Boondie bounds into Boston's beer cans

Twelve months ago, judges at the South West Craft Beer Festival told Boston Brewing Co’s Tyson Addy his Rye Pale Ale was so good it needed bottling.

So he did. At least the company's brewer put the beer into cans.

Unfortunately, and what is the way of many a small, independent operation, the time it took to arrange a line to package the beers from the Denmark-based brewhouse was longer than expected.

So there is a sense of irony that the first three cans in the Boston stable will debut at this year’s SWCBF 2017 in Busselton on Saturday.

But Addy and the entire crew can be glad of the wait because the results are spectacular.

With the help of the Zendoke designer team, who also worked with Nail Brewing on its recent entry into cans, Boston has created eye catchers for the buyer – such an important element in crowded beer shelf space.

It is significant the industry is recognising the keys to good branding with a packaging awards at the Australian International Beer Awards this May.

The result for Boston’s Rye Pale Ale is a new character called Boondie, after whom the beer is named. Boondie is cuter than Dumbo and is set to take on a life of its own once the cans hit drinkers’ hands.

“Boondie represents those elephant rocks found around our Denmark area,” said Addy. “When we went for cans we wanted them to reflect the region.

“And cans are so much better than bottles because you have the whole label to work with rather than just a small section as per bottles. We’re stoked with the results of the cans.

“I was happy to get Boondie into a can because it will travel well and fits a nice space in the market. It is nice to have a bit of rye around again.

”Boondie is a US style Pale Ale with citrus and passionate coming through after a strong aroma.”

Apart from Boondie, Boston Brewery have also canned its malty The Right Nut Brown Ale and Tingletop Ginger Beer.

Addy had hoped to have the canning line running by October but it wasn’t fully functional until last week.

The three cans will be available at SWCBF 2017 as will a Raspberry Gose, Hefeweizen and Rauchbier.

There is also a new website for Boston after being nestled in the Willoughby Park digital media plan.