Has anyone ever bought beer in plastic bottles? I don't even like to buy it in cans (although I will buy Guinness in cans on occasion because of the nitrogen widget). Anywho, so I'm at the store and I see some new Belgium beer on the cheep and grab a couple cases and toss them in with some German beer I like. I get home and I'm loading these in the garage and I'm thinking, this case is light. I look to see if the bottles were smaller (sometimes they do that you know!). Nope, standard size. I packed all the 6 packs in the fridge. THEN I grab one out the next day, it's in friggen PLASTIC! With an ugly plastic cap too! Just like a Coke or Pepsi Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! And you know what? I swear I can taste plastic in the beer.... :S I writing a letter. ANYONE here know how to write WTF in Belgium??! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I used to make beer and bottle it in both brown plastic bottled with screw caps and old glass beer bottles and it makes no difference to the taste
Beer tastes like piss to me so I've never really drank it but others seem to enjoy it. I wouldn't think what container it came in would really matter as lonng as it was cold.
I don't drink beer (or cider) often, but when I do, I still prefer it from bottles. For a time, I made beer for my family and friends and plastic beer bottles were far easier to use than glass bottles and a capping tool. I also make wine on occasion and that is always placed in glass bottles although I am not adverse to a screw cap. Science has demonstrated that cork, being permeable, leads to a considerable amount of wine becoming tainted and that screw caps do not interfere with the natural process of aging the wine. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Making your own beer tends to produce an inconsistant taste in first place making compairisons like that hard to make. Coke for instance has a very consistant taste and most definetely tastes different in a can vs glass bottle vs plastic bottle. The plastic and metal of the those containers leach into the product, just enough to make the taste a little off compaired to glass which does not really leach out. It's usually not a big difference though, I've never noticed it with plastic bottles and beer but cans sometimes add a slight metallic twing to it. (tennents comes to mind)
I'm a huge fan of craft beer and I admittedly do have quite an affinity for good whiskey- so I can definitely offer an opinion on beer that's either been served or stored in various containers. Plastic is OK as a serving container. Plastic cups don't tend to contaminate the beer with any unpleasant flavors. Many home-brew kits use plastic buckets during the first fermentation process, and that stuff still tastes like hoppy-malty nectar of the gods. I had a Belgian triple a month ago that was fermented in a plastic bucket. Many of the brewer's festivals I've been to over the years give everyone plastic cups/mugs for sampling, and they don't seem to impart any flavors into the beer. You have to think however - what's so special about beer that would make it taste more "plastic" than anything else that's served in a plastic bottle? Juice doesn't taste like plastic. Heck - bottled water doesn't even taste like plastic, and water is one of the most blank canvases onto which contaminants can impart flavors into. The only beer that I've had that was actually stored in plastic bottles was this swill that was ordered for a wedding party (it was Michelob ultra or something). I also recall drinking beer from a plastic bottle at an airport. In those instances, I could not taste the plastic - but the the taste of the beers themselves (or absence thereof) left something to be desired.
Yeah, I'm sure it's all in my head. However, the plastic bottled beer actually didn't taste right. It also didn't feel right - I mean the bottle. I don't like it. I'll finish what I bought mind you Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! but that'll be the end of my experimentation with plastic beer bottles.
Try pouring it in a glass, and see if there is a difference. I prefer glass too, but I could be convinced to switch based on the weight alone. I would use cans, but they don't put my favorite brand in them.
I don't drink beer directly from any kind of bottle nowadays anyway. If it's not in a pint glass or a stein, then it's a no go.
I drink mostly out of a plastic beer mug now because I got one which you freeze so the beer is super cold which is great in summerPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Yeah, I'm going to pour it into a cold glass. I used to have some pewter steins but I was under the impression they were better with warm beer? And that the older ones have lead. My grandfather used to keep "frosted" glass mugs for beer in the freezer. He claimed they got colder quicker than non-frosted and were "specifically made for beer drink-n". Whether or not this is true, I'm not sure..... I definitely don't like the plastic though. Too light. Too much give to the bottle, like a pop bottle. It's cheapening the "experience" of having a nice beer - even if it doesn't change the flavor.... much. SO, frozen beer glass it is Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Commercially made Beer has quite a short shelf life compared to wines and liquor. I wonder if the beer you tried may have been close-dated? Different brews can also have very unique tasting notes and perhaps it was this that you attribute to the plastic container. Frosted beer glasses rule! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Yeah, it tasted better in a frosted ice-cold glass - I guess it was in my head Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!