From Sockeye Brewing:
Sockeye Brewing is adding more beer style options for its craft beer consumers. In 2012, when the Boise company began distributing its beer in cans, it went first solely with the flagship, Dagger Falls IPA. Last year, the brewery expanded canned options to include Power House Porter (2014 Great American Beer Festival bronze medal winner), Galena Gold Kolsch, Hell-Diver Pale Ale, and a seasonal rotating style. This Spring Sockeye Brewing will add two new beers to their line up in cans, including Woolybugger American Wheat, and High Lakes Session IPA. They have also decided to shake up their previous seasonal calendar by offering new styles to the rotation, and changing the packaging from 16oz four packs to 12oz six-packs. Maibock, the first of the new 12oz series due out in March, is a traditional German style bock.
When asked why they made the switch from 16oz to 12oz cans, Sockeyes’ Director of Sales, Tylar Bell says, “It works well for our retail partners. Stores set up shelf space to maximize consumer options for the products they offer, and the 12oz cans are a more uniform fit in coolers and on display.” That makes sense, considering the growing support for craft cans across the country. “Convenience stores and grocery chains are all moving towards offering more craft beer to consumers and cans are very well received. They see the trend in increased production and purchases of higher quality beers, and we are among those small craft breweries that prefer packaging in cans rather than bottles. We have some really great beer styles from Idaho to offer our consumers in the Northwest region,” Tylar says. “Our retail partners have done a lot to help us succeed with distributing our beers, so it’s an easy change we can make to help them maximize their space and expand their selection of beers. It’s a win-win situation for us all that supports the rising demand for craft beers.”
So why cans? “Idaho really didn’t have a home grown craft beer widely available until we made it our goal to change that.” Todd Marshall, Sockeye’s Sales Representative tells us. “It’s such a recreational place and we knew cans would be a better fit for Idahoans and our visitors. Cans always made more sense to us,” he says. “They seal better than bottles, keep light out, are so much easier to recycle and lighter to ship. You can pack them in and pack them out, no matter where you go. Why not choose cans? If a beer fan prefers glass, we’ll offer them a Sockeye logo pint to fix that. Our beer tastes great either way.” Todd and Tylar both know packaging Sockeye beer in cans is the easy part. Securing ingredients for the rising barrel production is where the limits are. “It’s important to foster good partners across the board. We’ve tried hard to accomplish that and to keep success climbing for local growers and especially for American craft beer in our region.” Todd says. “It’s great for everyone’s businesses and even better for beer fans who support small craft breweries like us.”
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