The return of the Borrellegends

From time to time, I get hit by a wave of melancholy - and nostalgia - back to the golden age of the IPO borrels. The many scattered bottle of beer, the numerous glass shards on the floor, the anxiety of using a clean dustpan and tin to clean the wet sharp mess all up again. Of course, the life of an Intermate member was not always structured, and the number of alcoholic refreshments consumed on a Thursday afternoon was left unidentified, but there was always one element you could count on. Innovation? That was what you studied. The bar? That was always the same trustworthy, conservative and holy piece of territory on campus. But, just as a train delay from the NS, there was something inevitable on the horizon, which we as Intermaten would have to accept with bitter reluctance. This was how, after the move to Atlas, we got to know our next borrel legend: the beer can.

Of course, you might be a bit surprised. How can a can fill the large footsteps of the Orval, the Taras Boulba, and La Chouffe and be the next borrel legend? In this article, I will give you, as blessed readers, some background information for how this transformation could have ever happened.

Firstly, we start off with a tiny historic issue, being that the first beers were brewed from around 3500 BC, whilst the first aluminum beverage can was manufactured in 1963 by a diet cola company with the name “Slenderalla”. Not only did the name “Slenderella” put the can at a major marketing disadvantage, but the can also came about a mere 5500 years too late, giving glass, kegs, and pottery a nice head start to establish themselves as wonderful hosts for beer.

Thanks to the can, every can of Schultenbräu has the opportunity to lie safely in the storage of the ALDI

But, the can had nothing to worry about, because they did not come to the packing war unprepared! The aluminum drinking can came with a great set of advantages, leading them to produce a nice 370 billion of new cans globally for a reason. Firstly, the material. Aluminum is the most abundant metal on earth and takes up 7% of the Earth’s crust. Moreover, the material is relatively easily recyclable, weights up to nothing, and has non-rusting properties too! Secondly, and most importantly, the quality of the beer. Thanks to the can, every can of Schultenbräu has the opportunity to lie safely in the storage of the ALDI, without coming into contact with light, nor oxygen. (The natural predators for good beer). The final advantage, is one for our long beard, red woodchoppers vest wearing hipsters. This is because the aluminum can tends to be extremely suitable alternative for hip, cheap and fast packaging. All the colors you’d ever dream of, can now easily fit onto one can, and if you’re fed up with the design, you just start molding new ones. And for the ones who can still not let go of the glass bottle ‘touch’, please just check out the Cabottle^TM!

This is why, after, the impressive battle, the aluminum beer can seems to be winning the craft beer packaging match and is carefully selected as next Borrellegend. Keep your eyes out for the cansduring the borrels , and I guess we now have finally learnt the true essence of life, that Thee kan, Koffie kan, en Beer can.