Por John Holl

Uno de los privilegios más gratificantes de los adultos es una cerveza fría en un día caluroso. Sin embargo, para aquellos que prefieren la espuma  de la cerveza hecha a mano o de una variedad elaborada en una micro cervecería, las opciones para los campos de golf, piscinas y otros lugares públicos al aire libre, en botellas de vidrio –  donde no están permitidas y un barril no es práctico –  son limitadas.

Ahora, un creciente número de cervecerías estadounidenses están adoptando los cilindros de aluminio, permitiendo a los consumidores una forma sencilla de disfrutar una cerveza donde quieran. La facilidad de consumo no es la única razón por lo que las micro cervecerías están adoptando las latas. Es, a la vez, económico y una mejor alternativa para el ambiente usarlas, de acuerdo con los funcionarios de la Royersford, Pennsylvania Fox basada Sly.

Se trata de un envase más ligero que el vidrio, por lo que ahorra combustible en el transporte marítimo y las personas están más pre dispuestas a reciclar las latas. Además hay que considerar el factor pureza. La luz es uno de los dos grandes enemigos de la cerveza, siendo el oxígeno el otro. Enlatar es la manera más fresca de entregar cerveza a los consumidores, dice Oskar Brewing Blues en Colorado. A diferencia de las botellas de vidrio, la luz no puede penetrar en las latas, lo que ayuda al no desarrollo de sabores indeseados, conocida como la cerveza descompuesta, que es causada cuando la luz reacciona con el lúpulo y cambia negativamente el perfil de sabor. Y la exposición prolongada al oxígeno puede, a su vez, convertir la cerveza rancia. (Versión completa en edición impresa)

 

Craft beer in cans

One of the more rewarding adult privileges is a cold beer on a hot day. However, for those who prefer suds of the craft or micro brewed variety, options for the golf courses, pools, and other public outdoor venues — where glass bottles are not allowed and a keg is impractical — are limited. 

Now, a growing number of American microbreweries are embracing the aluminum cylinders, allowing consumers to easily take the good stuff where it’s needed.

Consumer ease is not the only reason the microbreweries are embracing cans. It’s both economical and better for the environment to use cans, according to officials at the Royersford, Pennsylvania based Sly Fox Brewing.

 It’s a lighter weight packaging than glass, so it saves fuel on shipping and people are more likely to recycle cans, they told me. There is also the purity factor. 

Light being one of the two great enemies of beer, oxygen being the other, canning is the freshest way to get beer to customers, says Oskar Blues Brewing in Colorado. Unlike glass bottles, light can’t penetrate cans, which helps against altering the intended taste. Sometimes known as skunked beer, it’s caused when light reacts with the hops and negatively changes the flavor profile. And prolonged exposure to oxygen can turn the brew stale. The move to cans also signals a new confidence exercised by the smaller breweries.

In a beer culture dominated by cans emblazoned with familiar and established names like Budweiser, Coors and Heineken, the newer craft breweries — many less than 15 years old –had to compete for their share of the market. With the stigma that can be associated with canned beer — mostly bland lagers or watery

light beers — most opted for bottles with catchy labels or names.Now, brewers are looking to take the shame out of canned beer.

With more than 1,700 craft breweries in the United States many feel ready to share cooler space with their larger competitors. 

Both California’s Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and the Colorado based New Belgium Brewing, tow of the largest and most celebrated U.S. micro breweries have announced in recent years that they would begin offering their flagship beers – long available in bottles – in cans ranging from 12oz to 16oz.

 ”This really came out of our own lifestyles,” said Greg Owsley, chief branding officer for New Belgium. “Now, I can finally take Fat Tire in the backpack, in the boat, all those places we felt a little guilty taking our bottles and treated them so preciously to make sure they didn’t break. Now we can throw one in the back pocket and head on out.” 

While there are still the self-called beer “purists” who refuse to drink any beer from a can. A beer storeowner who was interviewed for this article compared those people to wine drinkers who will not drink from screw top bottles.

“They say they are educated, but really they are just ignorant,” she said. “All in all the beer, wine, whatever is just as good and by not giving it a chance they are really missing out on something good.”

So, who will differentiate themselves in Chile and start canning beers? Stay Tuned!