Brewed & Pouched By – Beer in Pouches Coming Soon (12oz & Growlers)

imageI’ve been following along as we see more and more innovative, convenient and environmentally friendly packaging make it’s way into the beer market.  Just a few years ago it was considered ground-breaking for craft beer to come in a can and now it’s commonplace….so welcome to the next new package….The BEER POUCH…and I’m betting it will be big.
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Just north of Capri-Sun and south of a juice box, today we have beer pouches.  I’ll include all sorts of example photos, but it’s basically the same packaging used for children’s drink pouches, now re-invented in different sizes & forms for beer and other alcoholic beverages.

As you can see Parrot Bay is currently offering a few varieties of Fermented-Malt-Beverages (FMBs) in pouches, we’ve seen hard-cider take advantage of this package and I’m also hearing we can soon expect to see Four Loko start using pouches.

imageThe Great Bear Brewing Co (Wasilla, Alaska) is already using iNcan pouches for at least one of their beers.  It’s also interesting to note that while some have an actual cap, some rely on pouring the beer out into a glass or using a straw.

imageI think we may see some issues related to the pressure beer carbonation may place on the packaging, and the simple issue of “use”, i.e. will it stand up or spill, it is easy to hold & store, how easily does it fail…but I suspect most of these problems are already worked out.  It should also be interesting to see if this package really is “green” at all so stay tuned on that one.  I can definitely see how an aluminum can would be more recyclable than a pouch, but that remains to be seen.

Sizes range from 12oz to 64oz and there are already specialized fillers for tap/growler-type filling (Yes Growler Pouches too.)  Pricing seems very competitive, especially for a startup.  I realize a lot of breweries JUST made an investment into can-production, but I won’t be surprised when very soon a label comes through saying “Brewed and Pouched” instead of “brewed & bottled” or “brewed & canned…”

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4 comments (click to read or post):

  1. Absolutely Brilliant! We got ours at beerpouch.com and they sent our Flexible Growlers right to us no problem. Our customers are going bonkers for them. No oxygen in the package, fresher beer. Simple. Thanks for turning us on to them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fermentation Station28 February, 2013 15:50

    This Beerpouch thing will change the way carbonated beverages are packaged. Our regulars were skeptical at first. Now they are outselling glass 3 to 1. Saves us money and we can hardly keep them in stock.

    ReplyDelete
  3. These beerpouches were kind of hard for us to get our heads around when we first heard of them, but once we got our samples it was pretty obvious that this technology is good for beer and an overall improvement over bottles or cans. Our homebrew club is a tough group of critics and initially we collectively snobbed up on the idea. Then we tried it. Now we are using them all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Flexible packaging is taking off now used to contain everything from tuna fish to baby food and now craft beer growlers!

    The craft beer community is proving increasingly more open to this GREEN, reduced carbon footprint packaging.

    As an avid outdoor recreation and craft beer enthusiast who guides fishing and hunting trips I grew tired of bulky glass and stainless steel growlers imported from China.

    Recently I found a product called the Mobi-Growler and it has changed my life!

    It's Packable, Light Weight and Durable. Eliminates oxygen and light. It folds flat so I always have it with me. I even fly commercial with it in checked baggage.

    Check it out @
    www.craftbeeronthego.com
    www.facebook.com/mobilebeergrowlers

    Call the number and they will ship right out! Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete

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