FAIRBANKS - Microbreweries have always led the way in challenging brewing norms, be it crazy beer styles or flashy labels. More recently, the microbrew revolution has been shifting away from the bottle and into the can.

There are many advantages to using cans. First and foremost is that beer quality remains higher because a can is truly airtight and isn’t exposed to light, which, when entering a bottle can affect the beer (that’s why green bottle beers like Moosehead or Rolling Rock have that “skunky” essence).

Another great advantage to cans is the portability, as Susan Osborne, owner of Gold Hill Imported Beers and Fine Wines, pointed out as she graciously provided the samples reviewed here. Cans are lighter than bottles and travel better into the wilderness for hikes, berry picking and hunting. Cans also work great when floating down a river and will float should a boat flip. (One might lose a lot of gear, but I hope not the beer.) And aluminum can be recycled in Fairbanks, another bonus.

Naturally, suspicion remains about canned beer tasting “canny.” Those days passed eons ago, and now aluminum cans have an inner liner preventing the beer from contacting the metal surface. Again, this equates to the freshest product possible.

Here are a few worth checking out. A couple of these companies, like Oscar Blues and 21st Amendment Brewing, only can beer.

Anyone who has ever been to England and had the pleasure of a hand-pulled cask ale will appreciate Old Speckled Hen, a pub-style draft beer produced by Morland Brewery in Oxfordshire. The beer pours with a reddish hue and frothy head and, though the aroma is lightly malty and mildly hoppy, the taste is immediately recognizable as the quintessentially English draft ale. That’s not an easy thing to replicate in a can — and many other companies try — but where they fail, this one succeeds. The rich flavor of malt against a light hop zing and dry finish make this a rewarding drink.

As a side note: The beer was originally named for a paint-speckled MG car that was used as a runaround for workers at the MG factory.

As mentioned, 21st Amendment Brewing cans its beer exclusively. And like the Hell and High Watermelon recently reviewed in the column, the Back in Black IPA is also an unexpected winner. Most IPAs come across as over-hopped pale ales. Back in Black, however, is balanced, with a present malt overtone — including some Munich de-bittered black malt, which provides the black-as-night color — and a decent helping of Columbus, simcoe and centennial hops. Yet this is a refreshing beer that isn’t controlled by hops, which is very nice.

Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen is a newer addition to the canned beer market, already found in 22-ounce bottles and on tap. Nothing is lost in the can. This golden-colored wheat is unfiltered and hazy, providing an earthy overtone that filtered wheat beers struggle to obtain. Grassy and lemon overtones with a hint of spiciness complete the rather mellow, easy drinking flavor profile. Certainly a fine beer for a hot day.

The Gubna Imperial IPA comes from Oscar Blues Brewery in Colorado and like Dale’s Pale Ale, previously reviewed here, is a finely balanced beer. As an imperial (read: stronger) style, all the ingredients and corresponding intensity has been increased. In some imperial IPAs I’ve tasted, that seemed to mean more and more hops. Not here.

First, Gubna is an English-style IPA, which, unlike its American counterparts, is less beholden to hop overload. Instead, the malt (three are used) is in the forefront of this amber-colored brew. Citrus elements fill the nose off the pour, and the beer is almost sticky, with a lingering sweetness and lightly spicy notes. Even at 100 IBUs (International bittering units), the balance is masterful, and essence of grapefruit and earth slip through. The 10 percent alcohol by volume makes this a strong beer, and there is a little back of the throat warmth that comes with it.

And it’s all in a can? That’ll do just fine, thank you, guv’na.

Features editor Glenn BurnSilver is the former associate editor at Brew Your Own magazine, where he still contributes timely articles on beer and the making of beer. Contact him at 459-7510.