Category: Canned Beer

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Strand Cans

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Facebook can be one long and continuous scroll of the finger through posts that you have already read and movies that Zuckerberg and Co. think you really must see.  But on occasion (15% of the time is my guesstimate), you run across a photo that makes you start to scroll back.

That is what I did when I saw this photo of empty cans of Strand Brewing beers.  Now Strand only bottles as of now, so this is news.  But since I am not the “extra, extra!” type of blogger, I want to talk a little about the can design.

What I Like!

The different colors to signify each beer.

The font size of the beer style name and the beer name

The Strand logo really pops on the can

What I Don’t Like

The silver is way to reflective and glare causing

The middle logo is nice but maybe bigger to show some detail

A few too many font changes

But I certainly hope to see these cans in stores.  Not enough Strand on shelves right now.

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Review – Two Hearted from Bell’s

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Is this what the Doctor would drink on Gallifrey? Too geeky? Probably but I see a chance for cross promotion. Which I think would be cool especially since I do not like the label for Two Hearted at all. Though to be fair the rendition on the Bell’s can is much better.

On to the beer, it pours a lovely medium orange. To be frank the aroma is muted from my west coast perspective. A bit of spice orange teas drifts up but that is primarily it. The taste is almost more session wise except for the beefy malt base. The main note that I get is orange. Almost a candied, creamsicle type of orange which works really well. More smooth than carbonated but that works here and the bitterness rounds it out in the back. You can taste why this is popular.

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New Claremont Cans

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I had the pleasure of watching cans of Claremont’s Jacaranda being filled for a story about mobile canning. Now, comes new cans. A stout and an Imperial Blonde. Both sound great but I think the lemon peel on the Baseline make it my first choice. 

P.S. Kudos on joining forces with the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild!

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Paso Can Robles

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German and Swiss technology right here on the Central Coast is ready to roll out stronger this month as Firestone Walker Brewing will add three new beers to the cans with Union Jack IPA, Easy Jack session IPA and Pivo pilsner following last year’s test run of 805 into six packs this month.

And this is a serious canning line with lots of science-y stuff like ionized air, bubble breakers, inversion of cans and auto assembled (around the cans) cardboard carriers! But the important nugget is that it can, at full speed, shoot out 400 12 oz cans in a MINUTE!

Plus the cans should be perfect to give extra light protection to the light but hoppy Pivo and Easy Jack so that we can get the full impact of the bitterness. And though I know they wouldn’t dare bring any Wild Barrelworks stuff near the line, I think it would be cool to see Feral cans.

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Review – Count Hopula Red IPA

I know it isn’t October but when presented with the opportunity to try my first, From the Vault series beer from SanTan Brewing, I threw holidays to the wind.

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Count Hopula a doesn’t quite pour blood red though there is a tint of darkness in the brown colored beer. At first I wasn’t enjoying it and I didn’t quite know why. It’s plenty hoppy for sure. But there is a spicy rye character and some heavy malt taste that aren’t working in concert for me. Three flavors going off in different directions.

I started to think that maybe this was an old can. But try as I might, no bottled on date was to be found so I don’t know for sure. But this beer gets a negative score from me.

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50 Cans!

I saw this post on Facebook recently and was glad to see another milestone passed in the craft beer cause:

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That is amazing!  If you don’t believe, just check out the really cool and oft referenced CraftCans.Com to see the width and breadth of canned craft out there.

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Can that Seasonal

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You saw these Modern Times beers in bottles or on tap, now they will be canned too.  And on a schedule….

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I missed out on City of the Sun so I will be looking forward to this time next year for that one.  But first I will be grabbing as much Oneida as I can.

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Badgers in Cans

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This post isn’t to hammer home the point that beer in cans is growing and that practically any beer can be canned.  Nor will I be making any Packer Cheesehead jokes.  Nope, this is a quick post about the design of the cans from Badger State Brewing.

This is a perfect example of being not only consistent but inventive as well.  Most cans don’t truly utilize the background to the full potential without overwhelming the beer purchaser with too much twee detail.  These three designs are simple but bright and bold and for once, the background is what draws the eye in first.  Be it the plaid, the green stripes or the picnic checkerboard, all three really pop.  And that choice for background allows the main badge detail to be set-up in the same arrangement without getting boring.  The two elements really play off the other well.

Though I wouldn’t ever trust a badger with an axe.

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Review – Canfusion from Oskar Blues & Sierra Nevada

I will be reviewing ALL 13 of the special Sierra Nevada Beer Camp collaborations this month. And due to the random order, this is the first of the two cans that I will be reviewing.
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CANFusion pours a reddish orange. That first sip is quite sparkly, and hoppy too. Which comes as a bit of a surprise.  In a blind taste test I wouldn’t initially have pegged it as a bock at first. As it warms up though,  the German-ness comes out more and more. There are some caramel notes too and a metallic taste with an alcoholic bent. A little of the rye spice is a finishing note.

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I wish there had been more cans in this pack. Maybe a 50/50 split would have been cool.