Whiskey in the Jar Can

There are a few names widely associated with innovation and special practices in beer. Fritz Maytag of San Francisco's Anchor Brewery, is generally accepted as the father of modern microbrewing. Pierre Celis almost single-handedly revitalized the Belgian style of Wit beer with Hoegaarden. Hell, I'll even throw Jim Koch on the pile for good measure, due to his doggedness in getting craftbeer distributed as widely as it is today. But now we're on the cusp of seeing another name join those beery ranks, but not necessarily because of beer, or rather only beer. In the U.S, we've seen beer and soda canned for 75 years, but Dale Katechis, canned beer revivalist and owner of Oskar Blues Brewery, has now set his sites on new liquid to be wrapped up in aluminum—whiskey.

That's right, Katechis is going to not only open a distillery in his original Longmont, Colorado brewery, but also, can rather than bottle the potent spirit in, get this, a "resealable" can. The plan is to distill the whiskey from spent brewing brewing grain and age it in oak barrels, before encapsulating the amber liquid. Along with the whiskey, Katschis also plans to make and can a tequila-like drink, made from agave, as well as rootbeer. Katschis told Tony Kindelspire, of the Longmont Times-Call, he has ordered a few stills and is going to experiment with them and "Play around with it — kind of like the way we do with special-batch beers."

Small-batch, craft whiskey, from a can. I gotta say, I didn't think I'd ever have the opportunity to type those seven words.