Yes, We Can! Canned Beer Has Conquered the United States
The debate has been on for years and every now and then becomes topical again: Is beer better canned or bottled? The Italian crafting breweries choose, with few exceptions, the second option, but in the USA the situation is totally different: More and more brands prefer to can their product, and sales agree with this choice.
The debate has been on for years and every now and then becomes topical again: Is beer better canned or bottled?
The Italian crafting breweries choose, with few exceptions, the second option, but in the USA the situation is totally different: More and more brands prefer to can their product, and sales agree with this choice.
The first craft beer produced and canned was, in 2002, the Dale’s Pale Ale by Oskar Blues Brewery from Longmont (Colorado), that specifically chose Comac in 2015 for the kegging and canning plants of its new site in Austin, Texas. Our company, with its twenty-year experience and continuous technological improvements, is able to meet the demands of small, big, and very big producers, with highly specific custom-made plants, compliant to every kind of technological demand requested by the customer.
The use of a can as a beer container allows to overcome some defects typical of bottles, first of all the one of sun exposure. As a matter of fact, one of hop components, when in contact with sun rays through the glass, unchains a chemical reaction that could make the beer taste bad.
Moreover aluminium, the material all cans are made of, is lighter, easier to transport and more biodegradable than glass: it will decompose in 80 – 100 years, while for glass it takes a million years!
Success is also a matter of marketing – A classic glass bottle can be customized only on the label or on the tap of a brewpub, while the can is suited to the most pop and bizarre creations. Major industrial groups, moreover, have taken full advantage of product placement: some among the most loved TV series, from True Detective to Mad Men, show their main characters drinking only canned beer!
In short, people love canned beer and sales confirm it. The first time the sale of cans overtook the sale of bottles in the USA was almost 50 years ago, in 1969, and this trend still continues today. The rise of canning, started with the first experiments at the beginning of the 19th century, cannot be stopped.
And you, which side do you stand on? Do you prefer to drink canned or bottled beer? Why? Tell us in the comment section, if you like, or follow us on our Facebook official page!
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