Two Craft Brewers open their doors with the “first canned craft beers” in their markets – providing their customers portability and convenience from the get go!
Buckbean Brewing Company, Reno, NV, had their official grand opening June 14.
Why cans? Co-owners Douglas Booth and Daniel Kahn explain. “It’s better for the beer,” Booth said. “It eliminates any oxygen or sunlight and both damage beer.”
Kahn said the reason bottles became so popular is that when craft brewing boomed in the 1980s, there weren’t any canning machines a small company could afford.
“They could buy old soda bottlers and refit them to run beer through,” he said. “They could get into bottling on a small scale. There was no way to get into canning on a small scale.”
That has changed, Kahn said, and cans have advantages that go beyond blocking light and air. For one, people can take them to beaches, golf courses and other facilities that don’t allow bottles. Also, he said, they are more environmentally friendly because they are lighter, which reduces fuel usage during shipping, and they are easily recyclable.
“It’s a win-win proposition everywhere you look,” Kahn said. “It’s better for the beer. It’s better for the environment. It’s more convenient for the consumers.”
To learn more about Buckbean Brewing Company, please visit their website at www.buckbeanbeer.com.
Southern Star Brewing Company, Conroe, Texas – We welcome our first canning customer in Texas
Cofounded by longtime friends Dave Fougeron and Brian Hutchins, the company is the first and only brewery in Montgomery County. In order to accommodate their outdoor beer enthusiasts, they decided to add a manual canner to their packaging strategy. “We are big fishermen and the canning approach is just plain safer for outdoor activities and the environment,” explains Dave.
“Right now, with our manual system, we are selling as much beer as we can fill into cans,” states Dave. “We have one chain of retail stores that takes everything we can package and two others lined up and knocking on the door – but we had to tell them to wait. We think we will be in a position to grow into an automated canning system by this time next year.”
Pine Belt cans hit the market in May.
To learn more about Southern Star Brewing Company, please visit their website at www.southernstarbrewery.com.
To learn more about Cask Brewing Systems’ affordable canning solutions for the craft brewing industry and small scale packagers worldwide, click here. You can see a demonstration of our automated system and learn about all of the benefits of canning.
