MADISON, Alabama - After Old Black Bear went through the last batch of bottles in late August, to package their Cave City Lager and Milepost 652 craft-beers, head brewer Todd Seaton had to make a decision.

"We're on a level of economy of scale that when we purchase bottling supplies it lasts us a year," Seaton says, "so if we were going to do bottles we were going to have to it for another year. And if not we were going to switch to cans." OBB chose the latter. Contract brewing with Gadsden's Back Forty Beer Company, Old Black Bear will package their first 12,000 cans of Cave City, a 5.2 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) lager selected one of AL.com/Huntsville Time's top six packaged local craft-beers, on Nov. 20.

"There were a lot of factors that played into that," Seaton says of the move to cans. "There aren't any mobile bottlers that come around here anymore so we're using a mobile canning line out of Chattanooga called Toucan. They're going to be coming down to the brewery, unloading their canning line, hooking up it up to our tanks and canning our beer for us, basically. And then the other major factor that played into moving to cans is that cans are the future of craft-beer. The packaging has become superior to bottles. There's zero oxygenation of the beer. There's zero infiltration of the beer. Beers with high hop content are going to last longer. The whole stigma from the early-90s is gone. (Cans are) just a great fit for us."

In addition to all those technical boons, canned beer is also legally permitted in many places bottles are traditionally not, including the beach, swimming pools and golf courses.

Old Black Bear turned to Seattle company Blind Tiger to design their cans' look, which features clean lines and crisp colors, including green, black and white hues for Cave City. Seaton says, "We were looking for something similar to the New Belgium cans or even the Back Forty cans - they're very easy to read and aesthetically pleasing to the eye."

Six-packs of 12-ounce Cave City will sell for about $9 - $10. The sixers will begin showing up at local retailers (including Star Market, Liquor Express, Wish You Were Beer, Kroger, Publix and Target) Thanksgiving weekend and the following week. Old Black Bear will package 9,400 cans of their Speckled Trout Wheat beer (4.8 percent ABV) on Dec. 9. Look for the Speckled Trout can sixers to hit stores around Dec. 12 or the week after. Cans of Roaming Bear Porter and Milepost 652 ESB are planned for a spring 2015 release.

A switch in packaging isn't the only major OBB development on the horizon. Seaton says the brewing company has finalized a lease on their downtown Madison location, 212 Main St., near Main Street Cafe, Bandito Burrito and Whistle Stop Candy Shop. "Our projected test batch is in December and opening close to March 1 is looking like it's on-track," Seaton says. In addition to brewing their own beer after working with Back Forty to do so since OBB debuted in February 2012, the new Old Black Bear Madison brewery will feature a taproom and food. OBB is bringing in chef Scott Altice, formerly of Grille 29 and Westin Huntsville, to helm the menu, the culinary focus of which is yet-to-be-determined.

In addition to Cave City, Old Black Bear formerly bottled Milepost 652. Now those have been discontinued, is Seaton saving a sixer or two of those bottles as mementos? "Yes, sir. They're at the house right now."

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