(Portsmouth, NH and Woodlinville, WA) – Another major regional brewery plans to bring its beer to cans next year.

A source close to Redhook Ale Brewery informed me that the brewery is planning to can Copperhook Spring Ale at its Washington brewery beginning around March 2011. The cans will be distributed nationwide.

Early this year, the brewery announced that Copperhook will be available year-round in bottles going forward though I haven’t been told whether the same will be true for the cans. Will other beers in the portfolio follow Copperhook to cans? Expect to see more news on this in the coming months.

This will make Redhook one of the largest breweries in the USA offering its beers in cans. The brewery sold approximately 184,000 barrels of beer last year according to the Craft Brewers Alliance annual report. Of the top 10 U.S. regional breweries (which exclude AB-InBev, etc.), Boston Beer Co., Sierra Nevada and fellow CBA member, Widmer Brothers, are the only ones not to join the can movement yet (note: not counting mini-kegs a.k.a. big cans).

In other brewery news, Eisbock 28 and Treblehook Barleywine just hit shelves over the past couple weeks on a limited basis. Winterhook is also beginning to roll out to stores now as the brewery’s returning seasonal.