There’s been a rumor floating around about this for some time now, but today New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado has made it official. Beginning this summer, they will be offering their popular Fat Tire Amber Ale in cans. As the 9th largest brewery in America, this will make them the largest microbrewery to put their beer in cans to date.
From the press release:
New Belgium, known for its commitment to quality and sustainability, will begin distributing a short run of cans in June, just when concerts, camping trips and other outdoor activities are in full swing.
“Introducing cans was a natural choice given that they are outdoor-friendly, light for transport and readily recyclable,” said Bryan Simpson, spokesperson for New Belgium. “In addition to the lighter carbon footprint, Fat Tire can now travel to places where glass is not an option.”
Distributing cans will continue to help lessen New Belgium’s footprint by saving fuel during transport to other states by lightening the weight of the trucks. New Belgium has begun this process by using biodiesel in its Ft. Collins distribution trucks and in the trucks used during the Tour de Fat traveling events.
The cans, which are 100% recyclable, will feature Fat Tire’s original watercolor artwork. And for those beer lovers worried about Fat Tire’s taste changing in the can, fear not.
“We took a unique can-conditioning approach and its flavor was not compromised in any way,” added Simpson. “We ran a series of tests using our friends at Oskar Blues canning line and there was virtually no flavor differential.”
With the reduced transport costs, maybe the beers will be shipped east! Perhaps?
I will never again drink a beer from a aluminum can ugh, the people who claim there is no difference in taste need to go see a doctor about there sense of taste. Do these same people judge beer?
Bill
Bill, you obviously had a bad experience, and that’s unfortunate, but countless people have proven that canned beer can taste every bit as good as draft or from a bottle. And, yes, many of us do judge beer. Unfortunately, having one bad experience is not cause for bashing everyone who’s opinion differs from your own. Given that I’ve spoken to people and read countless experiences where in fact good beer in a can is quite tasty, not to mention having proven it to myself time and time again, I have to question your own limited experience. Either you had one bad can of beer, or you may need to book your own doctor’s appointment, because there are well over 120 small breweries canning their beer with thousands of satisfied customers. From numbers alone, I’m afraid you’re in the minority.