Bottled V canned Beer

[User169]

I don't care tnh as long as it's cold and poured into a decent glass.

If it's good it doesn't need to be that cold - I had a bottle last week that recommended a 15 C serving temp.

Chilling is often used simply to mask the unpatable taste, as is sticking bits of fruit in the neck of the bottle.

 

[oliglynn]

Both bottles and cans are prone to flavour loss or tainting, hence best before dates. Beer can lose its flavour in bottles due to light ingress, however with cans, tainting is more of an issue. These effects both take time to occur, so if you drink freshly brewed beer poured from a can or bottle into a glass you shouldn't notice a difference.

Environmentally, Cans have the lowest carbon footprint, the lowest material volume, highest cubic efficiency for storage and transportation, and are 100% recyclable. They require less time to refrigerate too.

Personally I'm happy to drink from either, I almost always pour it into a glass.

 

[upsidedown]

3 litre plastic bottles of white cider seem pretty popular around here, must be nice stuff.

 

[User169]

Both bottles and cans are prone to flavour loss or tainting, hence best before dates. Beer can lose its flavour in bottles due to light ingress, however with cans, tainting is more of an issue. These effects both take time to occur, so if you drink freshly brewed beer poured from a can or bottle into a glass you shouldn't notice a difference.

Environmentally, Cans have the lowest carbon footprint, the lowest material volume, highest cubic efficiency for storage and transportation, and are 100% recyclable. They require less time to refrigerate too.

Personally I'm happy to drink from either, I almost always pour it into a glass.

Interesting post. If you want to mature beer for lengthy periods of time, do you know which would be best?

I ask because I've recently bought some bottles that claim they can be cellared for upto 25 years (although I think the chances of them lasting that long are rather slim!). Could you do that in can, or is tainting an insurmountable problem?

 

[Globalti]

Recently I tasted the same bitter from an old barrel then a fresh barrel; I was amazed at the difference. I bet the old barrel was only a couple of days old as well. Once that oxygen gets in the deterioration starts.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Interesting post. If you want to mature beer for lengthy periods of time, do you know which would be best?

I ask because I've recently bought some bottles that claim they can be cellared for upto 25 years (although I think the chances of them lasting that long are rather slim!). Could you do that in can, or is tainting an insurmountable problem?

I've got a case of Thomas Hardy's Ale (2005) in stock at the moment. I think they suggest 10 years is a good time before starting on it. I did have a case of 2003 too but that went

Found a really old bottle of the stuff at a car boot sale a few years back that was a couple of decades old - still tasted ok though!

 

[Alan Whicker]

Interesting post. If you want to mature beer for lengthy periods of time, do you know which would be best?

I ask because I've recently bought some bottles that claim they can be cellared for upto 25 years (although I think the chances of them lasting that long are rather slim!). Could you do that in can, or is tainting an insurmountable problem?

I suspect stonger bottle-conditioned beers would do best at being 'laid down'.

I don't know how tinned stuff would survive or what it would taste like - i'd give it a go, though :.

Ratcliff Ale, brewed in 1869 and held at the Burton Brewing Museum archives is still drinkable. It was on Oz And James Drink To England - they got the great privilege of trying it, though it was wasted on James May .

 

[oliglynn]

Interesting post. If you want to mature beer for lengthy periods of time, do you know which would be best?

I ask because I've recently bought some bottles that claim they can be cellared for upto 25 years (although I think the chances of them lasting that long are rather slim!). Could you do that in can, or is tainting an insurmountable problem?

Bottle it and keep it in a dark cellar. I assume you're talking about a home-brew project here - filling and seaming cans requires very specialist equipment, besides, tainting is indeed an issue. I'd say between 1/2 - 1 year in a can will result in tainted beer.

Not sure of the ins and outs of creating bottle conditioned beers, or how long they'll last if unpasteurised...

 

[darkstar]

If it's good it doesn't need to be that cold - I had a bottle last week that recommended a 15 C serving temp.

Chilling is often used simply to mask the unpatable taste, as is sticking bits of fruit in the neck of the bottle.

Now i'll be killed by the Beer snobs on this forum for saying this but.... I enjoy an ice cold larger in the sun!

 

[User169]

I've got a case of Thomas Hardy's Ale (2005) in stock at the moment. I think they suggest 10 years is a good time before starting on it. I did have a case of 2003 too but that went

Found a really old bottle of the stuff at a car boot sale a few years back that was a couple of decades old - still tasted ok though!

It is difficult keeping the blighters!

How is the Thomas Hardy Ale sealed? Does it have a cap or a cork? The bottles I've bought which I might try to keep have corks and a wax seal (they also have a high in alcohol content - 15% - which I suppose helps).

 

[User169]

Bottle it and keep it in a dark cellar. I assume you're talking about a home-brew project here - filling and seaming cans requires very specialist equipment, besides, tainting is indeed an issue. I'd say between 1/2 - 1 year in a can will result in tainted beer.

Not sure of the ins and outs of creating bottle conditioned beers, or how long they'll last if unpasteurised...

Interesting stuff - thanks!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Both bottles and cans are prone to flavour loss or tainting, hence best before dates.

I've been periodically raiding my collection of bottle conditioned beers recently, I've finally decided that having seventy - odd bottles of beer around the house makes me look like a saddo. Some of the stronger ones - 6% and over - are still more than drinkable despite being anywhere up to 16 years past their best before dates. Some of the really strong ones are much much better than when they were new.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I ask because I've recently bought some bottles that claim they can be cellared for upto 25 years

Thomas Hardy Ale, by any chance? I've got three of these left, all from the early 90's. I had seven originally, but as you say, it's difficult to keep them for 25 years.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

It is difficult keeping the blighters!

How is the Thomas Hardy Ale sealed? Does it have a cap or a cork?

Just a cap with a foil wrap (decorative only I guess).

 

[User169]

Thomas Hardy Ale, by any chance? I've got three of these left, all from the early 90's. I had seven originally, but as you say, it's difficult to keep them for 25 years.

RT - the beer is "Bommen en Granaten" (bombs and grenades) from a Dutch brewer.