Thank you Married To The Sea for the perfect comic.

Beerpulse had previously announced label approval for 12 oz cans earlier this week, but it looks like New Belgium made it offiicial by posting the above photo to their Instagram feed.

I previously posted about Shift when it was first released in Las Vegas here. I mentioned in that article the benefits, and likely reasons, for having this beer being only available in a can, but I didn’t touch on the benefits or marketing reasons of it only being available in a 16 oz can. My guess, is that the new decision to make Shift also available in 12 oz cans was likely based on a different kind of demand than originally expected from the sole 16 oz cans of Shift.

In my mind, the 16 oz can was perfect. Firstly, it is much cheaper to manufacture only one version of a particular product. Second, at 5% alcohol, it is one of the lowest alcohol content beers that New Belgium makes year-round. Not only that, but is is one of the driest, crispest beers they make. Add in the fact that the increased hops compared to most lagers makes this one of the most flavorful, refreshing, craft beers available that isn’t too filling. The added 4 oz is well welcomed for this style of beer.

So what changed? My only assumption would be to make this beer available at a possibly more attractive price point. The 4 packs of Shift are usually available at around the same price as New Belgium’s year-round beers available in 6 packs. Assuming a 6 pack of 12 oz Shifts is also available at the same price point, consumers are able to purchase 8 more ounces of beer, but more importantly, the perception of 2 more beers than buying a 4 pack.

The only thing that I’m left still wondering, is whether the 16 oz cans will still be available. Given New Belgium’s size, and the variety of packaging available for their other year-round beers, I would assume it will still stick around, as the cost is probably not too substantial for them. Still, I loved the appeal of making a single beer available in only a single packaging format.

I just want to take a moment and point out how much I like Unita’s label artwork. I love the minimalistic look to them. Very few colors are used, the label is primarily two-toned between the background and the font colors. There is only a simple, single, two toned image in the center, and that’s it. It’s perfect.

And not only are the labels great, the beers are great too. Any of the below 12 oz bottles should be go-to session beers for all of you.

Uinta also has another set of beers available in cork finished 750 mL bottles, called their ‘Crooked Line’ beers. While these labels are not as clean cut and simple as the others beers, they do still have great artwork on them.

Uinta’s beers are available at the usual craft beer shops in town: Whole Foods, Khoury’s Fine Wine, and Total Wine.

Little known fact, the owner of Las Vegas’ Tenaya Creek Brewery, Tim Etter, got his start as a brewer at Uinta!

*all of the above images were taken from Uinta’s site.

I am pleased to announce that we have now created a space for ourselves on Facebook here.

Much like this site and our twitter account, our Facebook page is not just meant for us, but for all of you as well. Just like the sidebar on this site (desktop version only), and just like our twitter feed, if you post a craft beer picture on Instagram, and tag it #hookedonhops, it will be posted to a special #hookedonhops Facebook gallery for us all to comment on and enjoy together.

We know that not all of our followers use Twitter, so hopefully this allows will allow us to be more involved with all of you who have been following the site. Please, tell your friends to “Like” us and feel free to use our wall as a way to share your beer with the rest of us.

Enjoy

Best part: Do you like beer? No? Go to another blog that better suits your interests!

More info on the brand new Shift Lager that was just released today here.

This Facebook post from Mikkeller is worth a read. It is a great example of the biggest issue craft beer has. Many consumers simply do not fully understand all the different aspects of what makes something from a brewer like Mikkeller truly craft, and why it’s worth paying more for. To clarify, I do not believe that a beer education is needed to enjoy craft beer, but it prevents issues like these from arising. Even if the customer in this story understood bottle fermentation or filtration, they probably still wouldn’t have liked the beer, but maybe they’d have been less likely to have purchased this particular beer and wouldn’t have shut out purchasing again from a great brewer like Mikkeller.

This is one of the main reasons I started Hooked on Hops. I want everyone to understand, appreciate, and enjoy good quality beer. Part of being able to do this requires creating a culture where you can learn and experience beer from knowledgable individuals. In Las Vegas, I recommend you visit any of the local breweries (like Tenaya Creek or Big Dog’s) or a craft beer retailer (like Khoury’s Fine Wine or Aces & Ales). These are places that have a culture of craft beer and have knowledgable employees who can guide you to the best decision.

Mikkeller’s response is perfect. I like that they are honest enough to share this letter publicly to try to do something to change consumer perception.

From the Brewers Association:

Hopefully you’ve heard of Anchorage Brewing Company by now. This brewery is less than a year old and yet it has been recognized by Ratebeer as the top new brewery of the year. Each of their beers are consistently recognized as having high scores on both Ratebeer and Beer Advocate.

Embrace the Funk has a great interview with Anchorage founder, Gabe Fletcher. What I didn’t realize, is that he runs the entire company by himself, in some space he’s renting from another brewery. His methods for using wild yeasts, aging and blending are worth the read. For homebrewers, he provides the recipe for Anchorage Love Buzz Saison.

Read the interview here.

I am very excited to announce that we have finally launched version 2.0 of Hooked on Hops! In addition to the new look of the site, here are a few new features:

#hookedonhops – If you take any beer photos on Instagram, tag it #hookedonhops to see it here!

@hookedonhops – Twitter feed is now displayed as well, for those who are not following us on Twitter.

We also added some menu items. This is so relevant articles can be easily found, rather than being lost in the blog timeline:

Food – All posts related to beer and food will be here. Recipes, food pairings, restaurants and more.

Beerology – All the beer “how-to’s” and educational pieces here. All the homebrewing articles and “Science of Beer” articles can be found here.

Las Vegas – The topics vary quite a bit on this site, but we wanted to make sure that all the articles that are about local Las Vegas breweries, retailers and events can be easily found as well.

Special thanks to Danny Szeto (@gatr) for designing the new look!

Jim Koch talks about the paradox of popularity among the #craftbeer industryon our very first blog post! – cot.ag/xoNlvX

— Samuel Adams Beer (@SamuelAdamsBeer) January 20, 2012

Good post continuing on Sam Calagione’s Beer Advocate post and Armando’s recent article on craft beer and metal.