Cans v. Bottles

I feel the same way

 

I just like beer

 

I can no longer afford to go "out" for beer, therefore I drink at home out of a glass.
Love the atmosphere of being at a pub. Hard to say if beer tastes better either way.

 

There are quite a few factors that could affect what it tastes like on tap at different restaurants or bars. How often the establishment cleans their draft lines can greatly influence the taste. Also, if they do not have the system balanced, then the beer could be over or undercarbonated. That would make a big difference.

 

My home is littered with bottles and cans.

I prefer draft when I'm elsewhere.

 

This is what I find to be true at times. I'll have one beer in a bottle at home and notice the subtleties more because I'm relaxed, then later have that same beer on draft at a busy bar and notice that the nuances aren't as perceivable. I think it's because of a contrasting mental state: relaxed vs. alert.

But, assuming that my former hypothesis is irrelevant, I find that certain styles are better or just as good on draft as in the bottle while other styles of beer just beg to be put in a bottle.

IPAs: Tend to be great in the bottle and sometimes even better on draft. The one IPA I always mention when talking about Tap vs. Bottle is Two-Hearted. Worlds better on-tap.
Saisons/Witbiers/Hefeweizens/Belgians: Usually consistently good in one serving type or the other but sometimes the bottle-conditioned ones are just that much better.
Stouts/Porters: Generally good either way, though there have been a few times where I get less body and a bit of a metallic taste from draft, whereas bottle usually does the style plenty of justice.
High Gravity Beers (BBA and non-): This is one area where I've experienced a considerable difference between Tap vs. Bottle. I've had BCBS, Evil Twin Lil' B, New Holland's Pilgrim's Dole, Dark Horse Pt5 and Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot, all both in bottle and on draft, and the draft for all of them was considerably more boozy as well as slightly less complex. One huge exception was The Bruery White Oak which was exponentially better on draft vs. bottle.
Lambics/Sours/Wild Ales: Mostly better in the bottle with only a few minor exceptions. I've especially noticed this with Wicked Weed's bottled offerings VS. draft. They're fine on draft but, more often than not, much more vibrant in the bottle.

Those are the styles where I see the discernable differences. Other styles have some variance but draft is usually the winner. So, in conclusion, I only really find Lambics, Sours, Wild Ales and High Gravity beers to be most commonly better in the bottle.

 

This is kinda like the age-old vinyl vs. CD thing to me. I just usually get it how I can when it comes to the more rare stuff, but do prefer it on tap most generally when I can get it, and admit this could possibly be just a personal bias because of what I've read/heard more than anything.

Like everybody else says, a lot of it depends on the setup of the equipment and knowledge and care taken to do so. Just like serving beer, setting up a turntable correctly takes care, and something seemingly small in scope can throw the entire sound off.

So, in reality a lot of this kinda thing is super hard to compare without a serious blind test, which I haven't done in a bar, and even if a person did, there would be so many unaccountable parameters it would be tough to really judge.

 

Glad you brought this up, OP, as I've been milling the subject in my mind for some time. I've come to the conclusion that, for me, about 95% of the time beer is more enjoyable out of a bottle/can at my house than on tap somewhere else.

This has a lot to do with where I drink my draft beer: pretty much everywhere except establishments that are very dedicated to serving up tasty craft beer - restaurants, bars, pubs, etc. At these types of places, the beer situation is mostly just sad: stinky food smells abound, distracting people, clueless servers/bartenders, dirty tap lines, mixed-up tap lines, frozen glasses, dirty glasses, chemical-smelling glasses... On and on. Beer quality is mere afterthought to these places. It's absolutely no wonder why bottled/canned beer enjoyed in the comfort of my own home almost always wins out big.

 

Neither - cask is my favourite!

Between draft vs bottles, I've been in some situations that favour the bottle, and some that favour draft. But generally speaking, and assuming all else is equal (i.e. no dirty lines or old bottles in play), I prefer draft. Often I find I prefer the carbonation levels on draft. Bottles can be too much sometimes (relatively speaking). Particularly when it comes to stouts.

 

I generally order draft when I'm out. I did have a bad experience with Lagunitas Sucks being terrible on draft last year, which was odd. If the lines and glassware are clean and the keg is fresh, there is nothing better. Except a fresh cask maybe...

 

Can

 

Stouts in a bottle, IPAs and lagers on draft.

You can control the temperature of the beer in the bottle.

 

It may just be my imagination but bourbon county brand stout on tap takes an already world class beer to another level.

 

I run 3 beers on tap at all time and also drink bottles. plus I on the beers on tap is Guinness, I am a sucker for nitro . maybe I will change out the shank to a American one and try a good stout on nitro

 

PBR on tap is SO much better than in the bottle/can.

 

no your right, guinness simply doesnt travel.

 

I think it depends on the beer and how well does the bars take care of the kegs and how often do they clean the tap lines? It's not that black and white.

 

Absolutely. In a sense a keg is just a very big bottle and differences between them are minor such as temperature and carbonation levels (plus how clean the lines are!)
Cask though can add an extra dimension ; bottles and kegs can only be as good as the brewer sends them out.
About 95% of the beer I drink is cask for this reason , it costs a lot more but worth every penny extra.

 

are you saying that cask can improve if the brewer is shit?

 

Miller High Life: bottle>tap
any other beer: tap>bottle