The past year has seen a proliferation of excellent beers available in cans, which offer many benefits to the consumer and to the environment. But one thing cans don’t offer is the elegance of a bottle, and that’s at the heart of why Dogfish Head has no plans to can their beers.

“I love seeing the success of all the canned beers that are out there. But for us it’s just not an arena we’re choosing to play in” Sam Calagione told us. Why? Because cans run counter to his brewery’s mission to elevate beer beyond its everyday image.

“Our focus since the day we opened has been ‘let’s try to bring beer into the context of wine,’ meaning beer can be as flavorful as wine, as complex, and as food compatible as wine.” Sam says. “That’s at the heart of our mission and we feel it’d be very confusing to put our wine-like beers into cans. So for now were more committed to the champagne bottle 750 ml format.”

The only thing that might change this is if super high-end American wines start canning their wares. “When you get Screaming Eagle 16 oz pounders in cans, call me back,” Calagione joked.

Calagione and his crew over at Dogfish Head have always danced to the beat of their own drum, and while it’s disappointing that we’ll probably never see 60 Minute IPA in cans, it’s refreshing to see the brewery staying true to who they are.

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