fbpx
Iron Heart Canning Company

The Business of Brewing: A Can-Do Attitude

One challenge with writing about the craft beer scene is keeping up with the industry’s rapid changes. In one of my first beer articles, I featured a struggling microbrewery whose biggest hurdle for growth was the fact that vendors would not carry its cans. Back then, the perception was that canned beer meant cheap beer, and high-end retailers, vendors, and consumers would not be interested. Bottles meant quality products, but bottling lines were far more expensive than canning lines. The brewery closed down because of this stigma. That was 15 years ago, but, for beer aficionados in Maine today, it seems unimaginable.

“This has been a 10-year evolution, but I can confidently say that this stigma is now gone,” said Roger Kissling, the Vice President of Sales and Customer Management at Iron Heart Canning Company (IHC).

IHC New England team members in front of the New Hampshire warehouse.

IHC New England team members in front of the New Hampshire warehouse.

With more than 35 accounts in Maine, IHC has been an industry leader in this transformation from undesirable to indispensable. Starting in 2013 in Connecticut, they now operate 84 canning lines in 29 states in the eastern United States. Iron Heart has been a boon to up-and-coming brewers because their mobile canning services can accommodate those businesses who don’t have the space or the funds for a canning line.

“Production level volumes of professionally packaged cans are only a phone call away and this unlocks an undeniable business opportunity for breweries that want to grow their brand beyond the walls of their taprooms,” Kissling said.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time in the industry’s history that aluminum cans revolutionized the market. In 1959, Coors Brewing company introduced the modern-day aluminum can, replacing tin and steel cans, improving quality and environmental waste. And, then somewhere along the way, cans went out of style again.

Cans ready to be filled

Cans ready to be filled

“I think craft beer’s roots from homebrewing initially led many brewers to bottle their beer, which is what homebrewers traditionally have done, and still do, as bottles can be sanitized at home and re-used,” said Maine Brewers’ Guild former Executive Director Sean Sullivan. “But now, cans feel ‘professional’ and distinguish craft beer from macro cheap lagers.”

Sullivan estimated that, despite limited-edition or specialty bottled beers, about 90 percent of Maine craft beer is canned. This fact underscores the role that canning operations have had on the growth of the state’s beer scene. For example, Baxter Brewing in Lewiston opened in 2011 and committed to canning exclusively, despite several critics and skeptics.

“Baxter Brewing was the first brewery around New England to do so,” said Sullivan. “Today, nearly every craft brewery in the country cans their beer, so I think any stigma around cans has been eliminated.”

Cans going into the seamer after being filled

Cans going into the seamer after being filled

Both Sullivan and Kissling point out that canning is the best option for most breweries, as long as it’s done meticulously with quality equipment. Cans are lighter, making them more cost-effective to buy and transport, easier to deliver and store, and more environmentally friendly. Unlike tinted bottles, cans provide effective protection from beer’s worst enemy, UV light, which can warp a beer’s hard-earned aroma into a skunky travesty. Beyond that, tall cans provide a new option for consumers, such as the 16-ounce offering, which, according to Sullivan, wasn’t available to consumers before in such volumes.

As with any boon to an industry, challenges will always arise, but it’s nothing that IHC and Maine breweries cannot overcome. Kissling said that IHC is looking to adapt to accommodate other beverage types in order to serve a larger share of the community. Periodic can shortages have stressed the industry, but it seems that breweries have been able to adjust and adapt out of sheer resilience.

J. G. Breerwood“Given the mutual support Maine brewers have for one another, and the craft beer industry in general, it helps us work together to ensure we can continue to sustain and grow our businesses,” said Sullivan.


Story by J.G. Breerwood, teacher of English and Creative Writing at Lewiston High School, and author of Sinking Dixie, published in 2020. He welcomed his daughter Elsie to the family in June.

Photos courtesy of Iron Heart Canning Company.


Web Hosting Provided by Maine Hosting Solutions