Craft Beer is Getting Craftier: Why Cans May Be Better Than Bottles

You wouldn't normally associate fine wine with a cardboard box, and it's similarly hard to imagine great beer coming from a can. But it might be time to change how you think about your brew. READ: Boxed Wine Disguised as a Purse: Brilliant or Bizarre? "Craft beer in cans is through the roof," says Adrian Perez, a manager at L&F Distributors in Texas. "It's the new want and need. Environmental, fresh, and in demand." As Perez explains, there are a number of advantages when it comes to canned beer for both consumers and brewers. "They get cold very, very fast. And the can blocks out the light completely, as opposed to a bottle," he says. Moreover, cans can go where glass bottles sometimes can't, like pools or public parks. In fact, many top breweries are already embracing the trend, including Goose Island, Saison, Magic Hat and Six Point, which distributes its beers exclusively in cans. READ: 11 Strange Beers You'll Actually Want to Try The most important question — however — is if canned craft brew is as good as its bottled counterpart. "For the most part, the tastes are 100 percent the same," claims FOX News Channel's Patrick Manning, who had a chance to sample several of the beers. "There's no difference in the brewing process; what goes into the bottle is also going into the can." But will pickier beer drinkers will feel the same way? "Just like a book, you can't judge a beer by its cover," says Paul Fierro, a beer enthusiast and owner of Primo's Craft Brews in El Paso. "It's what's inside that matters."