Beer in the can? Yes!

Let’s face it, 12 ounce bottled beers are an antiquated pain in the ass. Who wants to be 6 miles into an overnight cross-country ski trip and have your liquid rewards shift in your pack, stabbing you in the ribs for the next two hours?! And dropping one on the ground…good luck avoiding the laceration.

At the same time, old canned beer tasted like, well, crap. The first cans of beer were made from heavy gauge steel—go poke around in the old logging areas south of town and you may find one—and required a special tool to open. And what hit your lips tasted like licking the inside of a 50-gallon barrel, not the delicious—hoppy or not, depending on personal preference—nectar Benditos are accustomed to.

Many of our local breweries have canned their retail beers for years. Ironically, our very first brewery is now on board with the aluminum revolution. Starting later this month, Deschutes Brewery is piping its Mirror Pond, Pacific Wonderland and Fresh Squeezed IPA into lightweight cans.

“I think we may be the last brewery to put beer in cans, but hey, when you’re focus is all about making the beer damn tasty, new packaging may take a little longer,” said Michael LaLonde, president and CEO of Deschutes Brewery.

Some of the big players around Bend who currently can their products are: Silver Moon, GoodLife, Worthy, Crux, 10 Barrel and Three Creeks.

Deschutes is holding a can release celebration next weekend, if you’re curious about how their beer tastes from a can.