Beer Pick
Samuel Adams Boston Lager “Sam Can” Boston Beer Co., Boston, Mass.
$14.99-$17.99/ 12-pack at metro package and grocery stores.
Profile: Sooner or later it had to happen. The biggest U.S. craft brewery has finally packaged its ubiquitous flagship beer in a can. But it took two years of research and testing to come up with a design that would satisfy Boston Beer Co. founder/brewer Jim Koch.
The “Sam Can” features an hourglass lip (similar to the Sam “Perfect Pint” glass) to push the flavor, and a larger wider lid to allow more air flow. Trying a taste test kit sent out by Boston Beer, with a standard can and a Sam Can each filled with Boston Lager, I enjoyed drinking from Sam over standard, though I’m not sure how much more flavor or aroma I could discern.
Bottom line: If you like Boston Lager, you’re sure to like the Sam Can this summer, because it can go where bottles aren’t allowed.
Pair with: Try the Sam Can with any of the all-American fun foods of spring and summer — hot dogs, hamburgers, barbecue or fried chicken.
In its eighth year, American Craft Beer Week (ACBW), May 13-19, has taken the tag line “Big Week, Small Breweries” to celebrate the continued growth of a movement that now includes more than 2,360 small and independent U.S. brewing companies — the highest total since the 1880s.
ACBW is sponsored by the Colorado-based Brewers Association (BA), a not-for-profit trade association that represents craft brewery members in everything from legislation to litigation, while organizing big events such as the World Beer Cup, the Great American Beer Festival and the Craft Brewers Conference.
New for 2013, the ACBW Coast to Coast Toast will unite craft beer lovers in all 50 states, who will simultaneously raising their glasses at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 16.
Even if you think the toast is a tad hokie, it certainly symbolizes how far craft beer has come in the past decade, penetrating mainstream culture, and bringing new breweries to communities where beer hadn’t been brewed since before prohibition.
In 2012, the BA reported 409 brewery openings, including 310 microbreweries and 99 brewpubs. Around Atlanta, the number of microbreweries and brewpubs has more than tripled in past few years, with more in the building or planning stages.
Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Co. ranks No. 24 on the BA list of the Top 50 U.S. craft brewing companies, based on 2012 beer sales volume. Louisiana’s Abita, the only other Southeastern craft brewery on the list, ranks No. 14.
Of course, some would argue that the top three U.S. craft brewing companies, as tabulated by the BA — Boston Beer Co., Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and New Belgium Brewing Co. — are getting too big to be considered craft breweries.
But in 2012, even as craft beer sales reached record levels, that only accounted for just over six percent of the total U.S. beer market, the top three included.
On May 16, I’ll raise a glass to all the good beer behind those facts and figures. And I plan to visit as many of Atlanta’s craft breweries, brewpubs, beer bars and beer-aware restaurants as I can during American Craft Beer Week.
So far, I know the Brick Store, 5 Seasons, Leon’s, Midway Pub and the Porter plan to present ACBW beer and food specials, beer dinners, tap takeovers and other events.
For more info or to clue others to ACBW events, check in at the AJC Drink blog: blogs.ajc.com/drink.
