Left Hand Brewing finally yields to the aluminium can

Left Hand Brewing Co. is finally cracking into aluminium beverage cans. In anticipation of releasing its first batch of canned beers this year, the venerable Longmont craft brewery has broken ground on a canning facility and has filed label art paperwork with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, Left Hand spokeswoman Emily Armstrong said.

“We’re humbled; we’ve been so fortunate to have success with our Nitro series,” she said. “We’re glad to have this additional opportunity that we had the means to bring Left Hand cans to reality.”

If all goes as planned, the first Left Hand beverage cans — Extrovert IPO, Fade to Black export stout and Milk Stout — could hit shelves this year, she said.

Left Hand beer in aluminium cans was a long time coming, but the delay was intentional.

A few years back, when brewers such as Longmont’s Oskar Blues Brewery did their part in kicking off the canned craft beer craze, Left Hand held steady. Left Hand wanted to conduct its due diligence, Armstrong said.

Since its founding in 1993, the glass bottle had been the container of choice for Left Hand.

Concerns remained heightened about the health risks of Bisphenol A, a chemical in plastics, resins and epoxy linings of aluminum cans. Left Hand officials sought out consumer products studies and peer reviews to address and alleviate their own questions.

Left Hand produced 82,000 barrels of beer in 2015, and the brewery plans to sell its beer in bottles and cans.