# 2-liter beer packaging **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [July 31, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700 "2010-07-31T17:32:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/1 "2010-07-31T17:32:46Z")
I just re-opened a two liter of Coke Zero that I first opened Wednesday. The bottle was firm and it emitted the tell-tale hiss upon opening that told me it was still carbonated and would taste (almost) as good as when it was first cracked. As with so many things, this led me to consider beer. With packaging being such an issue for sustainability, why don’t we have beer in a 2-liter? Pour yourself a glass, put the cap back on tightly, and it should keep for days. Well, theoreticaly at least. At my house the beer would not last long enough to truly test the preservative powers of the bottle. So - have I missed a 2-liter beer option? If not, why has this not been tried? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/2 "2010-07-31T17:37:47Z")
Well, they’re not uber common, but we have a number of brands available here in Ontario in 2 litre bottles. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/3 "2010-07-31T17:42:19Z")
Beer is not carbonated in the same way as soft drinks. I think it would be hard to have the beer taste the same after that 2 liter bottle was opened and you waited a few days for the next one. It would most certainly be flat. The do offer pressurized kegs now - and I think that is a better alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/4 "2010-07-31T17:50:57Z")
Traditional beer is naturally carbonated during secondary fermentation, but the mass-produced stuff is forced carbonation, just like soft drinks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/5 "2010-07-31T18:28:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Traditional beer is naturally carbonated during secondary fermentation, but the mass-produced stuff is forced carbonation, just like soft drinks. Not all of it, but a good portion of it is force carbonated. Sierra Nevada, for instance, (and at 680,000 barrels a year, I think it’ll qualify as “mass produced,” although it’s not BudMillCoors territory) is bottle conditioned. Old Style (not to be confused with Old Style Pilsener in Canada) has returned to kraeusening its beer, so they seem not to force carbonate anymore. And [according to this article](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-04-01/entertainment/0903300099_1_brewing-great-american-beer-festival-carbonation), apparently Sam Adams is also krauesened. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/6 "2010-07-31T19:51:55Z")
Generally, from what I have seen, beer (alcoholic beverages in general?) and plactic containers are not a popular combo, at least as far as the mass market is concerned. Plastic beer packaging (at least in the USA) seems to be mostly limited to places (concerts, sporting events) where serving glass containers would not be feasible for safety reasons or similar concerns. Of course all of the above is just my take on the situation, so feel free to tell me how mistaken I am, and how plastic beer bottles are de rigueur in Santiago or Saigon… ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/7 "2010-08-01T16:22:03Z")
When I was in England, I saw hard cider sold in two-liter bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/8 "2010-08-01T17:05:05Z")
Plastic bottles are generally clear, which will cause the beer to become light-struck over time unless they’re properly stored (and they rarely are). Beer is not always consumed in 2 liter quantities in one sitting, and the beer could go flat between sessions. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/9 "2010-08-01T22:34:42Z")
Well, there are 40s of budweiser, molson, and various deliciously malted liquors which is what? 1.2 litres, give or take? I’ve made beer with [this kit](http://www.winefactory.ca/BigEasyBottledBeer.htm)before. It’s premixed wort that you add a yeast pill to, screw on a cap with a little rubber centre (presumably to let excess pressure out), and you leave it on your kitchen counter for two weeks before it becomes beer! The pictures don’t show it, but I should probably mention that it comes in a 2L bottle essentially the same as a pop bottle. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/10 "2010-08-02T03:47:00Z")
I’ve gone through a lot of brew pub beer in 2 litre bottles over the years, and it’s been universally okay the second day and not something I would want to drink by the third day. Brown bottles, and everything from pilseners to porters has been the same story. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/11 "2010-08-02T06:22:29Z")
My local beverage center has available [growlers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_bottle#Growler) in various sizes including one similar to 2L, as do most micro-brews and brew-houses. My guess as to why super commercial brands don’t sell this sort of thing at the local supermarket except for the “40s” is that it’s merely a matter of marketing and distribution. Certainly, the things exist. Although, I don’t think ones made out of plastic would work. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/12 "2010-08-02T06:34:02Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Although, I don’t think ones made out of plastic would work. Sure, they would. 1.6L plastic bottles is a standard way of buying beer [in Korea](http://www.deathwishindustries.com/home/What%20Is%20Best/Best%20Alcohol%20and%20Guns/OB%20and%20Hite%20Pitchers.gif). ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/13 "2010-08-02T13:28:43Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > > [@jackdavinci](#): > > > > Although, I don’t think ones made out of plastic would work. > > Sure, they would. 1.6L plastic bottles is a standard way of buying beer [in Korea](http://www.deathwishindustries.com/home/What%20Is%20Best/Best%20Alcohol%20and%20Guns/OB%20and%20Hite%20Pitchers.gif). Wow! I would think there would be issues with taste and sunlight. Is the lack of plastic for even smaller beers elsewhere just a marketing thing? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/14 "2010-08-02T21:03:40Z")
My wife won’t drink Coke or Pepsi from two-liter bottles, insisting that it tastes “plastic-y” compared to cans. I can just imagine how she’d react to beer from a plastic bottle. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-liter-beer-packaging/548700/15 "2010-08-03T09:39:22Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Is the lack of plastic for even smaller beers elsewhere just a marketing thing? [Apparently so:](http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/341792-Packages_Tracing_an_evolution.php) > [@](#): > > A brief news item in the August, 1975, issue of PD mentioned that Coors might soon add a plastic beer bottle based on a nitrile resin, if tests were successful. However, this bottle apparently was never introduced and was never mentioned again. The first plastic beer bottles in the U.S. were introduced by Miller Brewing in October, 1998, for 16- and 20-oz and 1-L packages of Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft and Icehouse. The 1-L package was soon discontinued. Miller was followed into the plastic bottle market by Anheuser-Busch in April, 1999, when it began test marketing its leading beer brands in 16-oz plastic bottles. However, this test lasted only a short time, after which A-B abandoned the project because of “limited consumer interest.” The plastic bottles used by both Miller and A-B were co-injection stretch/blow-molded from a multilayer structure of PET and oxygen scavengers. Continental PET Technology supplied the Miller bottles, while the A-B bottles were supplied by Amcor. As I think someone mentioned above, you can still sometimes get plastic beer bottles at places like concerts where they’re concerned that giving people glass bottles would be a safety issue.