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“We were going to run our first batch off this week, but our air compressor actually exploded,” he said with a slight chuckle during a Feb. 7 interview.

Whether or not his beer hits parched gullets is largely up to bar owners. They decide if a keg of Pile O’ Bones ends up beneath a tap. Valgardson believes canned beer will give his products more exposure.

“I can just unload a pallet at a time, and they’re happy to sell it,” he said of liquor stores with whom he plans to do business.

Photo by TROY FLEECE / Regina Leader-Post

There’s also another upside to putting beer in retail outlets.

“How do I get it at home?” customers ask him, because they’re “terrified of drinking and driving.”

Thus, the canned beer is somewhat of a reactionary measure to the tightening of Saskatchewan’s impaired driving laws, he said.

Once his air compressor is chugging away and cans rolling off the line, they’ll be sold and delivered independently, and only to private stores.

This is an option given to small craft alcohol distributors by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA), which operates a wholesale warehouse and its own retail stores.

“You can quote me on this,” he said, before raising his tone. “I will never sell to SLGA, as long as they refuse to refrigerate product,” he continued, noting that his beer, which he and his partners have been producing commercially for just over a year, is unpasteurized.

“Would you keep milk warm?” he asked, adding that many private stores are willing to refrigerate products.