By James Atkinson
America's burgeoning craft beer industry is embracing new and improved aluminium cans as the best form of packaging for their products, and insiders suggest Australia will inevitably follow.
At a U.S. Brewers Association lunch in Melbourne last week, several of the beers on show were in cans, and chief operating officer Bob Pease told TheShout it is no fad.
"Ten years ago, American craft brewers would have never dreamed of putting their beers in cans because the perception was it was an inferior package, and it altered the taste of the beer," he said.
"[But] technologies have advanced, so that's no longer the case, and there are many advantages of the can."
"It's lighter, that means it's cheaper to ship. It is a more sustainable product in terms of recycling, and then there's marketing advantages. You get the full wrap of the can so you don't have to have a back label." [continues below]
Beers on show at the U.S. Brewers Association lunch last week
Pease pointed out that light and temperature swings are what caused the craft beer to change in quality.
"No light gets into the can. You have a product that probably protects the beer better than a bottle," he said.
Pease said America's second largest craft brewer, Sierra Nevada, is canning a number of its products.
"It's a trend, not a fad. It's been accepted by the American craft beer that the can is a perfectly acceptable product."