Bottles or Cans?

Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
edited June 2013 in Food & Drink
I read this interesting article today. Apparently Sam Adams spent a pretty penny to design a can worthy of good beer.

What does Icrontic think? I've always preferred popping a can on a summer day. It's easier to carry a suitcase of cans from the store, easier to store, easier to dispose of (recycle). Can's get cold faster, it's just got this stigma to it, like, if it's in a can, it must be swill... (because often that's the case). Most good beer was packaged bottle only but this is changing.

I've seen what for me is a positive trend to cans. They are just a better way to package beer. Cans don't allow light in, they are lighter, easier to transport, create less waste, not to mention less dangerous. I've seen a few nasty cuts from beer bottles. Flying Dog in Maryland recently started canning a few varieties. It's great, and it tastes just as amazing.

Now that some micro-brew's are canning, will it change the way you drink? Will you role up to your next cookout with a cooler of Boston Beer Company's Summer Ale in cans? If your favorite micro-brew started canning, would you prefer it that way, or still stick with bottles?
WagsFTW
«1

Comments

  • mertesnmertesn I am Bobby Miller Yukon, OK Icrontian
    If it's good fresh beer it doesn't matter what container holds it. I've had good beer from both cans and bottles.

    If you're drinking from the container it probably matters whether you are a sipper (either will work) or a chugger (wide mouth can is probably best here).

    If you're pouring into a glass and there's sediment you're trying to avoid (homebrew and some craft/micro brews), glass would certainly be easier to see whether things have settled and when you're approaching the non-clear liquid. Otherwise it's probably a tossup.
  • SonorousSonorous F@H Fanatic US Icrontian
    I don't like change so I am going to stop buying beer, make a ton of angry Facebook posts and start false rumors about the beer. "Like if you hate that canned beer gives baby panda bears brain tumors! I know 99% percent of my friends won't repost this".

    But acutally, I would love to see some one my favorite micro brews sell in cans... As long as the pandas dont get cancer.
    Cliff_ForsterUPSLynxkimono54Annes
  • Colorado has been canning their microbrews for years. It's better for the mountains (pack it in pack it out), camping, the environment as a whole, and (not kidding) smoking pot. Oskar Blues specifically makes cans where it shows where to puncture holes to make something of a bong.
    http://www.craftcans.com/db.php?reg=Colorado

    I've tried a large number of canned beer out here from stouts to pils and they are all delicious.

    In essence, I'm entirely for it. I think canned beer simply has a bad rep because of BUD. When I bbq on my deck, and it's a beer day, I choose can. 'Merica.
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    Also: It's time for screw-top wine bottles!
    JBoogalooardichokeGargUPSLynx
  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian
    I've had a couple of very good beers out of cans lately (4 specifically from Oskar Blues, actually). I think they're definitely starting to see more use as brewers see the benefits of complete light blockage, etc.

    If it's good beer (Finch's Secret Stache Vanilla Stout is one particularly well put together example), the container starts to become irrelevant.
  • JBoogalooJBoogaloo This too shall pass... Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    mertesn said:

    If it's good fresh beer it doesn't matter what container holds it. I've had good beer from both cans and bottles.

    I couldn't agree more.
  • MiracleManSMiracleManS Chambersburg, PA Icrontian
    21st Amendment cans all of their beer and it is excellent.
    UPSLynx
  • MAGICMAGIC Doot Doot Furniture City, Michigan Icrontian
    My go to beers only come in bottles, but I have nothing against a can.
  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian
    MAGIC said:

    My go to beers only come in bottles, but I have nothing against a can.

    I find this also to be true, but I've been branching out and learning some good things.
  • MyrmidonMyrmidon Baron von Puttenham California Icrontian
    It could be an old wives tale and I'm well too lazy to google this and find any real info on it, but I've been told that glass bottles actually impart an additional flavor to the beer - I can only assume this is an unwanted flavor. Might be worth looking into.
  • MiracleManSMiracleManS Chambersburg, PA Icrontian
    My understanding is that bottles tend to let more light into the beer, which is not good.
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    I prefer my beer from a tap in a pint glass.

