The Beer Guys

There's been a great thread of discussion ensuing on the Beer Advocate forum. First, the story was posted that 21st Amendment was canning their beer. Then, someone posted a few choice comments about the inferiority of canned beer (??) and we're off to the races. We are here to help dispel the prejudice about beer in cans. I've said it before, and I'll say it a few more times: people who say they don't like canned beer say it because the only canned bber they've ever been exposed to is crap. There never has been, and still mostly there isn't, any good beer readily available in a can. Until now. Microbreweries across America and Canada are changing all that and we GUARANTEE that in the next five years, every regional microbrewery will offer beer in cans. Sam Adams? Yup. Sierra? Yup. One forum poster put it best. He said:

There is an unfortunate stigma attached to cans -
Canned = crap beer

not true:
crap beer = crap beer
cans = container of beer

Here is the thread:

In response to a story about 21st Amendment canning their beer, "Drewmprs" said:

True beer drinkers don't drink beer out of cans.

That got numerous replies (mostly along the lines of, "You're an idiot..."), so "Drewmprs" came back with, first:

You men enjoy your canned beer, i'll continue to drink from the draught.
Are those defending canned beer actually canned beer drinkers? Nothing wrong
with canned beer, I drank it in high school all the time and loved it.
Natural Ice is great stuff. Lets all go get a 30 pack and drink
it.

And then, with a heading referencing the Reinheitsgebot, with:

Those who wrote that law didn't envision canned beer. Bottled beer is more of a
tradition, well engineered crowns can form a seal, have been for centuries. Ask
a monk about his opinion on canned beer.masses? i guess you mean most ba's,
including the top reviewers.

"Brewdaddy" summed it all up in this lengthy response:

Dude, please tell me you're kidding about this corner you've painted
yourself into. The Reinheitsgebot is the reason you're against cans? Because of
tradition? Clinging to tradition in the face of contrary evidence is without a
doubt the flimsiest of reasons for doing anything. I'm surprised you're willing
to use this new-fangled device called the internet when the telephone is a much
more traditional communication device ... or perhaps you should use the
telegraph to transmit your opinions. Saying something is bad because something
else is "more traditional" is such an ignorant point of view that I'm almost
speechless. Almost.

Crowns were invented in 1892, not quite the "centuries" of forming a seal
you allude to. In 1516, the Bavarian brewers didn't envision crowns, either. So
what? They also didn't know anything about yeast. Should we ignore Pasteur's
little development isolating and controlling yeast in 1876 because in
traditional brewing (pre-1516) they didn't know about yeast yet?

As to the Reinheitsgebot itself, you may want to read "The German
Reinheitsgebot - why it's a load of old bollocks http://www.xs4all.nl/~patto1ro/reinheit.htm". Beyond that, there was an excellent article in either American Brewer or New
Brewer magazine a few years ago that discussed in great detail how the
Reinheitsgebot has been used politically over the years; ignored by German
brewers whenever it was expedient for them to do so and firecely defended when
it was also in their interests to do so. So while it's not necessarily a bad
thing, it may not be the holy grail to hang all of your arguments on.

Your previous post: "You men enjoy your canned beer, I'll continue to drink
from the draught. Are those defending canned beer actually canned beer drinkers?
Nothing wrong with canned beer, I drank it in high school all the time and loved
it. Natural Ice is great stuff. Lets all go get a 30 pack and drink it."

Your fierce desire to remain in the world of the past is touching, but it
makes no sense. What are you afraid of? "True beer drinkers don't drink beer out
of cans." More complete bollocks. When you posted that, no one had even
suggested drinking the beer "out" of the can. You know kegs are made of metal,
too. So even your precious draught beer is out of a can in your parlance. Most
don't advocate drinking out of the beer bottle so why would you assume that
would change if the beer was in a can?

As for a monk's opinion of canned beer, the ones I've met would keep a more
open mind than you appear capable of. Most, if not all, trappist and religious
order breweries that are still making beer have modernized their facilities, put
in steel tanks, computerized systems, and on and on. They're in the business of
making beer, so they'll use whatever will assist in that process. They would
never put their head in the sand and say no to innovation because it's not
"traditional."

If the beer is good, the beer can or the beer bottle or the beer keg will
be good, if done properly. Refusing to drink it because of your own prejudice is
just ridiculous. If you can't get past your own high school days with Natural
Ice, fine. By all means don't drink canned beer, no matter how good it is or how
many breweries start canning their beer. But please stop trying to undermine the
innovation of others. The one thing that has amazed me about following this
story is that most brewers are actually pretty excited about good beer in cans.
It represents a new angle for craft beer to gain more of a foothold in the
industry at large. It represents new opportunities for small breweries that
can't afford bottling lines. There are a few naysayers, that's to be expected,
but by and large among the people most resistent to the idea of good canned
beers are lots and lots of beer geeks. I would have liked to see the enthusiam
with which most beer lovers approach the prospect of trying a new beer carry
over into trying that beer out of a new package. It's sad to see how intractable
many people's opinions have become.

Dale's Pale Ale, also in can, recently was chosen as the best beer in a
25-beer blind tasting of pale ales by a panel for the New York Times. Clearly,
beer from a can has the potential to be every bit as good as a bottle. So why
are so many so vehemently against beer in cans without having even tried it?
Beats me, but the misinformation, ignorance and prejudice that's at the heart of
the answer to that question is driving me crazy.

Whew. Nice shootin' Brewdaddy! Just remember:

crap beer = crap beer
cans = container of beer