Old Chicago's latest Mini Tour is a canny beer move

Canned craft beers have surged in popularity so much this summer that Old Chicago is running its latest Mini Tour based solely on aluminum. Each of the Colorado-based restaurant chain's 97 locations, spread throughout 22 states across the country, is featuring an interesting mix of eight canned beers...

By Jonathan Shikes

August 15, 2011

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Canned craft beers have surged in popularity so much this summer that Old Chicago is running its latest Mini Tour based solely on aluminum. Each of the Colorado-based restaurant chain's 97 locations, spread throughout 22 states across the country, is featuring an interesting mix of eight canned beers.

Four are mass market and import beers -- PBR tallboys, Heineken, Shock Top and Foster's oil cans -- and four are local craft beers that vary depending on location.

"There's a lot of Mama's Little Yella Pils and Old Chub, a lot of White Rascal," says Old Chicago beverage director Mark Newman about the beers made by Oskar Blues and Avery, respectively. There are also a lot of Ska beers.

"Its summer, and we thought it was a good time of the year to do this," Newman says, adding that the theme was suggested by Facebook fans. "We wanted the stores to be able to explore some of the new canned beers that are coming out in the market."

The Canned Mini Tour runs through August 21. As with Old Chicago's other Mini Tours, anyone who drinks all eight beers gets a T-shirt -- this one with a canned-beer graphic.

Follow Westword's Beer Man on Twitter at @ColoBeerMan

and on Facebook at Colo BeerMan.

Jonathan Shikes is a Denver native who writes about business and beer for Westword.

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