I have no idea why I’m so infatuated with canned craft beers, but they are becoming a bit of an obsession with me, and their ranks are growing at such a crazy pace I can’t keep up with what’s out there. This is good and bad. The good part is that I’m always excited to see a new canned offering magically appear at the beer store. The bad part is I have no idea what I’m missing because new releases are rolling out so fast.
I just wrote an article for Today.com about awesome canned beers for summer (regular readers will be shocked to find that my beloved Dale’s Pale Ale is first on the list), and discovered CraftCans.com in the process. CraftCans has a database of 564 canned craft beers which is growing just about every day. They have maps of where the beers are brewed, images of all the cans, and you can search by state of origin, brewery, style, etc. It’s a pretty cool resource for folks who like their craft beer wrapped in aluminum.
The only nit I have to pick with them is not being able to select a state and see which canned beers are distributed there, or select a beer to see where it’s available. This might not be a big deal to everyone, but I’d like to know if I should try to seek something out around where I live or if it’s a lost cause. Also, as someone who writes for a people scattered across the country, it would be nice to know what’s available where so I can figure out exactly what beers I should feature – it’s a little cruel talking up a beer that’s not available outside Colorado!
You can check out CraftCans.com here. Take a look to see how they’ve covered your neck of the woods, and let us know how up-to-date the database is. That’s easy for me to do, as there are currently ZERO craft breweries who can their beers listed in New Jersey. 😦
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Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
Baxter in Maine is pretty damn good.
Gotta get some Heady Topper soonish too.
That beer keeps coming up around here…mostly by you I think, Jeff. It’s definitely on my radar now.
I’d be up for a trade if you’d be interested.
I am, but I’ve also asked Alchemist if they can send me some. For some reason their recommendation that you drink a beer that’s been compared to Pliny from the can blows my beer-snob mind!
Heady is gonna involve a trip to Massachusetts for me…or a trade…I gotta have some though…I heard from a friend that found some in NYC as well…though I don’t think they officially distribute there.
26 breweries, 89 beers for Colorado. Winner by a country mile! Seems pretty up to date to me. A lot of them on the list are one-offs that we probably won’t see again, though.
At least those one off’s will age better in cans…
Greenville Pale Ale: The First Canned Beer in the First State
Someone should pay me for that one.
until the history nuts go ape and scream about how they’ve been canning (non-craft) beer in Delaware for since nineteen ought five…
In Colorado we have a Mobile Canning Business. They can go around to small brew pubs and can 16 and 12 ounce cans for the breweries saving them space and adding a little profit.
In New Jersey, we have the same thing, but instead of canning beers, they collect the bodies of people you whacked and fit them with cement shoes. It’s called Goodfella-To-Go…
“More sinkers than floaters?”
At least since 1933. Would have been funny if Keglining were made by Delaware’s own DuPont Company but no, it’s Vinylite from Union Carbide.