Project “Bunker Hill” Bringing Cans To Samuel Adams in Summer 2013

We’ve heard for a long time that Jim Koch from Samuel Adams was not likely to start canning his beers, at least not until he  and his team (codenamed Project Bunker Hill) found just the right packaging.  The mock up above shows the Samuel Adams can on the right and we get the details from Boston.com:

The quest for a better can took the Bunker Hill team to a plastic coffee lid collector in New York, a museum of beer cans in a Taunton basement, and tailgating parties at Gillette Stadium. The two-year effort cost more than $1 million, including the hiring of a renowned design firm and professional beer consultants, as well as the purchase of expensive canning equipment. Now, Koch is finally ready to release his precious Boston lager in a patent-pending can he claims is superior to the regular metal vessel most people drink from…

The big discovery: Conventional cans don’t allow enough air into people’s mouths as they drink. Turns out, much of what consumers believe they taste is actually smell — that’s why food tastes so bland when people are congested. Increasing exposure to the beer’s aromas of hops and fruit can make a big difference in taste, said Roy Desrochers, a professional beer taster at GEI Consultants in Woburn…

So the team began looking for ways to improve air flow. Over several months, IDEO proposed dozens of designs and created eight prototypes that expanded the size and shape of the can’s opening. Larger apertures — one shaped like a bell, another like a peanut — were supposed to enhance the air flow and access to aromas. The most promising idea, according to Koch, was a design that allowed drinkers to tear off the entire top…

And with that definitive stamp of approval, Bunker Hill is headed to market. New canning equipment has been ordered, and the plans are to roll out cans of Sam’s Boston lager and Summer Ale in time for beach-cooler weather.

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