The one thing about the disruption of glass bottles supply is that cans are now making a comeback, and Ontario beer drinkers are happy with that.

Forked River Brewing Company in London, ON, sells its beer in cans and owner David Reed says the once looked-down-upon can drinker has resorted to enjoying their brews this way, mainly due to the glass shortage and hiked prices. The other selling point as an owner is that cans take up less space on the shelves.

“There’s been a shift in consumer acceptance of cans. It was to the point where grocery stores wouldn’t take your product if it was in a bottle,” said Reed.

Reed opened his brewery nearly a decade ago, and he can recount how glass prices have steadily increased, which is why Forked River switched to cans a few years ago.

“Definitely we’ve seen the prices in glass bottles go up 70 percent in the last four or five years,” said Reed. “We’ve really pivoted to cans,” he said. “We have a bottling line here that basically collects dust because we’ve moved to mostly cans.”

David Reed, owner of Forked River Brewing Company in London, Ont., says he switched to can a few years ago amid soaring glass prices. (Supplied by David Reed)

Reed has also decided to get rid of his growlers, too.

“The current trend toward cans in Ontario wasn’t actually driven by breweries or even consumer choices,” said London-based beer writer Ben Johnson.

“The truth is that the LCBO [Liquor Control Board of Ontario] prefers cans because they are easier to stock, stack and shelve,” he said. “Brewers converted to cans to increase the odds the LCBO would list their product so they might actually be able to sell more.”

According to both Johnson and Reed, cans are safer to transport, fully recyclable and don’t break. And as far as taste for the consumer goes, they have better liners to protect the taste of the beer, and have better airtight seal than bottles.

“The two main enemies of beer are air and light,” he said. “Beer in cans is much better protected from the things that can oxidize your beer or make it taste skunky.”

Photos courtesy of David Reed