is beer better in bottles or cans?

Head-to-head war: bottles vs. cans
Founder of Sam Adams sparks industry brouhaha by insisting glass is best
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | July 29, 2005

''Tastes great, less filling" was yesterday's debate. The latest battle brewing among beer makers: cans vs. bottles.

It all started this month when Boston Beer Co. president Jim Koch, the maker of Samuel Adams, released his Beer Drinker's ''Bill of Rights." One major tenet: ''Beer shall be offered in bottles, not cans, so that no brew is jeopardized with the taste of metal."

For brewers and drinkers of canned beer, this was the shot heard 'round the beermaking world. Canned beer has long dominated the market and in recent years, a growing number of microbreweries have begun using cans because of improved technology that makes it cheaper and easier to package their craft beers.

''This is a 'Bill of Wrongs,' " said Dale Katechis, owner of Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, Colo., which sent a release across the country suggesting Koch had been kidnapped by aliens. ''Not only is the line about cans tasting like metal damaging to us, but it is also untrue."

Oskar Blues Brewery -- which sent a letter inviting Koch to taste its canned beer -- says aluminum gives beer longer shelf life, protects it from the destructive effects of light, and gets colder more quickly. As for a metallic flavor, can backers say that's hogwash, because plastic lines aluminum cans to prevent such an aftertaste.

Says Dave Lambert, owner of Marlborough's Sherwood Forest Brewers, which packages its brews in cans: ''There's a lot of us who make good canned beer."

But Koch doesn't believe in the canned standard -- at least not for Sam Adams. He says he has refused requests from airlines, stadiums, and golf courses to can the revolutionary suds -- rejections that he says would have brought the firm millions of dollars.

Koch, considered a microbrewing industry pioneer, maintains that canned beer runs the risk of imparting a metallic taste. Although plastic protects the inside of the can, Koch says the tab and lip of the aluminum can -- where people sip their beer -- is exposed.

''I wouldn't have named my beer after a revolutionary if I was afraid of generating controversy over my principles," Koch said. ''I recognize others have different standards and may make compromises that I'm not willing to make."

This isn't the first time that Koch's marketing tactics have ruffled feathers of fellow brewers. In the early 1990s, Sam Adams backed down from calling itself ''the Best Beer in America" after rivals accused the company of false advertising. These days Sam Adams calls itself ''America's World-Class Beer."

In the beginning, beer drinkers only had one choice: draft beer. But modern technology brought new packaging innovations, chiefly bottled beer in the 19th century, then canned brews in the 1930s.

And since beer makers switched to a water-based plastic coating for cans from a solvent-based one in the 1980s, studies have shown that there have been no detectable differences between canned and bottled beer, says Ray Klimovitz, technical director of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.

At B-Side Lounge in Cambridge last week,, 25-year-old Kimberly Newton clutched her 16-ounce Schlitz and declared: ''I am a can girl."

Newton defended her beer against Sam Adams, saying the aluminum keeps the beverage frostier than bottles, and cans make it easier to gulp.

Meanwhile, her friend Stephanie Power insisted that on a recent camping trip, the bottled Miller High Lifes were superior to the Miller cans offered that night.

''And there's just something sexy about a bottle," Power said. ''You can't get that in a can."

Over the last decade, the total volume of bottled beer sold grew about 35 percent, giving bottlers a bigger foothold in the industry. But in US homes, its popularity has fizzled, with consumption dropping nearly 10 percent over the past four years, according to NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y., research firm.

Other brewers, including Anheuser-Busch, Inc. and Pittsburgh Brewing Co., further complicated the can vs. bottle debate by introducing a new player into the pack: 12-ounce aluminum bottles. The firms promise consumers colder beer in bottles that can't break.

Demand has been so high in bars, restaurants, and supermarkets that Anheuser-Busch plans to double its production of the aluminum bottles by fall, according to Doug Muhleman, group vice president for brewing operations and technology at Anheuser-Busch.

''We were shocked that he would make that statement," Muhleman said of Koch's charge that cans can make beers taste metallic. ''Obviously, he has some other agenda."

Joe Piccirilli, president of Pittsburgh Brewing, which packages beer in both bottles and cans, said there are some things you just can't debate.

''A bad beer is a bad beer whether it's in a glass or can," Piccirilli said. ''And a good beer is good no matter what way you package it."

Jenn Abelson can be reached at [email protected]

No question, bottles are far superior. Cans add a "tinny" taste to the beer...

bottles, every time. because then you can see how much you have left.

Bottles, because you can puke in them and break them over people's heads.

:drunky: Bottles because the beer stays colder longer or so i am told mine dont last long enufe :cheers:

liquer in the front poker in the rear fun all over


OB~26 :beermug:

bottle because you cant smash a beer can over the bar table and slice a smart ass with it. lol

Guinness of course is better on tap but it does taste better from a can than from a bottle. Ale taste better from the bottle. now if they can sell beer bottles with nipples on them Ide be in heaven.

oh and I have had a beer bottle broken over my head during a fight so yes they are good for that.

Guinness taste bad just about anyway you drink it but bottles for sure with a double as a weapon!

cans , I fucking hate bottles, that noise they make, I hate the way bottles have one or two mouthfuls less than cans and cans are a lot easier to return

So, if you poured a can of beer into a cold glass and a bottle of beer into another cold glass, do you think people could really tell the difference?

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Originally Posted by ForrestBlack

So, if you poured a can of beer into a cold glass and a bottle of beer into another cold glass, do you think people could really tell the difference?

