Mission Brewery fires "cannons"

Ever had two empty pint glasses in your hand and thought to yourself: If only there was a way to fill these without having to go to the trouble of opening two beers. OK, probably not, but there is now a solution to this non-existent problem—the “cannon.” No, it’s not a form of armament. It’s a way for a beer drinker to arm themselves with enough suds to fill two 16-ounce pint glasses in one handy-dandy can…or cannon.

Local craft brewing company Mission Brewery (1441 L Street, East Village) debuted their new 32-ounce cans at last week’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The first two varieties of its beers to be packaged in the cannons are Shipwrecked Double IPA and El Conquistador Extra Pale Ale.

Thirty-two ounces of beer at a clip is still less than forties of lesser malt liquor, but it’s the largest single-serving packaging format employed by a craft brewery. Other large formats that have been employed are one-, two-, and three-liter bottles, keg cans and, of course, traditional kegs. But those are for serving many at a time.

Demand for a quart of beer in a single receptacle remains to be identified, but when it comes to beer, it’s better to have too much than not enough.