Scot Blair, properietor of Hamilton’s Tavern, Small Bar, Eleven and Monkey Paw Pub and Brewery just sent an email over with some exciting news: three Monkey Paw beers are coming to 16 oz cans next month, a first for a San Diego brewery.
So where has Monkey Paw been hiding this canning line? Turns out these days a brewery doesn’t need their own equipment to get their beer in cans. No we’re not talking contract brewing/packaging here, Monkey Paw will be recruiting the help of The Can Van, a San Fran bay area mobile canning service. During the Craft Brewers Conference early next month Monkey Paw will be canning ten barrels each of Oatmeal Pale Ale, Sweet Georgia Brown and Rich Man’s IIPA which turns out to be 100 cases of 16oz cans.
Will The Can Van be back in the future? That’s uncertain, but Blair doesn’t want this to be a one time deal, he’s dedicated to finding a way to continue packaging Monkey Paw’s beers, “How will I sustain it and what is the next step (my own canning line, etc) is all undecided as we’ve been flying by the seat of our pants but clearly, I don’t want it to be a one hit wonder so I will continue to push forward with my original plans as we look at our predefined goal but suffice to say ‘Brewed and Canned in San Diego, CA’ will be a fact that we will have the privilege to say in a couple weeks..”
The can artwork hasn’t received final approval from the governmental powers that be yet, but here’s an early look at the Rich Man’s IIPA.
Updated to add Sweet Georgia Brown and Oatmeal Pale Ale artwork.
San Diego Beer Blog 