Pop the top and taste one of Corpus Christi's maiden brews.

Lorelei Brewing Company will debut two of its beers, Khryseis and Ephyra, in cans at a Saturday tap room release. It will be the first packaged beer from a Corpus Christi brewery.

"It's a rare opportunity that you get to make history in a city that you reside in," Varian Criser, co-owner said. "That's what we've been, the opportunity in being the first ones in the packaging, we've made Corpus Christi history."

American Canning, a mobile beer cannery, out of Austin made two trips to the Flour Bluff brewery to can more than 400 cases of the golden ale and double India pale ale.

Started about four years ago, the business travels across the state to can beers for microbreweries, but also help out major manufacturers if they brew a bad batch, said Josh Lasalle, operations.

The key to a great can of beer is no oxygen, Lasalle said. Their three mobile canning machines are designed to seal the top on when the beer is sudsy which helps eliminate any oxygen pockets.

"Moving into packaging, especially into cans, is really a part of the growth process of a brewery," Criser said. "One of the big questions we get is 'Why cans over bottles?' and the simple answer is: we're by the beach."

Beer is allowed on Nueces County and Corpus Christi beaches but only in cans.

Armed with a new license, the brewery will be able to sell six-packs, growlers, and kegs from its taproom starting Saturday. More than 800 cases have been packaged so far.

And the progress doesn't stop there. The brewers are planning to release their canned products by mid-August in San Antonio.

"Craft beer is the fastest growing manufacturing sector in the country," he said. "It's something that every state, every community, really needs to support because it's providing jobs all across the country."

IF YOU GO

What: Release of Lorelei Brand and "Canned" beer release event

Where: Lorelei Brewing Company, 520 NAS Drive, Corpus Christi

When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday

On tap: Several Lorelei favorites, plus Ephrya and Khyrseis in cans

Information: Live music all day and food trucks Chez Weiners and 3Chics on Fire