Microbrewery gets fresh with graphically spectacular aluminum cans

 With the help of its ad agency, Woods Witt Dealy & Sons (www.woodswittdealy.com), Butternuts Beer & Ale recently launched two 15-sec spots for the Jumbotron screens in Times Square, which ask the question: What self-respecting microbrewery would put their beer in a can? According to Butternuts Beer & Ale owner Chuck Williamson, the answer is a beer company that cares about quality.

Addressing the impression that the bottle is a distinguishing characteristic of quality beer, Woods Witt Dealy & Sons partner and creative director Harry Woods remarks, “It's a total myth. Chuck explained to us that it's almost the opposite. Beer can break down from exposure to light. Most beer bottles aren't clear; they are tan or green. Cans transmit no light to the beer, and the lined aluminum cans impart no flavor to the beer.” 

Williamson adds: “Cans are hermetically sealed, which prevents oxygen pickup over the shelf life of the beer. Bottles only have a gasket seal, which is the final seal after the cap is crimped.”

The canned beer also fits in with Butternuts' marketing strategy, which emphasizes making good beer approachable to the general public. Woods explains, “Chuck's the first guy who has made a great craft beer that still has more of a regular-beer personality.” This is evident in the beer descriptions on the brewery's website, www.butternutsbeerandale.com. Ball Corp. (www.ball.com) makes and prints the cans for Butternuts, which purchases them 190,000 at a time from Cask Brewing Systems Inc. (www.cask.com). Cask also supplies Butternuts with a five-head, semi-automatic canning system, which the micro-brewery runs at an average speed of 60 cases/hr. Two days a week, Butternuts bottles 400 cases/day of its farmhouse ales for bars, convenience stores and supermarkets in the regional market surrounding its Garratsville, NY, brewery. In Sept. 2007, the company launched a variety 12-pack designed by Woods Witt Dealy & Sons partner and creative director Gill Witt to introduce supermarket shoppers to the beers. The 12-packs contain three cans each of the farmhouse ales and retail for $13.99 to $15.99.