Wicked good beer in cans for the summertime. No, really!

Well, believe it or not, summertime has finally made its grand entrance here in Boston. So now we're all fixin' to hit beach, or go camping, or to have a nice cookout with friends and family. If you're like me, you may want to enjoy some good beer in moderation with these fun activities but don't want to be hassled with the breakability and heft of glass bottles in your coolers, travels and/or exploits. Hey, glass may even be prohibited at a lot of beaches, campsites and parks. You may say to yourself, "OK, I'll try to stick to canned beer..." but the first thing a lot of people think of when considering beer in cans is mass-market, industrial strength adjunct-laden fare that we all (OK, some of us) drank at Quarter Draft nights in college. I'm not the first one by any means to say this, but bucker up, little camper! There's hope!

There is a great deal of excellent beer in cans being produced by small craft brewers throughout the country these days. Some of my personal faves (with links to write-ups I've done in the past on BeerAdvocate):

Oskar Blues
Oskar Blues in Lyons, Colorado makes Dale's Pale Ale, Old Chub Scottish Style Ale and recently started canning their Mamma's Little Yella Pils. All are great fare for the outdoors...Dale's is a great, refreshing, hoppy all-purpose pale ale that can provide a good spot start in just about any situation. Old Chub's smokiness makes it a prime candidate to pair up with stuff off the grill or a campfire. Mamma's is an easy-drinking Pilsener that's extremely smooth, and just a hair over 5% ABV. If you want a nightcap, there's always Gordon, their excellent imperial IPA...or the treat that is the great Ten FIDY. FIDY pours like spent motor oil to the uninitiated but coats the palate with deep, dark roasted malts and huge hoppiness and viscosity. OB is probably one of the first outfits a lot of the craft beer crowd thinks of when considering great beer of the canned variety. It definitely makes it to Boston and quite a few other pockets of the country.

Butternuts Beer & Ale
The blokes at Butternuts Beer & Ale brew their stuff out of a barn deep in rural Central New York in a town called Garratsville in the 607. It's also about 30 miles from where I went to high school (Sherburne-Earlville, class of 1986). In addition to having hysterical labels that even include the calorie count (most in the 150 range - not too bad at all!), they brew some solid beer.
Heinnieweisse is an easy-drinking, great, straightforward Hefeweizen that is nicely carbonated and gives off a fair amount of those banana esters that we know and love from the Hefeweizen yeast strains. Porkslap Pale Ale is more of a traditional "old school" pale ale that provides a solid malt backbone with enough hoppiness to keep it interesting. Then there's Snapperhead IPA, which to me is more of an English IPA than American IPA - again, more maltiness than today's ultra-hoppy IPAs, but still very solid. For something in the deeper and darker category, check out Moo Thunder Stout for a dry and sessionable stout. Not sure of their availability outside of the Northeast but they're definitely worthy of a spot in your cooler.

Surly
If I lived in Minnesota, I'd have stuff from Surly Brewing in my fridge and cooler all year-round. Furious is one of my favorite IPAs. The citrus hop bite oozes grapefruit (especially when fresh), yet it's still extremely well-balanced and an utmost pleasure to drink. The first time I tried one of these I poured it into a Reidel Vinum Cabernet Sauvignon glass to get as much of the aroma as possible, and it didn't disappoint. CynicAle adds a little bit of Belgian, Saison-style spunk to the mix, which goes perfectly with warm weather. Again, I'm pretty sure their canned offerings are only available in Minnesota, but if you have access, they're a sure thing.

There are quite a few more canned craft brew offerings out there (even Brooklyn Lager is available in cans now, with pretty wide distribution). A lot of them have regional distribution, such as Southern Star's Pine Belt Pale Ale in Texas and New England Brewing stuff from Connecticut, but there's a very good chance that at least some of them are available where you are. Almost forgot Coconut Porter from Maui Brewing Company, who also has a nice note on the positives of cans. So there's no need to trade down just to pour it from the can! Snag one or more of these fine offerings and (in moderation) enjoy!