A tailgate-friendly craft beer for every NFL city

When glass hits pavement it tends to shatter. The moral: Don’t tailgate with bottled beer.

In the early days of micro and craft brewing, canned beer had a bad reputation; beer-geek approval meant bottles. But over the past decade or so, the craft-beer contingent has fully embraced aluminum. Cans keep beer fresher by shutting out light and oxygen, both of which can skunk a beer. They're more portable than bottles and easier to produce, transport and recycle. And real or perceived, there’s a humility to canned beer that just seems more appropriate in certain settings, especially a football game.

The NFL season kicked off Sept. 5. If you’re after the convenience of cans with a bit more attention to flavor and locality, just about every football fan has options. With the exception of one beer-starved region, I’ve paired a local canned craft beer with each NFL team. Fortunately, no expansion teams started up this year – there’s no room left in my fridge.

Text by Bret Stetka | Photo editing by Mike Hipple