment,” said Pete Petras, who co-owns Bohemian along with his parents Joe and Helen.
Bohemian, at 94 E. 7200 South, was among the first U.S. brewers to join the beer-in-a-can revolution. In 2005, when the small brewery first packaged its signature Czech Pilsener in aluminum, there were fewer than 10 U.S. breweries using cans, Petras said.
Since then, Bohemian has added the Viennese Lager and the Cherny Bock Schwarzbier to its canned offerings. All three beers are sold in major grocery stores.
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The craft of cans » Putting top-quality micro-brewed beer in what many perceive as a “low brow” container may have once seemed like a marketing mistake. Yet since 2002, when Colorado’s tiny Oscar Blue Brewery used a table-top canning machine to put Dale’s Pale Ale in an aluminum container, the packaging move has become an industry trend. Since then, the idea of canned micro-brewed beer has been catching on nationally.
Today, there are about 100 small breweries canning about 3 percent of all craft beer, said Julia Herz, the craft beer program director with The Brewers Association. The trend is so new, the national organization hasn’t compiled numbers.
1 CommentsBut anecdotally, according to Herz, the association argues that aluminum cans are taking hold. It even named the idea of canning craft beer as one of its hot trends for 2011. “Every month we hear of another brewery that is canning,” she said.
There are other indications that cans are in. There’s a website —http://craftcans.com — dedicated entirely to micro-brewed beer in a can. And two years ago, the International Canned Beer Festival was launched in Reno, Nev. CANFEST attracted more than two dozen brewers from the U.S. and several foreign countries in 2010. Bohemian Brewery was among them, winning a gold medal for its Viennese Lager.
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Canned history » Canning isn’t anything new, of course, as cans have been containers for everything from meat to vegetables and soda for some 200 years. The first cans were made of steel, rusting easily and giving food a metallic taste. That problem ended once companies switched to aluminum, and later, began lining the inside of the cans.
The first canned beer was sold in January 1935 by the Krueger brewery in Richmond, Va. Lightweight, inexpensive and easy to stack and ship, Krueger’s canned beer was an instant success.
But for decades, canning equipment was so bulky, it was only economical for large companies that mass-produced beer to use it, Petras said.
“The machines were monstrosities, requiring 6,000 to 10,000 square feet of dedicated space,” he said. “That didn’t leave much room for small breweries.”
During the last decade, canning equipment has become more compact, and companies that produce aluminum cans are willing to accept smaller orders. That opened cans to small microbrewers.
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kathystephenson 1 hour ago craftcans 8 hours ago
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Brewing » Small brewing companies, such as Midvale’s Bohemian Brewery, are proving aluminum is a worthy alternative to glass.
Bohemian Brews
Bohemian Brewery, which specializes in making European-style lagers, is the only Utah brewery that packages and sells its products in aluminum cans. Here’s what’s available:
Czech Pilsener » A crisp, full-bodied beer made from Pilsen malt and yeast imported from the Czech Republic. The well-aged lager won numerous awards over the years, and owner Joe Petras names it his favorite beer. A good pairing with salads, seafood and other light fare. (Mike Riedel, author of the Utah Beer Blog, also lists it as one of the top five beers in the state.
Viennese Lager » An amber-colored lager with a roasted nutty malt flavor and hops. It has won various gold and silver medals from the North American Brewery Association, as well as a gold medal at Nevada’s 2010 CANFEST. This versatile beer pairs well with all kinds of foods from spicy to savory.
Cherny Bock Schwarzbier » This dark-colored lager — Cherny (Cerné) means “black” in Czech — smells and tastes rich. It has hints of coffee, chocolate and a gentle malt bitterness. It won a silver medal in the Schwarzbier (black beer) category at the Great American Beer Festival. Pairs well with barbecued meats and chocolate desserts.
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