In 2002 Oskar Blues brought the can in to the craft beer world. Since then there has been a lot of debate about whether the glass or can is better for the precious contents inside. I love the can for several reasons and one of the biggest is the portability. Being of the outdoorsy type heading out into the woods lugging around bottles is frankly a pain. Bottles take up more space and cannot be smashed for easy pack out. Plus bottles are breakable and that’s never a good thing to leave scattered about a beautiful campsite.  But…that only skims the surface, there is way more to the canned vs. bottle argument.

Metal…not the eighties kind
Many people will argue that a can makes their beer taste like metal. Well considering new technology cans are now and have been for a while lined with a water based epoxy (BPA) which will prevent any taste of metal. If you still think your tasting metal think of it this way…drinking canned beer is just like drinking draft except draft it just held in a bigger can. If you are afraid of the BPA, for those of you that remember the Nalgene debacle a few years ago need not fret. For BPA to get into the beer the can would need to be heated to super high temperature that would honestly ruin the beer anyway.

Environment
Now we get into the whole environmental issue. As many of you know here in the great Northwest recycling is very big and this is where a good portion of the argument comes in to play. Bottles and cans are both recyclable, but people tend to recycle cans more that they recycle glass. Plus the actual usable product after recycling aluminum is greater than it is when glass is recycled. However the process of making aluminum cans produces very high emissions to that of its glass counterpart. Also aluminum requires petroleum, which is depleting quickly if you haven’t heard. This is where bottles get a point, they are not as toxic to make and they use silica and glass which are not depleting resources. But while we are talking emissions, cans are way lighter therefore cheaper to ship. This ultimately this means less fuel used to get from point A to point B with more beer. This also helps breweries keep their costs down which will hopefully reflect in their pricing. So in conclusion I think this argument is almost a wash.

Scientific
This is where it gets interesting. Sunlight changes beer and not in a good way. Therefore cans are better than bottles in addition to the fact that oxygen has a chemical reaction with beer as well and bottle caps increase the chances of air entering the container. This is not an issue with cans, when they are sealed they are sealed well. In addition to the air debate there is also more head space in glass bottles than there are in cans, which can also affect your beer. In bottles defense they do keep your beer cold longer, but you could just get one of those fancy koozies for your can…or stop nursing it. On this same line of thinking cans will also chill quicker, which mean when you have to do a quick ghetto cooler, a dry bag in the river, the beer ultimately gets in your belly faster. Since we are back on the outdoor topic, some public places no longer allow glass containers.

Thanks to Oskar Blues paving the way in canning great craft beer there are now several breweries canning their tasty brews. I don’t think cans will ever completely take over, don't quote me on that though, but it is something to embrace because they are here to stay. But, if you are still on the fence go buy a craft beer that is made in both the can and bottle, pour them in a glass and taste them side by side. Here is a list of tasty canned beers available in our neck of the woods proving that good beer comes in a can.

Oskar Blues Brewing Co. Lyons, CO   Old Chub Scottish Style Ale
Caldera Brewing Co. Ashland, OR   Pale Ale
21st Amendment Brewery San Francisco, CA   Bitter American Pale
Maui Brewing Co. Lahaina, HI   CoCoNut Porter
New Belgium Brewing Co.  Fort Collins, CO   Ranger IPA
Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Boonville, CA   Hop Ottin IPA
Big Sky Brewing Missoula, MT   Powder Hound Winter Ale
Avery Brewing Co. Boulder, CO   Joe's Premium American Pilsner

Washington State boasts a whopping 75% of the hop acreage in the US and grows more than 75% of the hops in the US as well. Our neighboring state Oregon (the second best state to live in) grows 17% of the hops in the US. I’m no mathematician but that’s more than 90% of the hops grown in the country. We have so many good hops that we export them all over the globe! Not only is the Northwest picturesque…we also have perfect soil.

 HOLY HOPs BATMAN
Here in the Great Northwest we sure do love our hops!  We have settled in to our own style up here, I think INDIA PALE ALE is all I really need to say. We make a pretty good Winter Warmer too…thanks to our four FULL seasons! Who am I kidding, all our beers styles are good. The point I am trying to make is we definitely like hop forward beers.

I love my hops don’t get me wrong, but I am a sucker for an IPA that has bold hops but is also well balanced with the underplayed counterpart…malt. There is nothing worse in my opinion than drinking an IPA that blasts your taste buds off so every beer after it tastes like water. I think here in the Northwest we have this perfect marriage of hops and malts down. This brings to mind one of my favorite hop forward beers (really hop forward) that still ends up balanced…Beer Valleys Leafer Madness. My mouth is watering thinking about it. Seek out the Fresh Hop version…you can thank me later.

FRESHY FRESH…HOPS that is
Thanks to the abundance of hops in our two great states…we get the pleasure of enjoying Fresh Hopped or Wet Hopped beers every year! I sure do love me some fresh hopped beer, I look forward to the season every year. It’s like Thanksgiving without the arguing. These beers have a wonderful aroma and a grassy, herbal and citrus taste. Fresh Hop or Wet Hop beer (which ever you prefer), is made with fresh hops that are added to the beer within 24 hours of the harvesting and brewing. Wet hops still have 80 to 90% of their water content, hence the term Wet Hops. Unfortunately for the pocket book you need to add 5 to 7 times more hops with this process, which is ultimately why these beers are going to cost a little more at your local pub. But it is well worth it in my not so humble opinion. Others states are Fresh Hopping their beers now by overnight shipping Fresh Hops to their location. Fortunately for us we can add those bad boys to our beer within hours of picking! If you are interesting in trying this process at home there are an abundance of how to sites on the World Wide InterWeb.

ITs ALL in the NUMBERS
Washington State likes its beer so much we can support over 120 breweries and this number is growing every day. Which ranks us number two with the amount of breweries per state. California takes the cake with almost 250. California…you may have more breweries, but we have more hops. Although I would like to thank Sierra Nevada for the above mentioned Fresh Hopping process.  Our awesome neighbors to the south are third with about two less than Washington. Colorado is ranked forth and I gotta say, they make a pretty darn good beer down there as well. Although I am partial to Washington and Oregon beers I have to say there are so many great breweries scattered across the US. In 1900 there were 1751 small and independent craft breweries in the US, no thanks to prohibition in the twenties that number was down to zero. Since the end of prohibition that numbers has climbed back up to 1759 as of 2010 with the biggest spike around 1995. I am glad to see successful Craft Breweries all over the country helping take a chunk out of the corporate swill makers’ sales every year.

SUPPORT the CAUSE
We all have our favorites but if you are in the area of any of these small independent craft brewers in Washington or Oregon stop in and have a pint…or two.  Here is a list of some of my favorite breweries in each state and what to try…