Canning news: Atwater Brewery, Blue Hills Brewery, Worthy Brewing

More breweries are moving their beers into cans every minute. Here is a handful of the latest canning announcements in the industry.

Atwater Brewery

There’s a retro-revolution brewing in the brewing industry and Detroit’s biggest brewer, Atwater Brewery, is leading the charge. Not since Feb. 8, 1985, when Stroh Brewery closed its 135-year-old brewery on Detroit’s east side, has a Detroit beer been canned in the city.

Why not? Cans are lighter weight, better for recycling, more portable, quicker chilling, air tight and oxygen-free to name just a few benefits. Plus cans block the sunlight, or any light, better than bottles, keeping the beer fresher longer and tasting the way the great beer’s supposed to taste.

Atwater’s most popular beers, including Dirty Blond Ale, Grand Circus Session IPA and Atwater Lager will be immediately available in 12 oz cans. Atwater will also be canning in 16 oz and 19 oz sizes in the future.

“We’ve said all along we want to bring the art of brewing back to the Motor City and help to revive Detroit’s role as a leading producer of great beers,” said Atwater Brewery Owner Mark Rieth. “In the past few years, we’ve grown to be Detroit’s biggest brewer. Canning is an important next step in our mission to bring Detroit everywhere.”

Bolstered by recent production expansion, Atwater is on pace for its 10th consecutive record sales year.

Blue Hills Brewery

Blue Hills Brewery announced the release of two new styles of 12 oz cans. Blue Hill IPA and Session IPA will be joining the brewery’s canned line up in June, along side Quarter Mile Double IPA and Watermelon Wheat, which debuted earlier this year.

Blue Hills Brewery has been happily working with Iron Heart Canning from Connecticut. Their portable canning system visits the brewery in monthly to help package up the freshest canned beer on the South Shore and in the Boston area.

“Working with Iron Heat Canning has been very fruitful for the brewery, and we look forward to a long-lasting relationship as both our business continue to grow,” said Jim O’Neil, director of operations at Blue Hills Brewery.

Worthy Brewing Co.

A new look is coming to Worthy Brewing Co.’s most popular flagship beer, Worthy IPA. The 12-ounce six-pack cans will now be packaged in a “hop green” can. The updated packaging is expected to hit retail markets the week of June 12.

“The change is for a more consistent look in the retail market,” said Dave Zinn, Worthy’s Creative Director. “The new look of the green can will better align with the current portfolio of our packaging.”

Renowned for his IPAs, Brewmaster Chad Kennedy raised the bar. This clean, crisp, and refreshing beer is a tribute to Worthy’s friends at Indie Hops. Worthy IPA is bursting with the finest hops Oregon has to offer: Nugget, Centennial, Meridian, Crystal and Horizon. The year-round releases of the expanded packaging will be distributed by Columbia Distribution in Oregon and Washington, Hodgen Distribution in Eastern Oregon and by Hayden Beverage in Idaho.

Worthy Brewing Co. opened its doors in Bend, Ore., in early 2013. Within its first year, a canning line, bottling line, expanded fermentation space, a kitchen expansion and the addition of a five-barrel pilot brew system were completed. Worthy also boasts a greenhouse and hop yard onsite for growing estate and experimental hops in conjunction with Oregon State University and Indie Hops.