Beer cans: A ‘family’ feud
Is this any way to celebrate American Beer Month?
At the beginning of the month Boston Beer Co. unveiled Samuel Adams “Beer Drinkers Bill of Rights” and announced “The Great American Beer Challenge,” a series of events in cities across the country. It seemed like a nice way to support American Beer Month and promote American beer.
However, not everybody likes the rights Boston Beer and its brewers came up with. Oscar Blues in Lyons, Colorado, went so far as to craft a press release suggesting Boston Beer founder Jim Koch “may have been kidnapped by aliens, and replaced with a clone.” Oskar Blues owner Dale Katechis, whose name is on cans of Dale’s Pale Ale, doesn’t much care for Item VI: “Beer shall be offered in bottles, not cans, so that no brew is jeopardized with the taste of metal.”
Oskar Blues’ sales grew 123% last year and while its production of 3,500 barrel per year is hardly a match Boston Beer’s 1.3 million, the brewpub has proved its canned beers (Old Chubb as well as Dale’s Pale) aren’t just a gimmick. Dale’s ranked No. 1 among pale ales in a tasting done by The New York Times, in part because it tasted fresh - a credit to the can. The Times wrote:
A can! Not long ago, cans represented all that was wrong with the assembly-line American beer industry. No craft brewer worth a copper brew kettle would even consider putting his precious ale in a can. But times have changed, and some brewers say that cans are lighter and easier to recycle than bottles, and offer complete protection against light.
Is there a controvery in the craft beer family? Perhaps something small, but Oskar Blues has lodged its protest in an amusing sort of way - and Dale even “invited” Koch to visit Lyons. Were I Koch, I wouldn’t be riding up any mountains with Katechis, who is serious mountain biker, but would never pass on a trip to Lyons, a delightful little town (a far better base to explore Rocky Mountain Park from then Estes Park).
And Oskar Blues is all that a brewpub should be. More on that tomorrow.
