At a Sam Adams beer event, it was mentioned that their 6-packs cover the neck of the bottle because light affects the quality of the beer. Besides having it in dark bottles, they made their carrying cases taller to keep as much light out as possible.
That said, why does bottled beer taste better than beer in cans, which essentially keep out all light? Is it because glass doesn’t ‘taste’?
The conventional wisdom from canning breweries is that beer from cans will taste better than beer in glass, but only if you take the trouble to pour it into a glass. Drinking directly from the can causes you to taste the can, to the detriment of your perception of the beer inside.
One of my favourite beers* comes in both bottles and cans. I always pour into a glass. Thew canned beer always has a tinny taste, even from the glass. The bottled version tastes better, but is about 20% more expensive.
*Newcastle Brown Ale
Bottled or canned don’t make no difference to me Free beer is still the best.
Hey, Peter Morris, is there any chance you drink your Newcastle at room temperature?
I do, and i think it tastes better. Maybe i am just weird.
Yes, I do.
There are two reasons why beer tastes better in bottles, and they both have to do with heat. Just like light, heat will cause a chemical reaction in the hops and cause the beer to “skunk”. The effect is even more pronounced if you allow the beer to cycle between hot and cold.* A glass bottle is a better insulator than an aluminum can, and therefore any temperature changes are apt to be less pronounced. Imagine a supermarket employee pulling beer out of the back cooler to stock in the beer aisle. It takes time to move all those cases and six packs. The cans are apt to warm up more than the bottles during the move between refrigerated areas.
The second reason is a little less pronounced, but along the same line. Cold beer just tastes better. (To most people, anyway. I’ve heard there are a few freaks who like to drink warm Newcastle. Heathen savages if you ask me. 
) Unless your slamming 'em back, the beer in a half finished bottle is colder than the beer in a half finished can. The first sips might be identical, but as you drink your beer it’s getting warmer and warmer. Cans get warmer faster.
- I work as a bartender on the weekends, and we have to be very careful that once we get the beer cold, it stays cold. Kind of a pain in the ass, but if we can’t allow it to stay in the ice bin and it cycles between ice cold during open hours and room temp during closed hours after the ice melts. A few days of this and the beer will skunk noticeably
Please forgive the numerous grammar errors above.
I think pouring beer into a glass always tastes best, at least in part because of the wider opening. When you drink from a bottle or can you force the beer through a little opening and that stirs it up a bit.
I’m jumping on the “because the can leaves a tinny taste” bandwagon, but also here to offer this.
I went on the Sam Adams Brewery Tour, and the whole dark bottle vs. clear bottle was covered during the tour. Dark bottles are the best, green bottles are OK, but clear bottles (in the words of the tour guide), the best thing to do is cut a wedge of lime and jam it in the neck to kill the taste.
I respectfully disagree with this opinion. Guinness is so much better warmer than colder.
I would generally agree with this, although every beer I’ve ever had in a green bottle tastes like dead skunk. Heineken has got to be one of the nastiest bottled beers around, I’ll drink un-limed warm Corona before I drink an ice cold Heineken.
“Warm Beer” drinkers, please acknowledge that by “warm” you mean “not ice cold” as opposed to “I keep them in the pantry at room temperature”
A slightly cooler than room temperature Guinness or Newcastle is how it’s supposed to be served, but “warm” these would become horrifically huge in the mouth and immensely unpalatable.
Fair enough. On the occasions that I have Sam Adams in the fridge, I usually set it on the counter for about a half hour or so before pouring it into the glass, to take the chill out of it. It’s still cool, but not cold. Guinness, I’ll always let it sit on the bar for a bit longer before drinking it (AFAIK, the Guinness cooler at the bar I go to is kept warmer than the other cooler which houses Bud, Miller, Coors, etc.). The cases of Utica Club I’ve been drinking lately just get consumed as soon as they come out of the fridge. No need to be “snobbish” with an $8 case of beer.
This link has suggested serving temperatures: Realbeer.com: Beer Break - Temperatures For Serving Beer Note the suggested temperature for Unibroue Quelcque Chose. :eek: