James over at the
Summer Wine Brewery was on Twitter on Sunday pointing out a list of
canned craft beers that are available in the US. He was suggesting that this is something that will be picked up by the UK 'esoteric' beer scene (I'm only quoting that because I like the word and it hopefully sidesteps more 'definition of craft' debate.)
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£25 wine under screw-cap.
Tetra next? |
I think that it is pretty much inevitable that more and more breweries in the UK will start to use cans for quality beer, but equally as inevitably there will be a discussion about whether or not cans are a suitable container.
I won't go into the prospective benefits of cans, I think that's pretty well documented, but it does strike me that this discussion will run along similar lines to the screw-cap versus cork argument that has been running for years in the wine industry. As with screw-caps, one of the biggest barriers to convincing consumers to buy expensive beer in cans will be preconceptions, some of which will be based on the image that cans have rather than genuine suitability. Compare some domestic wine industries where there is something of a movement in favour of tetra-packed wine, but in the UK consumer research has suggested they're simply not something people would buy, and it's not because consumers have checked the science behind it.
What I think it boils down to in the wine industry (putting aside questions of suitability for long-term ageing) is that if the screw-cap is good enough, it is a far more effective closure than even the best quality cork, but by the same token a bad screw-cap is simply a bad closure. Hence the parallel with beer. Just as putting your beer in a clear bottle suggests you don't really care about what state the beer is in by the time it gets to your customers; using an old-fashioned, non-coated can suggests the use of cans is probably just a way of getting things done on the cheap. As ever, the proof of the beer is in the tasting.
Still, I wonder if the toucan can make a comeback? (Pun intended)
I'm a big fan of modern canned beers when it's done properly and I think it's definitely something we'll see more of in the future. Anyone who doubts the power of the can should taste some Dales Pale Ale which ONLY comes in cans, it will convert the non-believers!
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure about the can 'thing'. You my tell me how good canned beer is, how it stays fresher for longer and how it is more environmentally friendly, but I'm having a hard time dis-associating it from cheap lager and undesirables drinking Tennants Super in parks. This, I admit is irrational, but I do like to buy a bottle with a nice label. I like the feel of it and the way it pours which you don't get with canned beer, and I often think of it as almost being the same as the debate between CDs and vinyl. One day I may change my tune, good beer is after all still good beer, but at the moment having beer from a can makes me feel a little cheated. Perhaps it's an age thing.
ReplyDeleteNext time I come back from the States I'll give you one of my cans of Dales Pale Ale, see if I can change your mind!
DeleteThanks Matt, you're very welcome to try.
DeleteI kind of agree with Justin. Maybe as I was brought up on canned and keg beer (beer from a big fuck off can) and it was all awful, I'm mentally scarred.
ReplyDeleteA bottle is just more elegant and adds to the occasion of a good beer. A can just feels like a cheap buy, even if it isn't.
It's interesting isn't it. I'm pretty sure if I saw the same beer in both bottle and can, at the same price, side-by-side I'd probably still plump for the bottle despite all I've read that says a can is not only an equal, but better container. Maybe it is an age or even the old British conservatism thing, maybe it is the occasion thing, but it's strange how our minds work isn't it?
ReplyDeleteJust to reverse that situation I wonder if there are people out there who would pick a can because a bottle's just so, you know, like, not craft. Dude.
Anyone given a thought to the fact that pretty much all cask beer comes in - to quote Tandleman - a rather large can. Some even comes in plastic. Almost gone are the days of wooden casks. However, can anyone drinking a pint of 'real ale' - craft(!) or otherwise - at the bar really discern from which type of container their beer is dispensed?
ReplyDeleteHaving worked/managed/assisted in many pubs in a 25 year career, I honestly believe it is virtually impossible to know unless one is informed. So the can v. bottle argument for me is one of aesthetics only.
I think part of the problem is, as mentioned before, psychological; which is why I refer to the screw-cap argument. I'd like to think that no self-respecting brewer is going to use a non-coated can which will make the beer taste of the metal surrounding it but then, there are breweries using clear glass bottles.
DeleteI don't think anyone is suggesting that draught beer from a modern container ends up with a metallic/plastic taste. This being a beer blog I do write with a level of assumed knowledge; maybe I neglected to point out the obvious, for which I apologise. I think Tandleman was essentially referring to preconceptions based on bad experiences while making a point about presentation, which is right at the nub of the argument.
To take it away from beer for a second. There are an awful lot of people around whose noses would be well and truly put out of joint if they went to a restaurant, ordered what they considered a decent bottle of wine and it came to the table in a tetra-pack. Yes, it's aesthetics, but that doesn't make it less powerful a consideration.