In the world of the beer geek “need” is a funny thing. Take this 12-pack of Founders All Day IPA I bought this week.

It’s not like I have a shortage of beer at home. If I had walked out of the bottle shop without these 12 beers under my arm, I wouldn’t have been going thirsty that evening. Or for quite a few evenings in the future.

I wouldn’t have had to make a stop at the homebrew shop to buy a few cans of malt extract to make a quick brew to fill in a beer gap. I certainly wouldn’t have had to turn to the bottles of wine I have at home to get a buzz.

In the strict sense I didn’t need to buy this half-case. But I needed it, you understand?

I needed it because it was canned beer and good beer in cans is still enough of a novelty to me that it attracts my attention. And of course there’s the fact that All Day IPA is a frigging spectacular beer. So good that, should someone come over and say “hey I read on your blog that you have some Everyday IPA. Can I try one?” I’d tell them I drank them all. Even if I hadn’t – just because I want them all for myself (yeah I’m selfish that way).

So yeah, I needed to buy these. After speaking to Rory, the owner of Thirroul Cellars (where I picked this 12-pack up) I might need to buy some more. He said Sierra Nevada cans are heading our way soon. Again, they’re in 12-packs, which will make things interesting for bottle shops. Do they try and sell 12-packs of beer to a market that is used to buying them six at a time? Or do they break up the boxes and sell a whole lot of singles?

Either way, I have a feeling some more cans of US beer may be finding their way into my house some time soon.