Awhile back I posted a GQ question wonder why draft beer hurts my belly, but bottled beer doesn’t. I don’t seem to have much of a choice in the matter. 
Except for a couple draft beers that are pasteurized. Luckily the draft beers I can drink without a belly ache are the ones I like best. (With the exception of a presently unavailable bottled beer from Quebec that is similar to a premium beer from Kentucky that is brewed in whiskey casks for a remarkably interesting flavor.
It depends on the beer for me. I hate Kiltlifter from the tap, but I love it in the bottle.
Red Stripe on tap, if you can find it, tastes far superior to the bottled version.
For many beers, Harp, Bass and Guinness come to mind, I don’t really find a difference.
I have to say a sip of Pabst Blue Ribbon in a can transports me back to when I was maybe 5 years old, and my grandfather in Arkansas gave me a little sip out of his.
Heh. I have the exact same memories with my dad and Old Style. When Old Style released its “new” old-formula kraeusened beer over the last year or so, I swear my first sip from the can I was transported back to the late 70s/early 80s and my memories as a four- or five-year old pestering my father for a sip of beer, while he watched whatever boxing bout was on TV.
Rarely agree with Stan about anything ;), but he has it here.
Draft
then Cans
then bottles.
Bottles are a pain to take care of. They do not stack and they break. Cans are lined and stay fresher than bottles. Light is the enemy of beer.
NO, NO, NO … NO! The question is screwtop or swingtop? That’s the only thing that is relevant, mass produced, or local excellent?
I love those for homebrewing (Grolsch bottles are what I usually). Makes bottling easy. (If you keg, obviously, it makes no difference.) Otherwise, I can’t really say there’s a difference between the quality of a swingtop or screwtop bottled beer.
I have found that the rubber gasket and positive pressure is the difference, screwtop is not 100%. There is a fresher quality and carbonation, lest I say draft-like brauerei to the swingtop. Maybe you just haven’t tasted fresh bier.
I meant regular crown caps, not screwtops. Not sure I’ve seen beers with screwtop caps (other than Colt 45 “malt liquor”).
Well, about 80-90% of the average American drinkers experience with bottled beer is screwtop… as far as my experience with Colt or malt liquor, it usually comes in cans.
To me, this is a screwtop. What you’re thinking of I call a “twist-off.” Around here, malt liquors (Colt 45, Mickey’s, Old English) are usually, but not always, found in those types of screw-top bottles. This may well be a geographical difference.
At any rate, between the flip-tops and twist-off beers, I still can’t tell a difference. My palate may not be as refined as yours, but when I brew I use a mix of bottles, some crown capped, some twist-off, some Grolsch swingtops, and there’s not any discernible difference I can note.
Yea, yea, yea, twistoff, screwtop, whatever… all inferior sealing systems.
I think people prefer kegged vs bottled because the beer comes in a glass. When you drink out of a bottle half of your tasting apparatus is taken out of the equation; your nose! Sure you could pour it into a glass, but most people aren’t beer snobby like that.
Anyways, I prefer real beer, something **not **made by InBev and co.
I actually prefer beer out of cans first, then draft, and then bottles
I drink draft beer much more quickly than canned or bottled beer, and I get a buzz much quicker.
I don’t like bottled beer because beer never seems as cold out of glass bottles. And recycling bottles is a pain because they are heavier.
I choose by beer selection, not draft v. bottle, but all things being equal I prefer draft. But on the third hand, if I’m not in a good place that I think has a clean system or doesn’t sell a lot of draft beer, I’ll get a bottle.
I don’t usually drink beer out of cans. This isn’t a snobby packaging decision, I just don’t drink American lager or much that comes in cans. Guinness is about it.