I love me a big boozy beer, something I can really feel as its alcoholic heat flows through my lips, coats the inside of my mouth, and leaves a slight burn making its way down my throat. The warmth is as welcoming on a cold winter night as it is on a balmy summer day. What I don’t always love is big boozy beers being packaged in big intimidating bottles. While some situations are appropriate for having a large format bottle e.g. sharing the bottle or really wanting to get tanked, it is typically the case where a smaller amount of big beer is more welcome. If a beer is good, I really prefer to not invoke the art of drain pouring, so a reasonable size for the beer is ideal.
Cue the 8 oz can. First pioneered as a stupid way to drink stupid beer – Bud Light or other similar macro swill (or perhaps even Coca Cola I don’t know I didn’t research this) – craft breweries have begun to embrace this diminutive format as a more reasonable means to consume high ABV brews. Instead of opening 16+ oz of a 12%+ stout I will struggle to finish, half of that quantity awaits me, making for a much more manageable drinking experience. I can confidently and without guilt finish what I started without worrying about either waste or overt intoxication.
While I would like to see more of the small can, I have only yet had Western Justice from Westbound & Down in this format. An absolutely delightful 14% barrel aged stout in its own right, the fact that I can easily consume the entire contents of the package in one sitting elevates the drinking experience to an enlightened level of relaxation. No fretting of being overserved. No wasting perfectly good alcohol. No guilt. Just 8 oz of pure deliciousness drank at my own pace.
This article serves as a plea to all breweries making big boozy beers. Please start packaging these behemoths in tiny cans. I vastly prefer this as a consumer, and I’m sure you can charge a premium for this as a business looking to stay solvent. It’s a win-win for everyone. Help us drunkards not looking to waste and just wanting to enjoy a beverage to its fullest extent.
