In re: the OP asking how to divert people towards non-green-bottled beer, you could say something along the lines of, “Hey, have you tried the Grolsch Amber, the one in a brown flip-top bottle?”
Or the OP could actually bring along a 6-pack on his next visit!
If the bottle has been in a fridge or a case, then it’s not been exposed to light and the OP’s claim is invalid. But I have the perfect excuse: I’m a cider drinker.
If it’s skunked, just say so! Don’t imply the buyer is stupid, or that it could have been prevented, just taste it, and if it is in fact skunked, say, “That one’s a little skunked. I might have to try it another time to see if I like it.” The beer-giver will then say either, “Oh, too bad. Mine tastes fine, why don’t you open another one?” or “Skunked? What does that mean?” If the latter, then he has asked for your knowledge, and there is nothing at all rude about telling him what it means and what causes it.
It’s always been an American adjunct lager, as far as I know. I don’t know where this “cream ale” business comes from, as I really doubt Rolling Rock is brewed with top-fermenting yeast. (And if it was, I don’t know why anyone would want to brew such a light, clean style of beer like that with an ale yeast.)
(Sorry, which claim was that?)
-FrL-
I think he meant this:
You can’t tell before you buy the beer how long it’s been sitting out in a big pile o’ beer, soaking up the UV, so you can’t tell whether or not it’s been skunked yet. However, if the beer goes straight into the fridge from the liquor store, there is no further degradation in quality;
No more calls please - we have a winner.
Seriously, if these are friends, then you have to weigh whether potentially hurting their feelings is more important than sucking down a beer that doesn’t appeal to you. I love beer, and I have had Coors* at a friends house rather than offend them.
Something similar was mentioned some time ago on a coffee forum website. The poster wrote that his friend’s wife had bought a specialty coffee for him, knowing that he was a coffee fanatic, and had put it in the freezer until he was able to stop by. He had said to his friend that freezing coffee makes it taste like wet cardboard. And I thought to myself “It’s only coffee, for heaven’s sake! Thoughtful friends are priceless!”
So find a way to instruct, and demonstrating is always better than lecturing. And more fun, too, when it comes to beer. Bring along a six pack of your favorite beer, share it with them, and casually mention how you’ve noticed that brown glass is much better at keeping the true taste of the beer. In the meantime, be glad that you have good friends.
*And no, I didn’t say “Coors? Oh, I thought that you were offering me a beer!”
You’re right, my phrasing was too strong.
Sorry about that…
-FrL-
See I approach it the opposite way. If a friend says, “You want a Corona?” I’ll say, “Sure, if you don’t have any beer.” I’m usually then invited to perform some sexual act on the host, my mother, a tree or something equally inappropriate, and the discussion is over. No one brings Coronas when they come to visit me, although I sometimes buy them when I know my guests want them. Your friend should be able to handle the fact that you don’t like the same beer (although if it’s a SO, the information might come in handy.
Good ideas.
To be clear: I was not talking about friends, I was just talking about a generic “someone” who is hosting a gathering of some kind.
To all: There have been a few comments to the effect of this poster’s reminder to “be glad that you have good friends.” The thing is: I know that. There’s no reason for any of you to think I wouldn’t know that. But actually typing it out here makes it look like you think I need to be reminded of it. I don’t.
The previous paragraph, being so direct, may look like the typing of an “upset” person. It’s not. I was just being direct.
-FrL-
You want to come to a generic gathering where you aren’t my friend and criticize my beer? No, not criticize my beer, you want to impart your knowledge on why my taste in beer stinks? How many of these generic gatherings do you intend to get invited back to? A lot of people LIKE beers that come in green bottles - and if they get one that has skunked, well, that’s life, move on to the next bottle. Hell, a lot of people LIKE Corona - if it isn’t to your taste, don’t drink it. But don’t insult them by telling them their taste sucks, and don’t insult their taste and then their intellegence by telling them why.
In short, no, there is no polite way to tell someone else they shouldn’t buy beer in green bottles.
(I don’t drink beer, btw, and if you are at a party at my house, you are probably drinking something you yourself, or someone else brought. We pick up a twelve of Sam Adams for a party and when the party is over generally have somewhere between 20 and 60 bottles of miscellanous beer.)
I believe the setup was a host who handed the green beer to him and asked him to taste it and share his thoughts. I’m pretty sure Frylock isn’t just going to go walking around insulting people’s drinks. The choices offered so far:
- “Mmm… yeah. Good.”
- “I don’t like this one so much.”
- “I don’t like it. You know, I never seem to like beer in green bottles. Always tastes funny, I think.”
- "I don’t like it. I don’t like beer in green bottles. They allow the sunlight in and it can cause a reaction with the hops that affects the taste.
- I’m on antibiotics."
- “Whoa man, I must be really drunk…” keels over
Would you like to find out if the green bottle factor is why you dislike certain beers? Heinekin and Grolsch are now sold in cans. Try those. If you still don’t like them, it wasn’t the green glass. It was the beer.
And yet, each time you bring beer to my house (every time you come here), it’s Samuel Adams. :dubious:
There’s always, “No, thanks.”
Beer keeps pretty well in clear bottles. Corona always tastes good.
Left over?
Can I come help clean up? 
-FrL-
Like I said, I know I do like Heinekin on tap. (Very much, in fact.)
But the one I had in a bottle* was awful. “Skunk” was exactly the word.
I’ve had it once from a can as well, and had mixed feelings about it, but would never have called it “skunked.” (I’m not sure why I have liked it so much on tap, yet the canned seemed not so great. Hijacking my own thread: Any reason it should be very different from a can?)
-FrL-
*From a bright refrigerated display behind the counter at a pizza place, in which I rarely see anyone actually drinking beer. There’s no telling how long that thing had been sitting here. I now know not to get a drink in such a situation. 