Many breweries across the country have jumped onto the craft can bandwagon, and for good reason. But, the barrier to entry for canning is fairly high as a significant investment is necessary for buying the equipment and necessary shipment of cans. Enter Northwest Canning. They are a new mobile canning operation that can help local breweries hoping to put their beer in cans take a shortcut. They provide the equipment, cans and labor, while all the brewery has to do is provide the beer and the space for them to come set up. Adding cans to a brewery’s available product lineup gives them a whole new market in which to sell their beer, making this a very attractive proposition for growing breweries.
Northwest Canning’s first two customers are Tacoma’s Wingman Brewers and Seattle’s Emerald City Beer Company. King 5 recently accompanied Northwest Canning as they visited Emerald City to can their flagship Dottie’s Lager. Check out the video here.
Full press release from Northwest Canning:
Northwest Canning, LLC is a mobile beverage canning operation that serves local craft breweries. Most breweries are unable to can their beer because it requires a large initial investment in inventory and machinery. Thanks to Northwest Canning, micro-brewers now have access to the materials and equipment to make canning their beer possible.
Craft breweries are turning to canning because it is more cost effective and eco-friendly than bottling, which allows them to conquer new markets and increase their profit margin.
Northwest Canning was started by Justin Brandt and Arne Hakanson, both graduates of Linfield College and members of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, where their friendship solidified. Having earned experience in the business world from running successful financial advising practices, Brandt and Hakanson’s goal is to provide excellent and reliable customer service. Brandt runs the day-to-day operations and services micro-breweries in both Oregon and Washington.
“We are the first to do this in the Pacific Northwest,” Hakanson, a Tacoma local said, “no one else in the area is providing a mobile canning service. By canning with us, craft breweries will reach untapped markets.”
“Cans are far superior to bottles” explained Brandt, a Portland resident. “Because cans are not affected by UV light and contain less dissolved oxygen, canning results in a higher-quality, longer-lasting brew.”
Northwest Canning recently completed its first canning run with Tacoma’s Wingman Brewers, canning their Ace IPA and P-51 Porter. Check out the video at http://www.facebook.com/northwestcanning.
Breweries interested in hiring Northwest Canning can contact them at northwestcanning@gmail.com or check them out at northwestcanning.com.
Sanford // Jun 8, 2012 at 9:29 am
This is very cool, but holy shit…that logo can’t be real.