First craft beer in cans a knockout in Northern Ireland
KnockOut Brewery has become the first craft brewer in Northern Ireland to launch a beer in cans.
The craft brewery, founded by Joseph McMullan in Belfast in 2014, has launched 'Southpaw' (ABV4.5%), a newly developed IPA for the 330ml cans, which also feature the company's new branding. The cans join an existing portfolio of four bottle conditioned beers which are being distributed in Northern Ireland by Anzac Wines and Spirits in Northern Ireland.
Mr McMullan, commenting on the new Southpaw cans, says: "I decided to look towards cans because of the many advantages of this format particularly in terms of taste and logistics. Cans, for instance, are much easier to transport and will be beneficial as I seek to develop sales especially in the Republic of Ireland.
He describes the new Southpaw beer as being "heavily hopped" using hops from the US, Slovenia and Australia. "It has a very refreshing and grapefruity flavour", he continues.
"Cans have also been shown to support a beer's flavour profile better because bottles still allow some light exposure which is harmful to beer. Even brown glass doesn't exclude 100 per cent of light whereas cans do.
"Oxygen can also impact the flavour of the beer in crown topped bottles. Properly seamed cans have been shown to be better at preventing exposure to oxygen," he adds.
He adds that cans are environmentally friendly because they require less fuel to transport when compared to bottles, and therefore leave a smaller carbon footprint. Aluminium is also easier to recycle than glass.
Research showed that an aluminium can is made from 68 per cent recycled material and requires 96 per cent less energy to produce. The reduction for recycled glass is only 26.5 per cent. This means that the energy required to produce the typical can is substantially less than the typical glass bottle.
He turned to Irish Craft Canning (ICC) in Mullingar in county Westmeath in the Republic to provide a mobile canning service for the new beer.
"Irish Craft Canning was excellent. The company came to the brewery and set up a mobile canning line featuring our new branding in the packaging," he adds.
He chose the KnockOut as the company identity and brand to reflect Belfast's boxing traditions showcased by champions such as Barry McGuigan and Carl Frampton.
KnockOut has developed four beers and is working on a Middleweight IPA (ABV 4.5%) and an IPA Red Ale (ABV 4.5%). The IPA has a light citrus taste from its New Zealand and Slovenian hops, while the Red Ale has a caramel aroma from American hops. The small brewery has a 2,000 litre capacity.