USA, WA & CA: Adrian Grenier's Churchkey Can Co. beer is now sold in Los Angeles

Adrian Grenier’s Churchkey Can Co. is now offering their unique craft pilsner in Los Angeles, and the most notable aspect of the brand is not the celebrity founder but the throwback packaging that requires more work than your typical pop-top, Los Angeles Times reported on May 19.

From wide-mouth cans to “vortex bottles,” how a beer is packaged is often more of a selling point than the quality of the beer itself. Recently brands like Coors and Miller have found success using throw-back designs in their bottles and cans.

Craft beer, while usually sold on basis of substance over style, has occasionally also used packaging techniques to stand out.

In 2011 former Nike designer Justin Hawkins and "Entourage" star Adrian Grenier were carousing in Portland when they got to talk about the beautiful designs featured on American beer cans during the middle part of the 20th century.

They assumed some brewery had already tried to market throw-back cans, but when they couldn’t find any modern examples, they decided to create Churchkey Can Co. to bring back the outmoded packaging.

The brand first launched in the Pacific Northwest using steel cans manufactured by the beverage packaging veterans at the Ball Corp. and beer brewed at Washington’s Two Beers Brewing Co. with a recipe designed by Portland homebrewers Lucas Jones and Sean Burke.

Hawkins says he was inspired by the work ethic and DIY spirit of his homebrewing neighbours, and that the idea of savouring the rewards of hard work defines Churchkey beer. “It’s worth the effort” is the slogan for the brand, and Hawkins says, “of course it takes more effort to open the can, but it’s also a lot of effort to make the beer - to get it right.”

The steel cans proved to be a quality control challenge, and Churchkey eventually pulled their product from the market when it wasn’t up to their standards. Production of the brew moved to Cold Spring Brewing Co. - a Minnesota contract brewery.

Churchkey Can Co. is now sending their Pilsner throughout the West Coast.

22 May, 2015