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"There have been a lot of different mini-innovations ... but never that important to craft beer," said Sly Fox brewmaster Brian O'Reilly. "(The new can) is different and interesting to people, but there's a real benefit because you can smell the beer ... it really allows you to appreciate the full character of the beer." Sly Fox still cans several of its beers in traditional aluminum cans and defends the polished package as a perfect fit for craft beer. Its website even has a page that encourages beer drinkers to "respect the cans because the cans respect the beer." The page lists the benefits of cans
-- portable, space-saving, faster-cooling, more light-resistant and super-recyclable
-- and debunks myths that the cans impart a metallic taste to beer, are unsophisticated and don't store as well as bottles. The can now used by Sly Fox was first debuted by Crown Holdings at the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa in 2010 as part of a partnership with SABMiller. While many of the innovations tout a better drinking experience, there is a marketing element to it, too. "What's next may be cool, it may be setting themselves apart. But there is a point where it becomes gimmicky and it loses its functionality and its form and its integrity," Thiel said. Sam Adams' Koch agrees: "If it doesn't make the beer taste better, then don't do it just to get noticed," he said. "The customer will reward you with more of their business if you give them a better tasting product than their alternatives."
[Associated
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