Paradise Creek Brewery cans beer to distribute, sell

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Courtesy of Tom Handy

The popular Over The Hop IPA beer goes through the canning machine. Canned beer is sold in six-packs for $9.99.

LATISHA JENSEN, Evergreen life editor

Tom Handy, owner of Paradise Creek Brewery, decided to start canning beer about a year ago to follow the trend of other craft brewers.

Although it costs more to can beers than to sell them in bottles, the aluminum is more environmentally sound because glass is not guaranteed to get recycled, Handy said.

Cans are also more portable and less breakable than glass, especially because glass is not allowed in certain public areas, he said.

Cans protect beer from light damage even more than dark brown bottles, Handy said. The light exposure causes a change in taste.

To start, the brewery will sell three types of beer in cans, but he said he plans on canning them all over time.

The beers they will can are Huckleberry Pucker, which is a sour beer, Over The Hop IPA and MooJoe Coffee Milk Stout, he said.

These canned beers are sold in a six-pack for $9.99 at the Paradise Creek restaurant.Today, cases are being shipped all across the west side of the state first, Handy said. They will be sold at major retailers like Whole Foods, as well as multiple independent businesses.

Reporting by Latisha Jensen