Hawkshead Brewery launched its first range of canned craft beers yesterday at its brewery tap, The Beer Hall.

The brewery, at Staveley near Kendal, has launched two beers, I.P.A. and Iti both highly hopped pale ales, one strong and one session strength.

The I.P.A. is a 7.0 per cent American-style India Pale Ale, combining American and New Zealand hops, while Iti is a 3.5 per cent version of the brewery’s premium strength New Zealand Pale Ale (NZPA.)

Inspired by the word “Iti”, the Maori word for “little” it is brewed with several varieties of hops from New Zealand. Both beers have been chill conditioned and canned unfiltered and unpasteurised.

Michelle Gay, a spokesperson for the brewery, said: “We’re responding to demand really, the world of craft beer has moved on so much that people are now looking for as many ways to get access to craft as possible.

“Cans of beer are so popular we decided that we had to do it and we have deliberately decided to start with a lower strength beer and a higher strength to cover both ends of the spectrum.

“The IPA is a strong, hoppy, big, traditional IPA and the demand for that kind of beer is massive.

She added: “To be honest, we’ve pretty much sold out of our first batch and we have another one scheduled for the end of November of double the quantity because people are chomping at the bit for them.

“It is a process which requires a lot of thought because of the use of metal rather than glass but we’re happy it’s an exciting time for us.”