This week has seen the first Irish Craft Beer in cans hit our shelves ahead of schedule. Metalman have spent several months in preparation for this milestone. Their beers have never been bottled and were only available on draught which meant that a lot of us weren’t able to sup that fine Pale Ale as often as we’d like. Grainne Walsh brewer and co-founder said: ‘We felt that cans were a better choice in terms of the quality of the finished product, the lower cost of shipping, and easier handling at the brewery versus glass.’
The company who have supplied the microcanning kit are Cask Brewing Systems from Canada and they have a great pedigree as they first started importing home brew kits into Canada before opening a chain of brewpubs and then pioneering this microcanning system. Cask are also the company to supply the machine to Oskar Blues Brewery which is one of the most iconic brands in the American brewing scene. They were the first to solely can their beer and it keeps it fresh and tasty for me! A little closer to home, most beer aficionados I know have held and admired Beavertown’s colourful cans and prefer them to the bottled versions.
Four Corners are distributing the new Metalman cans and they already have cans from Brewdog, Brooklyn and the aforementioned Beavertown in their stable. I can’t wait to pick up some cans from my local off licence. There’s more good news canned beer fans, as Grainne has told me that there will be two more permanent beers joining the range this year and they are looking at the possibility of canning seasonal releases! Irish Summer barbecues are going to be changed forever. Metalman I salute you. Sláinte!
