Do cans actually benefit flavor? (poll)

There might be one other difference. The air pocket in a bottle is substantially bigger than in the can. When you pop the bottle, you're more likely to smell the fruitier, tropical hop aromas and perhaps some malt. Popping a can seems to yield mostly bitter components of hops first. But once they are poured into glassware, they should be indistinguishable.

Agree on all three counts. Light and air leaks are less likely in a can but that's a storage issue, not a drinking issue.

Not quite. The cans and the boxes serve almost precisely the opposite purposes. Cans are intended as single servings, kind of like nips. Boxes are intended to provide oxidation-free environment where wine can by portioned out over time and not consumed all at once. Cans are looked down upon because the form is unseemly to wine drinkers who are used to the bottle esthetics. Boxes are actually considered to be quite ingenious and are not frowned upon by traditionalists for that reason--what they don't like is that they see large-format boxes as the modern equivalent of jug wines, so they disapprove of the content rather than the form. One can look at box wine with a bladder lining as a modern equivalent of a wine bag or bota, which people actually find quite traditional.

Modern cans are indeed lined to protect the contents from coming into contact with bare metal. Drinkers under 30 will not have ever tasted beer from an unlined can. But cans do present one hazard that bottles do not. This relates to forced carbonation. First, most bottle conditioning can't really be done in cans, but beer in cans can, of course, be kraeusened. But cans may require additional carbonation because more gas is lost during the canning process. And when that happens, taste may be affected in multiple ways. First, increased carbonation affects the pH, so the beer may act differently under storage and may even taste differently when opened. Second, there are occasional production difficulties with carbonation. If you've ever had a overfull but flat can of BMC you know what I mean. I once bought multiple 12-packs of Polar seltzer and cans in two of the pack were all flat. Despite being flat, they also all spilled right when opened. When talking to a quality control person at Polar, we settled on the role of the air pocket. Due to some production mishap, the cans got overfilled and could not hold dissolved CO2. Occasionally that happens with BMC beers as well, as they don't just come with natural carbonation. Of course, it could happen to any beer that gets an extra helping of CO2 upon canning.

Finally, there is an obvious potential cause for difference between bottled and canned beers. I noticed this earlier this month with Cisco Grey Lady. Aside from the carbonation issues that were present, one cannot escape the fact that they were bottled at different plants. That means not only different water source but also potentially different recipes (or, more precisely, the same recipe that is executed differently). It made a difference in taste that was quite pronounced. And the extra carbonation in cans made the beer taste noticeably more acidic (but not metallic). People often suspect differences between beers bottled at different plants (this is certainly the case with soft drinks, as I know a number of people--myself included--who can tell the difference between Coke from cans produced in different parts of the country, and that's based solely on differences in water sources). The same is true about bottles and cans made at different facilities.

 

What about the concern of BPA being the chemical that cans are lined with? Luckily, there is still a choice with most biers out there.

 

A can is a far superior vessel to a bottle as far as protecting its contents (oxygen barrier, light proof). That said I do not like drinking directly from the can, I pour in a glass and when you do that it is impossible to tell it is from a can despite what people's minds tell them.

A can preserves flavors better so in that way it does actually benefit flavors.

 

Have a three month old can of Ranger next to the bottle version. Assuming they were both properly cared for I believe the can will have held up better.

Finding the same beer available in both with the same date might be hard.

 

Been there, done that. Even got a tshirt. No worries.

 

To the OP:I think there is zero benefit from drinking from the can vs. glassware. I much prefer to 'open the beer up' by pouring into a glass...especially for IPAs.

+1. I think that Heady is a terribly ugly beer. Now, I consider myself extremely lucky to occasionally get my hands on fresh can, and when I do, I drink the shit outta it!! It is a damn fine beer, but it is still ugly!

Heady Topper is the 'Butterface' of the beer world!!

 

78 to 78 as of right meow. Tied like a ************.

 

Good post. There's nothing like unsubtle sarcasm.

 

By my understanding, smelling something (by taking a whiff) and smelling something as it relates to flavor are being falsely conflated. When you put something in your mouth, as long as you are breathing through your nose, you do get the olfactory contributions to flavor. (source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304394010001965, indeed they found that the smell contribution to flavor occurred when people exhaled - which makes most sense to me as air from the mouth and throat flowing out past the nose)

Cans might not be as good for taking a big whiff and saying "mmm, smell's good," but I don't think they'll prevent you from appreciating the flavor.

 

doesn't help but doesn't mute the smell a little bit. but just take a can opener and you have a can width opening only thing you can't see the beer but if it smells good and tastes good I dont
care. generally I drink from a can I just popped open cause it is easier ( no glassware to clean) and a few beers I prefer from the can like any of golden road's beers and Oskar blues

 

Leaving the beer in the can should leave a cap of CO2 above the beer which would slow down oxidation. Personally, I prefer to drink a hoppy beer from a glass. I don't really have to worry about it sitting around for an hour. hah Plus I also don't like warm ipa either.

 

How is this different from leaving beer in a bottle, exactly? And since the bottle has a literal "bottleneck", would it not work in the bottle's favor? And if it doesn't work in a bottle, why would it work in a can? At least I can contain the bottle with a plug... Unless I have one of those handy can-seal covers, I'm shit out of luck closing a can... YMMV

 

Ditto. I thought it was can vs bottle, but I assumed both poured into a glass.

 

Who said the same thing isn't true for a bottle? It's just about keeping as much oxygen from contact with the beer as possible, right?

 

That's it! I'm getting scuba gear for the next beer tasting! No more freakin' oxygen in the can/bottle/IV!!

 

Dude, I've opened up a few cans of worms, much bigger & stinkier cans of worms, here on BA. Your post was a minor blip in the grand scheme of all things BA.

 

I think your Poll is flawed because you ask do Cans actually benefit Flavor.
I would say yes but when i read your first post and continue reading down i see you post this is your true objective.

Drinking from a proper glass>Can or Bottle