Franciscan Well has started canning its beers – a logical next business step, according to the Cork brewery

IT'S almost a year since Shane Long had Republic of Ireland fans raising a glass to the Tipperary man following his winning goal against Germany. However, the Ireland striker's Cork-based namesake has been keeping glasses charged with quality beer for the best part of two decades.

Shane Long brewed his first batch of Rebel Red at the Franciscan Well brewery just as the last millennium was coming to a close. The adjoining pub has served as a useful testing ground for many of his brews and now Franciscan Well's core range is available cans for the first time.

Shane revealed that canning his beers was a logical next step for a brewery which has won many awards and accolades down the years.

"We were following our customers. A lot of them are going to festivals and wanting to bring cans with them. In America, there's a huge number of breweries canning their beers now," he said.

The Chieftan Pale Ale is beautifully balanced and a good entry-level ale for drinkers looking to explore style. It is robust enough at 5.5 per cent and gives an initial hoppy taste which quickly gives way to flavours sweet, malty and with hint of grapefruit.

When Shane initially brewed Chieftan around six years ago to meet the growing demand for IPAs in Ireland, he wasn't prepared for how well it was received.

"It blew me away. We actually ran out a couple of times and we were through our six-month projections in one month," he said.

Also appearing in the new canned range is the Friar Weisse, a take on a German wheat beer featuring flavours of banana and bubble gum and a hint of clovey spice with a citrusy finish.

Shane explains the origins of Friar Weisse: "We were selling a lot of Franziskaner in the bar and when we ran out we decided to make a weisse beer. There’s low carbonation so it doesn't fill you up as much a lot of the German beers."

Shane tells me that the next one to muscle in on the core range could be a scaled-up version of well-received summer saison which was produced as a seasonal offering and claimed the title of World’s best Seasonal Pale Ale.