Bottle vs can

Cans for most styles, bottles for styles you can cellar (Lambics, Barleywines, Imperial Stouts).

 

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I'm a big fan of beer in cans. There has been some interesting developments lately with cans for craft beverages (not just beers) and I thought folks might find this interesting.

With lots of advantages, there was a trend to more cans being used, for smaller as well as larger brands. Environmental reasons as well as logistics, aesthetics, freshness etc.
The pandemic further increased this trend, to the point where can availability (which was already low before the pandemic) is really bad these days. If buyers have not already secured their supply of cans for 2021, they will not get any cans next year (I'm exaggerating - can dealers will still sell some, but at high prices). Two large, high-capacity can making lines will go on-line early next year, but those are already booked solid.
We already see more bottles on the shelves, replacing certain products previously canned. The issue for some of the small (micro) brewers will be: because investment was mainly in canning lines over the past few years, it is not easy to find capacity on bottling lines vs. capacity on canning lines.
The market will partially compensate for the can shortage by importing cans from overseas - which is truly nuts from an environmental standpoint, because that boatloads of mostly air being shipped across oceans.
2022 we will see things ease again, with additional can making capacity installed, and the market finding a healthier balance between supply and demand.

 

I, too, notice a significant difference between the canned and bottled versions. With most beers, I don’t notice a difference. I strongly prefer the canned version, though. The hop presence seems much stronger in the canned version.