Wax Seals: Why?

To look fancy, maybe one in a billion cases it actually prevents a seal from being compromised maybe. I hate those and foil coverings because I'm always afraid they'll end up in my beer

 

Why wax seals?

One of Paw-Paw's favorite sayings comes to mind:

To make you ask questions.



RIP, H.I.!

 

Maybe the wax is there to make you work harder for the precious content.

 

1.) It looks cool.
2.) It drives up the perceived value of the product, i.e. "if it's so fancily packaged it must be worth more money". Two cents of wax adds a lot more than two cents to the price. Just smart business.

 

AFAIK Terrapin specifically only does this for their limited release and one-off release beers. I agree with everyone else that it is done to make the beer look more fancy and to drive up the perceived value a little bit. I read your review, glad you enjoyed the Cherry W-n-B as much as I did! The people I have shared it with didn't enjoy it as much as I did and thought the cherry flavor took away from the beer but I disagree. I still have another bottle laying around for a special occasion. You should try the Cinnamon Roll'd W-n-B if you ever come across it it also has a wax seal on it but there is delicious beer hiding underneath it.

 

I believe one notion is that if your kid/wife's friend/insert other random house guest is rifling through your beers, the wax will indicate that the beer is special/looks different than the others and be noticed, and generally the PITA part of opening might make them choose something else.

FYI The Bruery membership this year included a "Whaleshark" bottle opener, which is little goofy looking, at the same time kind of intense, but man does it slice through wax like it's nothing. Looks like you can buy them on Etsy if you aren't doing a full embargo on waxed bottles.

 

This is correct - color was off and wax only extended like a half inch below the cap, but I think the best and most pathetic run he took at it was like colored foil or something? Maybe it was a different jackass, as there was a couple counterfeiters going on at one time.

 

Shoot, you're right, I forgot social media existed.

 

It would be interesting watching someone trying to bootleg this wax job with the cereal built in...

 

Wax makes it more rare/special. And by adding wax, they can easily add an extra $10 to the price.

 

Cue Greg's Beer Reviews... adds cost to the beer!

 

They are trying to be nostalgic for earlier times, when a wax seal was commonly used. I believe it was mainly used for hard spirits. Also Makers Mark used it and became symbolic with top shelf,until they were bought out by Sunatory beverage in Japan. (I am sure the bourbon is the same) , since there is a high turnover with beer it would not be practical to use wax. It is a modern gimmick for beer .

 

It's decorative, mostly. I'm sure you can age your beer, and stuff. But. Meh.

 

I'm not really a liquor drinker but I'm fairly sure in 2018 that makers mark isn't considered top shelf. They definitely made the wax seal famous though.

 

I enjoy the wax. After opening enough they become easy to open.

 

I like the wax. Let’s me know that when I’m drunk and opening the fridge I shouldn’t touch the bottle.

 

Yes, it's my understanding as well that the cork was coated in wax before insertion in the bottle and so far as I can tell this was a control to ensure that they had a tight seal and could conduct their measurements, etc. The indications are that the seal was complete.

It certainly does seem different than putting the cork in a wine bottle, or capping a beer bottle, and then dipping in wax because the wax covers any possible opening from the outside and is not in between, say, the cork and the glass. But the critical question would be, "Does that difference make any difference?"

If either a corked wine bottle or a beer bottle capped with a crown is waxed, that is done effectively by dipping the end of the bottle a couple of inches into a pan of hot wax. The wax then coats and sticks to the outside of the neck of bottle and should completely cover any possible oxygen ingress point. Wax when hot enough to be liquid enough for dipping has also expanded. As the bottle is dipped and then pulled out the wax begins to cool around the neck and also shrinks. So there should be a tight seal if the dipping is done correctly.

Effectively the sealing effect of the wax should be much the same even though the method is different.

As many have pointed out, if the beer is not going to be cellared for an extended period of time the effect of waxing the bottle mostly appearance or marketing and not much on preservation of the liquid inside. If I'm bottling an IPA, waxing it would probably be a waste of wax and time, however, if I'm bottling a Barley Wine and it's going to sit in the cellar for 20 years....

 

Just to fucking annoy us.

 

Actually it's targeted at annoying you in particular. The rest of us are just innocent bystanders...