The Bar Towel

The new bottle format is out now at LCBO. (It's been available in the U.S. for a couple of years now).

Judging by the date code, and taste, it's very fresh. Sweet and rich with that inimitable Urquell taste. Much better than the green bottle IMO - I'd guess, all things equal, less light gets in to damage the taste. Not sure how it rates though to an equally fresh can. I will do a blind tasting soon of these two.

Gary

The brown bottles at summerhill and crossroads each had a bottling date in mid May, so just over a month old. The freshest cans I have found were canned on April 10.

In my own comparison the bottle was much more complex with rich maltiness and a very dry and fresh tasting saaz finish. I had the bottle in a Karmeliet tulip which allowed a massive head with microfoam to last indefinitely. I had the can in a glass beer mug and there was no foam after about a minute. I found the bottle to have a cleaner profile, and it wasn't as watery as the can.

Interesting, I later did a similar comparison. I agree the beer in the bottle seemed to have more body. I always wonder if pasteurization affects the taste differently too, presumably the process doesn't impact both in exactly the same way. (I sometimes feel I can taste a slight cooked note in the can). The vital thing about the bottle is, it needs to have a comparable degree of light exclusion as the can. The can has 100%, but does even the brown bottle..? Here I am never sure.

Gary

If memory serves, brown bottles block something like 85% (I wouldn't quote that number) of the damaging UV rays, where green is considerably less and cans are 100%. But some large brewers who use green or clear glass for marketing reasons use tetra-hop extract, which should be "immune" to skunking. I wonder if maybe they would use the extract for bottles, but not for the cans?

I wouldn't really expect any of this stuff to impact body, but I've been surprised before so who knows?

Well, not the light but the pasteurization, possibly. Cans conduct heat much faster than glass (and chill too, yes). So I wonder if cans are pasteurized more intensively to counteract an earlier staling. If so, the increased caramelization might perhaps reduce the body of the beer.

Gary