I'm sitting here swigging a Lagunitas Sucks straight from the bottle and it's reaffirming a thought I had with last year's batch; I like this better from the bottle. For me, the citrus hop flavor of the beer is more pronounced from the bottle, with the malts taking a more pronounced role from the glass. With Heady Topper being the obvious benchmark, what beers do you enjoy more straight from the delivery vessel? Cans in general seem to get downed more often for me without a glass, maybe that's part of an overall trend.
my area just got lagunitas this week. I am polishing off a Cappuccino stout and i plan on diving into a Lagunitas Sucks next. i got one as an extra in a trade last year and poured it. I liked it a lot. I think i'll try my first from this batch straight from the bottle as per your suggestion.
I'd have to agree with the can sentiment. I don't tend to drink from a bottle but I love daisy cutter and modus hoperandi straight from the can. Maybe pale ales are just better from cans?
I also agree that I'd rather drink from a can. I don't like drinking from bottles and often when I have a can it's in a setting where I do not also have a glass. Great beers to drink right from the can: Ska ESB, Old Chub, White Rascal, Upslope Brown.
While I prefer glassware on almost all occasions, I sometimes find myself without it. When I go up north hunting and fishing, I have brought both cans and bottles. Not only are they easier to dispose of, I prefer the fresher aspects of the canned beer. I don't really need to worry about that though, because I can usually find Surly that has been canned within a week of purchasing.
Prefer beer that is poured into a glass and stored in a glass bottle! Why? i don't trust that aluminum doesn't transfer to the beverage on some scale. i try and limit my heavy metals and i know when i'm drinking beer on tap or eating anything canned i'm definitely getting my fair share.
You know that cans are lined so that there is no contact between metal and beer, right? And you also know that kegs are made of stainless steel, not aluminium, right?
In college, I used to drink from nothing but cans. Bud, Natty, Busch, PBR, etc.... Then when I first started getting into craft, it was nothing but bottles and I actually scoffed at cans, like they were the bottles' poor, homeless counterparts. Now I'm back to thinking cans are fucking awesome. Heady Topper, Ten FIDY, Jai Alai, Marooned on Hog Island.... just some recent things I've enjoyed from the can. And felt totally cool drinking out of them.
I honestly have to say that I prefer buying a six pack of bottles than a sixer of cans. I think, at this point, my mind just associates bottles with quality and cans with the throwback days of Bud Light. Assuming it's a craft beer, I prefer to pour both into glassware and appreciate the appearance/aroma. But if I'm in a situation where glassware isn't an option (winter camp, hunting, fly fishing, backpacking, camping, etc), then I'm perfectly happy to drink out of either a can or a bottle. It makes no difference. And typically those beers are easily obtainable session beers that I've had a dozen times. Old Chub and Crow Peak's Pile-o-Dirt Porter don't need to be wholly appreciated every time. So for me, I haven't noticed much of a quality/taste difference between beers I've poured into a glass from either a bottle or a can (growlers and draft is where I find the differences). But my mind still associates cans with cheap beer. That said, there are some arguments for breweries to put beer into cans. I've asked the question of why cans or why bottles to several brewers (including our local brewery that is going to start canning soon). Most say that there are several benefits of canning over bottling. Absolutely no light penetrates, the cans are more recyclable, and putting beer into cans is more economically efficient. As a homebrewer, we just spent two hours bottling our latest batch (a Grand Cru). Between the sanitizing, transfering, filling, capping, and cleaning up, and now having to wait at least a week to try a carbonated brew...I say, just throw it in a keg!
If a beer is available in both can or bottle (see Sierra Nevada Pale Ale/Torpedo, New Belgium Fat Tire/Sunshine/Ranger, etc), I always grab the canned version. It just seems like it tastes "crisper." Also, there's the issue of portability, accessibility to any location, cools faster, weighs less, less chance of oxidation and skunking, don't need a bottle opener...plus, I think craft beer in a can just looks cool Man, I can't wait for summer to be pounding Sierra Nevada from a can. It seriously just made summer better last year...love those bright green cans!
I do enjoy the experience of a beer in a glass. That said, I haven't bought a craft beer in a can yet. And it is largely perception vs. reality. In my peanut brain, there is the built-in association that craft beer comes in bottles and I don't remember to browse the cans when I go shopping. Cans are the better package for reasons already mentioned (heck, a keg is just a big can), but there is the perception of "cheapness". I'd go with the can.
I used to have the perception of bottles=craft and cans=crap, then the guy at the liquor store introduced me to Dale's. I actually remember saying something along the lines of "but it comes in a can?" with a perplexed look on my face. Now, if something comes in both bottles and cans I always grab the cans.
At some functions you're not allowed to have glass. The pool, softball games, etc. I used to have to drink Labbatt from the can, now I can drink the good stuff!
If I am not pouring into a glass, I prefer drinking from battles over cans. That said, for simply a storage vessel, I much prefer cans.
Yeah! Every time I see a 12 pack of canned SNPA I just want to be on the river or at a BBQ or sitting around the fire, and sipping straight from the can. Idk what it is!
I agree that I am much more willing to drink a good beer from a can versus bottle. I think this is because the opening is larger and flows better than from a bottle. I drink some of the Surly brews from can such as Hell which is one of my all time favs. I really don't like drinking craft brews from bottle, only the typical corona, ML, etc straight from bottle.
I have no problems drinking from either the can or bottle when there aren't glasses available. But, to pretend that certain beers somehow defy the physics of beer being better from a glass, is ridiculous. The Alchemist printed "drink straight from the can" not because they necessarily thought the beer tastes better that way, but as a reminder to not take the beer, or your beer drinking, too seriously.
Well I do think that various brews are much better from glass rather than bottle or can. Part of the tasting experience is sight and more importantly smell. These all go into the overall experience of the tasting. You are right that beer is just that and should not be taken too seriously but nevertheless, appreciated. But I do think a glass makes a difference. Now does a snifter, versus a tulip, etc make a huge difference??? That is really up for debate.
I love beer straight from the can. Seems to concentrate the flavors. I also prefer Heady and Furious from a can rather than tap.
Just bought Kostritzer Schwarzbier in 16oz can,mouthfeel is much fuller than from a bottle and seems not as thin also.I know it may be all perception but I don't give a damn,it just tastes better.Cheers
yeah i knew the cans were lined. Its my understanding that some kegs are actually made of aluminum. i am hoping most are not.
In the general definition of this you are very correct, although the health impact of aluminum on the body is at the moment controversial.
If it's a beer I haven't reviewed before or something that really needs a glass to get the full experience, I will pour into a glass. I have no qualms about drinking beers like Anchor Steam from the bottle.
