Many factors went into the decision, Kimmich explained, including the fact that aluminum cans mean lighter transport costs versus glass bottles and broken bottles are potentially more dangerous than a crushed can.īut he said going with tall cans also helped Alchemist make a major statement about their brand. But he certainly agrees with the assessment that Heady Topper vaulted the practice into widespread popularity. (The Alchemist/Facebook)Īlchemist co-founder John Kimmich is quick to note his was not the first craft beer to come in tall cans, pointing to examples like California-based Sierra Nevada's Torpedo IPA. The Alchemist's Heady Topper double IPA is widely credited for popularizing the modern trend of craft beer being served in tall cans. Whereas most smaller scale beers were released in bottles at the time, Heady Topper came in a distinctive can with high-contrast black and silver art, and the instructions "Drink from the can!" written along the top rim.Īccording to Steinman, it sparked "a tremendous amount of buzz" among "craft geek cognoscenti" consumers. They want to be able to tick off as many as they possibly can." Thank the Alchemistĭewes and Steinman both pointed to Vermont-based Alchemist Beer, a Vermont-based brewer, for sparking the popularity of tall cans for craft beer with its Heady Topper double IPA in 2011. "Craft beer people are kind of like bird watchers they just want it all. "Instead of walking away with a box of 12 of the same beer, you can walk away with 12 different beers," he said. They want to be able to tick off as many as they possibly can. - Haydon Dewes, co-founder of Cabin Brewing CompanyĪccording to Dewes, selling in singles also allows beer connoisseurs to sample several varieties in one go. Craft beer people are kind of like bird watchers they just want it all. "I think it's kind of an attractive price point, and it's kind of a one-and-done," Steinman said. The outlier of that is tall cans, which sell very well in convenience stores. He said they also allow people to have just one beer and feel satisfied. (Sea Change Brewing Co.) The 'one and done' and sample appealīenj Steinman, writer and president of the U.S.-based trade magazine Beer Marketer's Insights, says that in the U.S., at least, craft beers have faced difficulty reaching consumers in recent years. Pete Nguyen is a partner and chief creative officer at Edmonton's Sea Change Brewing Co. If you see a box of 12 short cans, your brain is telling you: 'That's a budget beer. It's like if you see a four pack of tall cans, you know that that's a craft beer. "There's something, for better or worse, quite exclusive about a four-pack. It also helps distinguish it from non-craft brands that sell smaller cans in higher volume. "A four pack is about the same volume as a six pack … and the cost works out roughly the same as well," he said. This is a premium product that comes in a four-pack," Dewes told Cost of Living.Ĭabin's website sells their four flagship beers for $4.50 for a single can, and in four-packs for about $17 to $18.ĭewes says the four-pack for tall cans has become a craft beer standard, because of long-held expectations on how much packs of beer costs. We don't put our beer into short cans and put it into a box of 36. "It's us saying: we are craft beer, we're not a macro beer. (Cabin Brewing Company) Tall cans help distinguish craft product: brewer Tall cans provide brewers with more space to explain their product to consumers. Haydon Dewes described the vibe of the art on Cabin's Super Saturation New England Pale Ale as 'modern nostalgia' with its stark lines and groovy font. The real reasons are more about marketing, brand awareness and craft beer trends that go back at least a decade. Haydon Dewes, co-founder of Cabin Brewing Company in Calgary, says the cost of a tall can versus a short can is "negligible," at least in terms of the additional aluminum required to produce it. Milwaukee-based Schlitz Brewing Company started selling them in the 1950s.īut it's become an increasingly popular size for craft beer, a category that has mostly eschewed the smaller 355-ml cans and glass bottles in recent years.Īccording to beer brewers, the tall can's popularity is more than just the appeal of having more to drink per can. The tall can - also known as the tallboy, king can or pounder - isn't new. Cost of Living 7:14 How craft brewers came to love the tall canĪnyone walking through the beer aisles of their local liquor shop will be familiar with the scene: rows and rows of local craft beer, swathed in distinctive and often colourful logos and art - all in tall, 473-ml (or 16-oz.) cans.
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