I have always preferred a draft beer (but only if the draft system is kept clean) to bottled. A friend recently told me he finds bottled beer more enjoyable.
Which do you prefer?
Draft, for the same reasons as you. If it’s a bar I’m at regularly, I know what to expect when it comes to freshness and how often they clean the tap lines. If I’m unsure and not in the mood to send a pint back if it’s off, I’ll just order a bottle.
But I do think that a good draft pint tastes better than a bottle.
I care more about freshness. I can tell if beer is old or not by the flavor. So in a bar, I would rather have a fresh bottle than something that has been sitting in a keg forever, and vice versa.
Draft in a clean well stored system.
imported or craft and seasonal beers may only be available at your tavern in bottles.
while the same beer would be better draft than bottled in my opinion.
so it would vary depending on what type of beer i wanted at the moment.
also some beers taste good warmer before opening which you can do with your bottled beer at home. but that is usually low volume drinking for nutrition or taste (i’m ignoring utilizing the emergency case of beer for those faced with that circumstance).
I prefer draft, but I also prefer newcastle when I’m at a restaurant where I’m drinking beer so and no restaurant in my area keeps that in a keg. If I’m at a bar looking to get smashed, then I drink what ever is on special.
Draft.
This is it…
There is a place here in SLC that has about 35 beers on tap (which is about the biggest draught selection in Utah) but many of the beers dont get consumed fast enough, and so sometimes the beer is noticeably flat/stale. I would much rather have a bottle or even can of fresh brew than a draught that is past its prime.
If, on the other hand the draught is fresh and cold, it is always my favorite way to drink a beer, and if a place only has 4 or 5 beers on tap, you can count on them selling enough to keep the kegs turning and the beer fresh and crisp.
First choice is draft. Bottled is second. Cans a distant third.
But naturally, if I have a choice between a so-so draft brand and a bottled brand I really like, I’ll go with the bottle.
Draft by far. Hopefully from a bar that sells enough of it that I"m sure it is fresh. I like the idea of having 30 beers on tap, but I’m always wondering how fresh some of the beers are. I usually look to see if the bar has any specials on some of the drafts. Even if the beer isn’t a special that day, I assume they go through enough of the beer that it is always fresh.
I can’t recall when I last drank beer from a can. It has been years and years. It was at least before 2003. We used to do beer floats on a creek in central PA - get some tubes, float down the creek and drink beer. We would never take glass on the creek. I don’t remember when the last one was, but I do know it was before 2003 (I had a operation that summer and almost every year since and so we just haven’t done it.)
Except in that situation, I’m not sure you could convince me to drink beer from a can.
Penns Creek by chance?
Draft for me also. It just has that zing. We only do cans by the pool and when the local bar has $1.00 PBR tallboys.
My buddy’s mother has a house right on Pine Creek up between Williamsport and Lock Haven. It eventually flows into the Susquehanna.
We would go a mile or so north and spend the afternoon floating down. And then have a picnic. I was usually too drunk to do much after all that floating… I miss those days. 
Yeah, back in the day we would float down Penns Creek outside of Mifflinburg with good old Genny Cream Ale or Yuengling. Fun times.
Okay…done hijacking.
The microbrews I like only come in draft, so that is my preference.
At home, I drink bottles of various bottled microbrews.
I can’t think of the last time I drank from a can. Probably at my brother in laws as that is all he drinks and I am sure he offered me one of his “old milwaukee’s” and I am still trying to repress the memory. Especially since he drinks them room temperature (carry over from his Nam days).
To me, bottles are always better than cans, but for certain situations (like activities around water, as you have mentioned) cans are acceptable.
If I am going to sneak a few beers into someplace that they are not sold (like our University of Utah football games) it will be cans, as opposed to glass bottles, just in case one gets dropped.
There IS a difference in taste/carbonation levels between can and bottle, but it is not so distinct that I would forgo beer altogether just because a can was all that was available.
Everyone has thier own preferences, and though I like draught beer the best, and bottled beer second, there must be a hell of lot of beer drinkers around who like cans, cause they sure sell a Milwaukee Shitload of them…
<quick hijack> **MPB in Salt Lake **- what is a good pub there is SLC? When I went to the UofU we used to go to The Pub in Trolley Square. It is still a pub, but it seems it is now sort of a micro-brew/restaurant. Still had good beers, but it wasn’t the same as it was when I went to school. I still have family in Utah and would love to find a good pub with some good Utah microbrews, can you give me a recommendation? <hijack over!>
Another UofU alum eh? Very cool, I graduated in 1994…
Anyways, as of a month ago, Utah FINALLY got rid of its assinine “private club” law, so anyone can go into any bar in the state and order one of Utah’s famous overpriced, watered down cocktails or 3.2 beers—welcome to the 1970’s!!!
But seriously folks, there are a bunch of new watering holes around Salt Lake, many offering a pretty good selection of full strength imports and micros, but state law still forbids draught beer being stronger than 3.2% so for the hi-test beer, bottled beer is still the only game in town.
I like Fiddlers Elbow in Sugarhouse, a huge selection of draught (3.2) and also a good choice of bottled full strength beer and liqour. Its on 21st South and 11th East, and it always packs in the Ute fans on game days.
I also drink at Juniors in Downtown SLC (between State and Main Sts. on 300 South, behind the Gallivan Center)
The Pub in Trolly Square is now a micro-brewery/restaurant, and does not feel the same as it did years ago, but is still a nice place to bring a date, if I could ever find a woman who wanted to go out with me…
Anyways, next time you are here in Zion, lemme know and we can meet up for a cold one!!!
Matthew
Thanks—1983 and 1985 graduate here. I will let you know next time I am in town. I agree about the alcohol content, I remember the first time my cousin came here, she got drunk really quickly and couldn’t figure it out. I had to point out we have some beers here with high alcohol content.
There is a little microwbrew in Price that wasn’t too bad as I recall. I have a high school friend who has a brewery in Vernal, but I haven’t ever been to it. Damn though I miss The Pub, it was a great place when I went to college.
sorry for the quick hijack** Khadaji!**
Threads have a mind of their own - they wander to and fro. Some that I have started never came close to anything I had expected.