Happy Canned Craft Beer Day

..or Beer Can Appreciation Day, or whatever you'd like to call it. Either way, today's beer holiday marks the 77th anniversary of the first day that beer was sold in cans. On January 24th, 1935, Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company began distributing Krueger's Finest Beer to the public, and the canned beer revolution has snowballed since.

Fortunately for those of who prefer craft beer, a similar snowball has been seen over the past couple years when it comes to craft breweries offering their product in cans. There are currently 159 breweries and 481 beers in the CraftCans.com database, and those numbers continue to grow as more breweries recognize the multiple benefits of canning.

While we certainly don't have 481 canned craft beers available to us here in Kansas City, we still have a nice variety of options to choose from. Perhaps you could celebrate by drinking semi-locally and snagging a 4-pack of Velvet Rooster or Buffalo Sweat from Tallgrass. Modus Hoperandi from Ska is always a solid option. People sometimes forget that Avery now offers their IPA, White Rascal and Joe's Pilsner in cans. And Caldera Brewing (only available on the MO side) is often overlooked, but offers up a great canned IPA.

Plus, we can celebrate the fact that we have more cans to look forward to in the near future, as Bell's Brewery, Abita Brewing and Sierra Nevada will all be offering canned options starting in 2012.

I'll gladly crack open a couple pulltabs tonight in appreciation of the fact that I have canned beer available to me that is something other than an American light adjunct lager. I suggest you all do the same, because after all, who doesn't want to make a toast to a nice set of cans?