Churchkey can returns

US-based Churchkey Can Company has relaunched the flat top steel beer can after joining forces with Ball Corporation.

The flat top can, which must be opened with a tool called a churchkey, was first inroduced in 1935. It remained standard until the pull-tab came to market in the mid 1960s. This is the first time the tinplate can has been available in almost 50 years.

The US craft beer brewer was co-founded by Portland-based Justin Hawkins and actor Adrian Grenier. Churchkey’s handcrafted Pilsner-style beer is being packaged in the three-piece cans, which are produced by Ball.

“It’s about the joy of drinking good beer – from the people you drink it with, to where you drink it, and with this unique package, how you open it,” says Hawkins, Churchkey’s co-founder and creative director. “We didn’t make these traditions, but are keeping them alive with Churchkey.”

According to the company, a churchkey is the opener used to open a flat top beer can. It’s called a churchkey for several reasons. The original openers used on bottles looked similar to large old fashion keys used by monks to open churches, as well as keep the beer they brewed safe. The name was then adopted to all tools used to open beer.

“Increasingly, beer drinkers are learning that cracking open a craft beer in a Ball can – whether in an aluminum or steel can – is like tapping a fresh keg, you get exactly what you expected,” adds Gary Woeste, vice president, sales and marketing, for Ball’s metal food and household products packaging division, Americas. “With the can’s many advantages, including freshness, portability, high recycling rates, brand building graphics and beneficial economics to name just a few, craft brewers and consumers continue to choose cans.”

The cans can currently only be purchased in the Seattle and Portland areas.