UPDATE 6/30/22: You’re as sick about hearing about “supply chain issues” as we are, but sourcing printed aluminum cans continues to be a challenge across the independent craft beer industry. Your Furious will occasionally be an unused Xtra can with an adhesive Furious sleeve on it. For recycling purposes, please peel off the sleeve before putting the can in the correct bin. And please recycle. We need the cans. Yeah it’s good for the environment, but really, cans.
As a craft beer enthusiast, you’re likely aware of the aluminum can shortage our industry faces.
(If not, here’s the nickel version: Pandemic leads to people drinking beer at home from cans instead of at bars from glasses. People drinking beer at home buy in bulk, depleting the supply faster. Same thing happens at the same time for soft drinks. Producers can’t make cans fast enough for everything from Diet Coke to Furious.)
Surly is fortunate to have an interim solution available. We have a warehouse full of cans for brands that changed looks, were overstocked, or retired. Usually we’d pay for them to be recycled, a significant expense in a year when nobody bought kegs for nine months. Now, we can take these old cans, wrap them in a pre-printed sleeve (or cantyhose, if you’d rather) with the new branding, and send them to market for you to enjoy.
Sound as a pound, except for one small thing.
As is the case when jamming human legs into thin fabric sleeves, some cantyhose fit better than others.
Most fit great! For example, the new Darkness variants and Moving Pictures Juicy IPA cans couldn’t look more seamless. However, some fit less “comfortably.” It’s like you bought an opaque pair online only to discover they’re transparent. It’s not what you ordered, but to be honest, shipping is sort of a nightmare right now so you just wear them anyway.
Surly’s official statement on this matter is “F*ck it, let’s drink.” It’s already been a long year; if the worst thing that happens to us in 2021 is an occasional run of less-than-ideal beer cans, we’ll take it every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
The product inside is fantastic. Pour it into a pint glass, marvel at its true beauty, and congratulate yourself on re-enacting “She’s All That” in your own kitchen with an independent, locally produced craft beer.
Current forecasts say this situation will continue for most of 2021. It’s not great, but only start worrying if you see Furious in Ziploc bags.
