A few microbrewers say cans do as well as bottles, thank you

— Can New Belgium? Yes, it can. Can, that is.

The Fort Collins, Colo.-based brewery is the latest craft brewer preparing to package its beers in familiar aluminum cladding. Still small in number, the group of microbrewers using cans threatens to crack the reputation of glass as the only worthy container for a trendy brew.

New Belgium plans next month to introduce its flagship Fat Tire ale in 12-ounce cans. Fat Tire in bottles will still account for most of New Belgium's production, but cans are expected to be quickly embraced by quaffers who don't love their specialty brews quite enough to lug heavier bottles in their backpacks or picnic baskets.

"Bottles can only go so many places," said Patrick Holman of Alexandria, Va., who was touring the New Belgium complex last week.

"My thing is that I go after the beers that taste good," Holman said. "Traditionally that has meant bottles. I couldn't tell you the last time I went out and bought a six-pack of canned beer. But if it's good enough, I would."

Cans are lighter than bottles, chill faster, require less fuel to transport, are more readily recyclable, and protect beer from the degrading effects of exposure to light.

However, small-scale canning is markedly slower than bottling. New Belgium's production line will produce 50-60 canned beers per minute, versus 700 bottles per minute. The slow speed offsets what otherwise might be cost savings from using cans, the company says.

The trend toward cans started in 2002, when Oskar BluesBrewery, based in Lyons, Colo., became what is believed to be the first U.S. microbrewer to make and can its beers, including the Dale's Pale Ale and Old Chub brands. (Some craft brewers previously had used cans for beer made under contract by other producers at remote locations.)

"We set out to put assertive yet elegant beers in cans to shatter people's perceptions about what comes in cans," Oskar Blues spokesman Marty Jones said.

Jones said that when the can idea was first discussed, he jokingly considered it "sacrilegious, blasphemous and highly offensive. And I loved it. We were the guinea pigs and we were defying the mainstream."

Now the roster of microbrews in cans is growing. Ball Corp., North America's largest can maker, said its customer list of craft brewers has grown from one in 2002 to 30 in the U.S. now and 16 in Canada.

New Belgium's entry could blow the lid off the nascent trend. The brewer is the ninthlargest in the nation and has a broad national following.

Greg Owsley, chief branding officer for New Belgium, said the brewer plans to produce 4,000 cases a month of canned Fat Tire. That's only 1 percent of total production, but he said officials are talking about using cans for other New Belgium products.

Canned microbrews proved a revelation to Seattle resident Jacob Yonkman last year when he found a can of Oskar Blues Gordon in a local grocery store.

"I learned that good beer does not have to come in a bottle," he said. In addition to ease of carrying and recycling, he added, "I admit there is something satisfying about the sound of cracking open a can."

Business, Pages 85 on 05/18/2008

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