The email from a, shall we say, noted brewer with this news was accompanied with an introductory statement which read "Say what you will about Sam- this will be hitting the papers tomorrow I'm sure!" And it is a news worthy press release from Jim Koch of Sam Adams about its new beer can which reads in part:
Our new can design required a million dollar investment in special equipment tooling along with time, research and testing and resulted in a patent-pending design. We think that the difference will be a subtle but noticeably better drinking experience than the standard beverage can. We anticipate having this can in the market in May or June, so you can taste for yourself to see if you think it provides a slightly better experience. We've decided to make the patent-pending design available, without any royalty or license fee, to all craft brewers who would like to use this can. We're still working out the details with Ball, our can manufacturer, but we anticipate that any craft brewer will be able to purchase this unique can from Ball sometime this fall depending on how things go at Ball.
My immediate reaction was not bastardly but, unlike the PR tone of beneficence, I do see upsides for Sam Adams. First, I am not sure practically speaking that Sam Adams could they do otherwise? I mean a can is a can and are you going to fight to protect a patent for a can design that with a 1% to 5% tweek becomes another can that avoids legal liability? And, if you think about it, there is more money in the deal this way. Ball, the can manufacturer, gets more customers and Sam Adams may get a volume break. Which is good. Smart business for both businesses. Sam Adams may also avoid an exclusivity fee from Ball. If Ball is part owner of the design and are forced to avoid maximizing the benefit to them, Ball would be entirely in the right to ask for compensation for a smaller market. Finally, Sam Adams gets to brand the can style used by its competition of any take up this offer. Not sure if I am a craft brewer in a marketplace where I am trying to set myself apart from a lot of competitors doing much the same thing as me that I will go out and use an aspect of a competitor's branding. Shape is brand as much as colour is.
This may be the start of beer can design wars. It was interesting to note that Pennsylvania craft brewer Sly Fox has also recently announced an new form of can, one that opens into a metal cup. I don't drink beers from metal cups generally so can't say how this idea or the Sam Adams one will actually affect taste or sales.
Comments
Simon H Johnson - March 22, 2013 9:00 AM
The geometry of the can may make marginal difference to the taste. But it will sure garner plenty of free advertising for the beer's release.
Well played, Sam Adams.
Ben - March 22, 2013 9:09 AM
Yeesh. I hate this fluffy marketing junk. Who cares about can design? Can you really vastly improve the container from which I'll pour my beer into a glass? If it's sealed, keeps light out, and can be refrigerated, I'm sure it works just fine.
If this turns into the same type of shenanigans the glass-shape discussion has taken lately I might start drinking directly from the keg from now on.
Velky Al - March 22, 2013 9:19 AM
Rather than spending the money fannying about with the design of cans - I mean, really how much of a bloody difference does a design make, and the cynic in me is convinced 'subtle' really means 'barely perceivable' and is yet another example of the Emperor's New Clothes craze that sweeps beer with monotonous regularity - perhaps it would be better to invest in a package that doesn't destroy the environment in the same way as aluminium extraction does?
Perhaps I am being curmudgeonly, not a bad feat for a chap not yet in his 40s, but there are days when I look forward to beer no longer being the fad booze de jour and I can go back to drinking it without the gimmicks, from a glass, in a pub.
JK - March 22, 2013 9:55 AM
Apparently, Ball (the can manufacturer) tried to sell a similar "tear off top" that Sly Fox is using (mfg. by Crown) to BBC's Jim Koch for his new Samuel Adams can design, as noted in a Boston Globe story (2/16/13) on their new can design:
"But there were problems: the tear-off top violated litter laws in most states. And the gaping opening made people nervous. They were worried about cutting their nose or lip on the edge, afraid of bugs flying inside, or the drink spilling."
from http://www.boston.com/business/innovation/2013/02/16/sam-adams-now-finally-can/7or2P9nNby90ONjTgVF9yI/story.html
Alan - March 22, 2013 11:11 AM
Seems I am not alone in being cranky about such matters!
dave - March 22, 2013 12:24 PM
"no longer being the fad booze de jour and I can go back to drinking it without the gimmicks, from a glass, in a pub" and no need to blog about it either :)
I'm slightly interested in the can... try it at least once, and I'm pretty sure it will be a bit of a conversation when first brought out a summer outing.
Velky Al - March 22, 2013 2:42 PM
Dave,
And stop being a moany git?
<hyperbole>I'd end up like Father Jack most likely!</hyperbole>
dave - March 22, 2013 4:58 PM
Ha!
(I think most of us would if we couldn't blog, or comment on said blogs, about beer.)
Ron pattinson - March 24, 2013 10:01 AM
Yeah, I'm all nostalgic for when beer, flat caps and old-fashioned pubs were inseparably linked. It's when the middle class got interested in beer that it all went wrong.