Waxed bottles--is there a point beyond visual appeal?

I remember there being a thread of some of this unfolding here on BA when someone questioned the wax job on a bottle they received. It made for some interesting reading. It was only a matter of time for this to start happening with beer. The counterfeit business is lucrative in the wine world. But back to the topic at hand...

 

I was bored and doing a little bit of research and and I think the problem that I had is that I mixed up in my head the counterfeit Cantillon Jean Chris Nomad 2011 bottles along with the TG guy being busted by by using wax wrong.

https://www.lambic.info/Cantillon_Jean_Chris_Nomad_2011

The counterfeit bottles are mentioned there but the BeerAdvocate thread they link to has been removed since then so I can't get any more details. I am fairly sure I just combined the two stories in my mind though it has been so long since I read about either of them.

Anyway, like you said back on topic. Cheers!

 

To me that is the definition of a valid response, written or verbal.

 

The wax seal on official missives is an archetypal piece of our collective social memory.... It is special.......

 

Don't think this drawback's been mentioned.

When I moved my cellar from the 19th century house I previously owned, I noticed that field mice had apparently nibbled off a lot of the white wax on some bottles of Heavyweight's Old Salty barleywine...
(CAUTION - Wipe off neck and cap with store brand vodka before opening)

 

Funny you should mention that. Back in the day, I used trained mice to open my waxed beer bottles... until my mice got away. Guess they found a new home.

 

They were tired of getting hurt on the job ("Hey, guys hold up - Mickey broke another tooth!") and found out about the "no mice" loophole in Workmen's Comp laws.

 

I think Brew Dog figured out the solution to that problem by packaging their beer bottles in the skins of dead animals. It was both macabre to the consumer and a threat of what could happen to a rodent messing with the beer....

 

It's the only explanation that makes sense concerning that "packaging".

 

I was.just glad to finally have a fine beverage that fit in in my hall of taxedermy

 

I thought you were supposed to save the wax and make candles for when I spent all my money on good beer instead of paying the electric bill

 

You guys open your own bottles? You don’t have your manservant do this for you? Why do you even bother having a manservant if you don’t have him do your menial chores? I’m perplexed.

 

I'm indifferent to waxed bottles..yeah they look all snazzy and scream "Look at me..I'm a special beer!!" but as stated already can be a PITA to remove..I received a Rabbit Wine opener from Crate & Barrel a few years back that included a foil cutter that works great on the wax tops

 

I was hoping this was a thread bump from 2012, but I guess breweries are still doing this.

 

Nah, we have to create new threads about old topics now, they locked most old threads.

 

That will be great for searching.

 

Guilty!

 

Not a fan of the wax topped bottles and have a sneaking suspicion brewers use this artifact to justify a higher price point.

 

You all need to invest in a good set of port tongs!

 

I remember that thread as well, seems like a guy figured out how to trade for rarer beers using fake bottles. You can buy empty bottles on EBay for whatever reason.