On Tap: Canned beer event expands as the market grows

When the Elk Public House started its Spo-Can festival five years ago, canned craft beer was still something of a novelty.

“The availability of craft in cans was pretty limited,” said Marshall Powell, the Elk’s general manager. “It was a niche sort of thing.”

For this year’s event, with cans having become common in the craft world, Powell said, “I could have hundreds of choices.”

More than 50 canned beers and ciders will pour on the Elk patio June 4 from noon to 6, accompanied by DJ music. And Spokes Mobile Canning, like last year, will again can beer made by homebrewers for their personal use (see information box for details).

“We’re trying to spin it more into that, to be more of the community education piece that we were trying to do to begin with,” Powell said of the live canning.

Spokes’ Abbie and Amanda Speer-Mead, who canned beer for a half-dozen homebrewers using their portable line last year, expect to be busier this year as word spreads.

“It happens in conjunction with ArtFest, and we’re right on the sidewalk, so last year there were people walking by saying, ‘Oh, what are they doing?’ ” Abbie Speer-Mead said.

“It’s a way to educate people on how beer gets canned, they get to see the process, and also a chance for homebrewers to get their beer canned. Where else are they going to do that?”

While cans traditionally were associated with mass-market macrobrews, craft brewers have come to appreciate their advantages. Cans seal tighter and block light to preserve beer quality, are lighter and sturdier than breakable bottles for packing on the go, cost brewers less to ship and are more easily recycled.

“The debate is over whether it’s better (than bottles) or not,” Powell said. “It’s better packaging all around, for so many reasons.”

The trend has been a bit slow to catch on in the Inland Northwest. Locally, Orlison and Laughing Dog were the first breweries to can beer beginning in October 2013. No-Li started canning its Born & Raised IPA in November, using Orlison’s facilities, and added its new Big Juicy IPA last month.

The cans have been living up to expectations, and they haven’t cut into sales of No-Li’s 12- and 22-ounce bottles, owner John Bryant said.

“It’s a great opportunity to reach new customers,” Bryant said. “It’s fun to have the different formats. I find myself going back and forth.”

However, he added, “Washington, and specifically Spokane, is still predominantly a bottle-oriented market.”

Iron Goat, which began bottling in February 2015, will consider canning when its production volume grows enough to accommodate it, co-owner/brewer Greg Brandt said. “It’s something we really want to do at some point,” he said.

But looking at the price per ounce, he said, “You make more money in 22-ounce bottles than you would in cans.” And it’s easier to get shelf space for them in stores, because they simply take up less room.

Because of that, said Spokes’ Amanda Speer-Mead, “We’ve had breweries who really want to get into cans, and their distributor pressures them out of it. That’s frustrating for us.”

Spokes got its start in 2014 canning for two breweries in Great Falls, where cans are a natural for Montana’s outdoor lifestyle. Yakima Craft was another early customer and has been joined by Leavenworth’s Icicle Brewing and more recently Wallace Brewing, as well as three Eastern Washington cideries: Spokane’s One Tree, Pullman’s Whiskey Barrel and Chelan’s Washington Gold.

They hope to build more business closer to home as local breweries grow and become more adventurous, said Abbie Speer-Mead. “I think there is a more conservative aspect to growth in our region in general,” she said. “That’s not a bad thing, they’re just not as willing to jump the gun on that type of opportunity.”

Another sort of can is growing more popular at growler houses around the area: the Crowler, a 32-ounce container that’s filled and sealed on the spot. The alternative to glass growlers is offered at the Growler Guys franchises in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, and was added last week at Steady Flow Growler House in Spokane Valley.

Brewery watch

Perry Street was the winner of last week’s Spokane Craft Beer Week IPA Showdown, followed by Whistle Punk and River City. The downtown and North Spokane Onion Bar & Grill hosted the weeklong blind-tasting competition.

No-Li took a gold medal for Spin Cycle Red and a bronze for Born & Raised IPA at last week’s Australian International Beer Awards.

Iron Goat has started expanding production at its larger new downtown location, ordering three more 30-barrel tanks. That will boost its capacity by 40 percent, to about 2,000 barrels per year.

Millwood Brewing (formerly Mill Towne) has ordered a 10-barrel system and filed for federal and state brewing licenses in anticipation of a fall opening.

Freshly tapped

Waddell’s new summer seasonal is a sour version of last year’s Black Berry (6 percent alcohol by volume, 5 International Bitterness Units) made with 180 pounds of local berries.

Hopped Up’s Wrong Way IPA (5.7, 50) has bright grapefruit flavors and lingering rind-like bitterness from Magnum, Ahtanum and Cascade hops.

The new single-hop pale at Bennidito’s Brewpub (5.8, 54) showcases herbal, earthy Columbus.

Fruity Idaho 7 stars in the latest single-hop pale from Perry Street (5.4, 40).

Trickster’s tart Berliner Weisse (3.8, 8) is a sour German-style wheat beer with a touch of Brett.

New Boundary is serving an American-style Honey Wheat (6.2, 15) for summer.

No-Li’s newest bottled barrel-aged beer, OMFG (6.3, 22) – Rise & Grind coffee milk stout with vanilla, chocolate and orange peel – starts rolling out in 22-ounce bombers next week.

Save the date

An Honor our Vets day Saturday from noon to 7 at Green Bluff’s 238 Brewing will benefit Women 4 Wounded Warriors, with the Inland Empire Car Show, Family Pitmasters barbecue and live music.

Hopped Up’s annual car show June 4 starts at 1 p.m., with live music at 4.

Cheney’s New Boundary celebrates its first anniversary June 4 with a Rocky Mountain Oyster feed to benefit Pints for Prostates, plus a Scotch ale aged in cabernet franc barrels.

Send beer news, comments and questions to senior correspondent Rick Bonino at boninobeer@comcast.net.