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I think I could totally tell the difference with most brands. I kind of like the taste of the cans, though. I think that might indicate some sort of vitamin deficiency, but I forget which one, so I guess I'll just have to drink out of cans.

hmm, you may be lacking in iron. but beer (i think) is better in bottles, i dislike the tinny taste. Also, the best beers are generally in bottles (real ales, corona etc.) i think i will try the pouring both into a glass thing, to see if i can tell the difference. Btw, you cannot deny the greatness of guinness!! It is great (especially in Ireland, in the storehouse, to be specific), best on tap though. And the adverts weren't just misleading hyperbole, it is good for you. People are still prescribed it for vitamin deficiencies (there ya go) and I certainly feel, umm, 'healthier' after a few pints hehehe.

cans every time.

show us your cans :laugh4:

i hate drinking beer out of cans its gotta be either bottles or on tap.

bottles all the way, cause they stay colder longer. except for when i go out and all they have is cans. somehow they think that's going to prevent barfights from breaking out... hah!

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Originally Posted by Ryuken-Kai

hmm, you may be lacking in iron. but beer (i think) is better in bottles, i dislike the tinny taste. Also, the best beers are generally in bottles (real ales, corona etc.) i think i will try the pouring both into a glass thing, to see if i can tell the difference. Btw, you cannot deny the greatness of guinness!! It is great (especially in Ireland, in the storehouse, to be specific), best on tap though. And the adverts weren't just misleading hyperbole, it is good for you. People are still prescribed it for vitamin deficiencies (there ya go) and I certainly feel, umm, 'healthier' after a few pints hehehe.

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Hmmm, I wonder. I know my mom had to make me super iron-rich foods in the morning for a while and I had these supplements which were like the best-tasting thing ever, but she hid them because apparently overdoing prescription pills for anemia is a good way to get poisoned. Be a tasty way though. :rryumy:

Doesnt matter to Me bottle or glass, both end up in a frosty mug anyhow, BUT if Im out, Ill get draft first if the brew of choice is on tap

a PS to the above reply, if it comes to Coors or Busch, ta hell with the mountians, head for the bush hehe

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Originally Posted by AmeliaG

Hmmm, I wonder. I know my mom had to make me super iron-rich foods in the morning for a while and I had these supplements which were like the best-tasting thing ever, but she hid them because apparently overdoing prescription pills for anemia is a good way to get poisoned. Be a tasty way though. :rryumy:

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im aneimic too....have you tryed eating bananas? theyre supposed to be good for that. when I was a kid my mom woul make usmilkshakes with raw egg in em for that. but I dont keep up with it anymore. ive just dealt with it being thirst all the time and bruising easy. im not sickle cell which is good thing. and who says guinness is nasty? guiness is the bomb baby! woo! best stout out there. maybe you just dont like stouts?

and I have to reiterate bottles cuz carrying around a forty ounce can of steel reserve woul just feel wrong. lol

recicible bottles.... because of environment

bottles. cans taste like metal

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Originally Posted by OliX

recicible bottles.... because of environment

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yeh. I forgot about that you have to cut the tops off of beer cans before you can recycle em. good point.

I thought bottles allow the beer to breathe better..or is it the cans that preserve them better from the light that may get in and destroy the beer?

Bottles. You can deep throat them in a bar and look hot to any guy and get more beers. Definately. Bottles.

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Originally Posted by sunkarma

I thought bottles allow the beer to breathe better..or is it the cans that preserve them better from the light that may get in and destroy the beer?

Bottles. You can deep throat them in a bar and look hot to any guy and get more beers. Definately. Bottles.

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guys would be even more impressed if you could deep throat a tall can :1orglaugh

tastes better from bottles but the i dont get drunk because it takes to long for me to drink from a bottle so i prefer beer from the tap

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sunkarma

I thought bottles allow the beer to breathe better..or is it the cans that preserve them better from the light that may get in and destroy the beer?

Bottles. You can deep throat them in a bar and look hot to any guy and get more beers. Definately. Bottles.

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hehehehehe :1orglaugh
mmm, classy.
though the best 'bottle deep-throaters' I know are(apparently straight) men.
And they are damn proud of their ability, too...... :thumb:

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Originally Posted by ForrestBlack

So, if you poured a can of beer into a cold glass and a bottle of beer into another cold glass, do you think people could really tell the difference?

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thats actually a very good question, of course I cant remember when I poured beer into a glass, however all my friends get bottles and for some reason I dont get as buzzed at thier houses, maybe it's just me

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Originally Posted by suicidal_tendencies

bottles. cans taste like metal

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hell yeah aluminum all the way

yeah not only that but broken glass is dangerous cause it's sharp and you could step on it , or get it your tire, or just plain old have to deal with sweeping it up , and also up in canada the beer store refunds a dime on bottles or cans, of course cans are more expensive, but worth every penny though, I think I'll shut up now

cans or kegs!!!!!

bottles, unless I'm at a bar with Guinness on tap. Otherwise it's Heineken.

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Originally Posted by malcolm

im aneimic too....have you tryed eating bananas? theyre supposed to be good for that. when I was a kid my mom woul make usmilkshakes with raw egg in em for that. but I dont keep up with it anymore. ive just dealt with it being thirst all the time and bruising easy. im not sickle cell which is good thing. and who says guinness is nasty? guiness is the bomb baby! woo! best stout out there. maybe you just dont like stouts?

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Handcount for the anemic people in the BB audience. Ditto.
I haven't tried bananas! I just take this nasty crap called "SOS" tonic that has a ton of iron in it, and This herbal iron stuff. I can't take the pills, they are gross. Amelia, what did your mom make you as a kid that helped?

Sun :rryumy: