Omnivore - Georgia's first craft beer in a can

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• Red Hare to release Georgia's first craft beer in a can

About a week and a half ago, the Marietta-based craft-beer company Red Hare Brewing announced that it will be the first Georgia brewery to distribute its product in a can. The year-and-a-half old operation's product has only been available on draft in bars and retail shops (via growler on the latter) before the announcement. Red Hare plans to start with its best selling Bohemian-style pilsner (and CL-recommended summer brew) Long Day Lager first, with hopes of expanding from there. We caught up with head brewer Bobby Thomas about why Red Hare dove head first into canning, what beers they'll can next, and why Georgia's three-tier system is inhospitable to craft brewers.

Why did you decide to start canning now?


We've always been a little bit different, so we figured why change anything when it came to packaging? Moreover, Roger Davis, Red Hare co-founder/managing partner and I love to play golf and go to the lake with our families, so a can is a perfect fit. We believe the can fits better to the Georgia market, especially in the summer. We really wanted people to be able to take our beer to the lake, the pool, parks, and golf courses. On top of that, we saw an article that was showing the recycle rates of cans versus bottles and it was dramatically in the cans' favor. Oh, and of course, a can is better for beer quality.

Beer aficionados actually love to debate whether beer tastes better on draft, in bottles, or in cans. Given the many opinions, and the fact that most consumers still don't realize great beer is available in cans, how are you ensuring these will taste great?