USA, UT: Uinta Brewing Company begins canning its beer

Utah’s Uinta Brewing Company is the latest craft brewery to package beer in a can, joining Bohemian and Moab breweries, The Salt Lake Tribune reported on April, 2.

It installed a canning line in February, which is now producing six-packs - and some 12-packs - of four of its familiar brews: Baba Organic Black Lager, Hop Notch IPA, Wyld Organic Pale Ale and Cutthroat Pale Ale.

A canned Sum’r Organic Ale will be produced in May.

The new Uinta cans - which will cost the same as bottles - are available at Uinta’s brewery in Salt Lake City and are being distributed to grocery stores and, in the case of the high-alcohol Hop Notch, to liquor stores.

Adding canning to Uinta’s bottling and keg production is part of a $16 mln renovation to meet growing demand for beer. The new brewhouse, located at the existing Salt Lake City headquarters, will allow Uinta to sell 100,000 barrels worth of beer by next year - that’s a 67 percent increase from last year when it sold around 45,000 barrels.

The new canning line took a year to build and is capable of filling 415 cans a minute - the bottling line produces only 120 a minute.

Despite its new canning capabilities, Uinta is not turning away from glass.

"We’re hoping we can reach a different market," said Uinta president Will Hamill. "If you want to go river running or backpacking or golfing or if you’re an outdoor enthusiast, you might want to have a can instead of a bottle."

03 April, 2013