Craft beer is full of firsts. Anchor Brewing Company is seen as the first modern craft brewery dating back to 1965, and they started what we know today as the craft beer movement. In the 80’s and 90’s, craft breweries took off and we the consumer, never looked back. These breweries were on a mission to restore flavor and body to America’s beer and demonstrate to the world that the USA could produce some of the best beer on the planet. The easiest way that theses breweries could disconnect their “quality” product from the vastly marketed canned golden lager was to revive the glass bottle. Bottles quickly became synonymous with the craft beer industry and beer snobbery. The early craft beer drinker perceived canned beer as a flavorless concoction not worth consuming, reminding me of Steve Martin’s quote, “Stay away from the cans!” in The Jerk. However, in 2002, Oskar Blues Brewery located in Lyons Colorado, quickly changed this negative perception and erupted the “Craft-Can Revolution.”
Oskar Blues, most famous for their flagship Dales Pale Ale, celebrates 10 years of canned craft beers. In the beginning, founder Dale Katechis thought that trapping a “three-dimensional craft beer” in a can was “a joke” (Denver Post). After carefully considering several aspects, namely freshness and economics offered by canning beer, Katechis recalled the moment “when laughter stopped and we said, ‘This makes sense’" for a small craft brewery.
Ten years after the risky proposal to can craft beer, fingers point to Oskar Blues in helping the growth of craft beer and removing the can stigma from yesteryear. Today, more than “200 craft brewers” place their beers brands into cans and take advantage of the vacuum sealed benefits (Denver Post). Unlike bottles, cans can dramatically reduce beer’s oxidization rate, keeping fresh hop flavors lasting longer. A can’s opaque aluminum body protects the tasty contents from UV light, which skunks beer. Craft beer, commonly unpasteurized to retain the craft-like flavors, may have increased shelve life if packaged in a can. These quality control features provide product consistency for the craft beer consumer – and this aspect is what craft-can brewers love the most!
As craft-can beer’s original founder, Oskar Blues proudly embraces the “can” do attitude. The brewery cans and distributes 6 production beers to 25 states. Even when the beer is served on tap, Oskar Blues reminds the customer that they are the original craft-can brewery with designer can-topped tap handles! And if that’s not enough, their Lyons brewery has a can shape grain silo, painted in red, white, and blue. What a real Ameri-“can” Hero!
Colorado craft-can beers:
The Gravity Flux 
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