    That said, I'm more about tradition. Sam Adams going to cans irks me. But I know they put a ton of money into making their own can so I probably would drink it
  • mertesnmertesn I am Bobby Miller Yukon, OK Icrontian

    My understanding is that bottles tend to let more light into the beer, which is not good.

    Clear or green bottles, yes. From what I've read, all other colors do not absorb U/V, which is what causes problems.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    cans are good for hiking / camping, as there's less chance to break and less weight to carry, especially when empty.
  • GnomeQueenGnomeQueen The Lulz Queen Mountain Dew Mouth Icrontian
  • BobbyDigiBobbyDigi ? R U #Hats ! TX Icrontian
    HAHAHA Good point GQ, @UPSLynx got canned before it was cool!

    I prefer bottles simply for the fact that cans pull my mustache hairs.

    -Digi
    UPSLynx
  • MiracleManSMiracleManS Chambersburg, PA Icrontian
    mertesn said:

    Clear or green bottles, yes. From what I've read, all other colors do not absorb U/V, which is what causes problems.

    I think they reduce it significantly, but it's not eliminated. Probably enough to keep it fresh for a while though.
  • JokkeJokke Bergen, Norway Icrontian
    edited June 2013
    I don't really care, it's all about what's inside the container. However, for longer storage; bottles stored dark and cold tend to be better than cans stored the same way, in my experience.

    @Mertesn My experience is opposite. Chugging is easier from a bottle (for me at least).

    @BobbyDigi also has a valid point for us manly men.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    Myrmidon said:

    It could be an old wives tale and I'm well too lazy to google this and find any real info on it, but I've been told that glass bottles actually impart an additional flavor to the beer - I can only assume this is an unwanted flavor. Might be worth looking into.

    That doesn't really make sense when we think about how glass and food (don't) interact. Glass is used in scientific testing precisely because it reacts so little or not at all with many substances that it won't alter the results of your experiments, while plastics are more volatile in some contexts (take all this with a grain of salt because IANAS, but maybe @mailia can shed some light or tell me I'm dead-wrong). I imagine it is far more likely that improperly stored beer in clear/light glass bottles have altered flavor due to UV exposure.
  • SonorousSonorous F@H Fanatic US Icrontian
    I'm not sure if it's just in my head, but I always feel like I drink bottles faster and end up...
    image
    colaJBoogalooCliff_ForsterWagsFTW
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    DM;HB.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited June 2013
    Thrax said:

    DM;HB.

    please renDer aid, gentleMen; I seem to Have lost my Bones?
    Sonorous
  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    I was just drinking a Boston Lager last night and kept raving about the cans to everyone on mumble.

    image

    After a side-by-side, I can confirm the beer tastes just as good out of a can. I had a sort of placebo effect at first, I was convincing myself that there had to be a difference, but after a few of them it's straight up the Boston Lager we all know. Lots of other CA micro/craft brews come in cans as well, and they all rule. Stouts to Wheat ales, I've never had a beef. I still like glass bottles though for certain things.
  • JokkeJokke Bergen, Norway Icrontian
    Bottles are better in a fight though. Unless the can is full. But that would be a waste of good beer.
    Cliff_ForsterUPSLynxprimesuspect
  • SonorousSonorous F@H Fanatic US Icrontian
    Thrax said:

    DM;HB.

    Dude Man; Hey Bro?
  • AnnesAnnes Tripped Up by Libidos and Hubris Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    More good beer that you can take to "no glass" places (pools. concerts, etc.)? Same taste? Smaller and lighter packaging? Yes, please.
  • JBoogalooJBoogaloo This too shall pass... Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    mertesn said:

    Annes said:

    More good beer that you can take to "no glass" places (pools. concerts, etc.)? Same taste? Smaller and lighter packaging? Yes, please.

    No, Annes. THE BABY!
    Pfft! Get that baby started on the right path early! GO FOR IT! :D
    Cliff_ForsterGnomeQueen
  • CantiCanti =/= smalltime http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9K18CGEeiI&feature=related Icrontian
    Cans and bottles are both ok but

    you ever drink Bailey's from a shoe?
    GnomeQueencola
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    Two turn tables and a microphone.
    BobbyDigi
Sign In or Register to comment.