Poll: Bottle or Can?

For the type of beer that I enjoy drinking the most I'd prefer it from a bottle. Can't imagine pouring a dark Belgian ale or a gueuze from a can. For the type of beers that I'm normally not often interested in such as IPAs, then a can would be fine.

 

After reading through this thread, its evident that both have their pro's and con's. I pour all my beers in a glass, so it does not matter to me, but i like the argument for bottles when it comes to cellaring, and canning when it comes to shipping.

 

Poll needs another choice: "both - depends on the circumstances"

I do prefer bottles for taste (less chance of getting metallic notes - though sometimes that still comes through anyway), but I will on many occasions buy an APA or IPA in cans over bottles (Founders Centennial and Sierra Nevada PA I prefer in cans).

 

Neither.

 

If I'm drinking from the actual container, I prefer cans. Though most times I'm pouring into a glass.

 

I didn't take the poll because I honestly think there is a place for both.

While at home I would rather pour the beer from a bottle into a glass. I think for the most part glass has a less likely chance of imparting negative flavors on the beer...glass to glass.

However I do spend a lot of time outside...fishing, hiking, kayaking and find it much more easy to pack around cans in these situations. There have been many times I wanted to bring a rich stout or an imperial IPA with me in a boat or on a hike but was unimpressed with the options before me. So even though it may seen odd to see a bourbon barreled aged stout in a can...it does have its benefits.

Also today, with the new can liners, beer is much less likely to take on any off flavors that use to trouble pass canning. Aluminum is a great beer vessel, light and crushable. Many times, if not pouring into a glass, while taking my first swig out of a bottle, will get a funky metallic taste from the bottle cap. It happens more than I'd like to admit and usually takes several swigs to remedy the nastiness of it.

In the end I enjoy both...for very different reasons but am glad I have the choice.

 

I'm not sure what it is, but I find myself wanting to buy cans over bottles. It's strange. It's not that I'm not interested in bottled beers, surely I am, but I find that I am always a little more interested in a beer if it's in a can.

 

Given Michigan's propensity to keep the deposit train going, I'd vote bottles.

It is fun to 'crack open' cans from time to time (I'm looking at you, Revolution), but generally I prefer glass.

 

I am a very active member of the movement to save the planet's ability to support animal life. Can you guess which I picked?

 

I prefer cans for everything except those that need conditioning. If nothing else, it makes my recycling run easier.

 

I feel like with the way a can is shaped it doesn't pour as well into a glass which is where 99% of my beer is poured rather than directly into my mouth for that reason I choose bottle. Except IPAs can all of those

 

I just feel classier pouring from a bottle. No truly rational reason; although, if I'm drinking an AAL or ALL I prefer a can that's so cold I can't really taste the beer.

 

I'm sure everyone who knows that cans get cold faster, also realize that cans will therefore also warm faster. No one ever seems to mention that part. When a "reporter" mentions cans get cold faster (I realize riverlen isn't trying to be a reporter), but the reporter doesn't mention they warm faster too, I feel like that reporter has been bought by the can industry in so much as they aren't giving all facts, all sides of the story. That's what I pay reporters for!

In any case, I can go either way can v. bottle. I will say, as a homebrewer, I can buy new bottles at like $0.80 a bottle, or just clean and reuse old bottles. So, imagine saving $4.80 on every one of your six packs.

On the other hand, my little "beer fridge" can stack in a lot more cans than bottles. Hmm.

 

Michael,

Below is something I posted a few days ago:

“I too have been having a challenging time finding fresh Firestone Walker. I have already spoken to one of my local beer retailers expressing an interest to purchase these canned beers as soon as he gets them (hopefully sometime this month). The issue is that while I may be successful for the initial offering of canned Firestone Walker to obtain fresh product how long before all that I can find is canned Firestone Walker that is over 3-4 months old? There is a serious distribution chain problem for Firestone Walker beer and I sure wish there was a long term and perpetual fix to this problem.”

Cheers!

 

I think the poll could have used some additional options, so I abstain from voting... The prevailing opinion is obviously in favor of cans, and I understand that as they are a better vessel than bottles if all other factors are equal. BUT people seem to forget that not all cans are created equally and not all cans are necessarily better than all bottles. When it comes to QA/QC, I trust certain brewers bottles more than I trust many brewers cans. In particular the brewers that use the mobile canning services are immediately suspect to me. One can identify the cans from a mobile can service by the shrink-wrap plastic labels, and they better come with canning date or I'm not touching them, because I've had a couple bad experiences already.

That said, If all things are equal then I'll take the can because they offer a greater protection against the beer being light struck.

 

Couldn't make up my mind on this matter because it depends on the occasion.

Cans for their on-the-go convenience with outdoor adventures, lake-life, and swimming pools ("pack it in, pack it out") and they protect beer from exposure to light.

Bottles because I just can't imagine life without the world-class beers of Belgium and Germany.

 

Agreed, don't care if I'm pouring it into a glass anyways. I prefer to drink out of a bottle over out of a can, unless of course I'm on the beach. Empty cans balance the scale, though, because they're much easier to bring in for 5-cent returns.

 

Some of the responses about "I pour it all into a drinking vessel" kind of confuse me: I also pour my beer into a glass, but I feel the vessel storing the beer to be of importance. A good beer is ruined if not stored properly, so yes it DOES matter.

 

The ONLY thing I don't like about cans is that you can't see the beer...Is it cloudy? is it clear? I don't know because it's a can of beer.