I received a heads up from The Wall Street Journal's designated reader of A Good Beer Blog, Carl, that the paper has posted an interesting article on US craft brewers using cans rather than or in addition to bottles. A taste test ensued and I will spoil the ending for you:
Details are in the accompanying chart, but of the 16 beers tasted, canned brew, in average scores, rated four of the five top spots, though the top-rated beer was Stone's India Pale Ale in a bottle with a rating of 8.8. The canned Scape Goat Pale Ale popped an 8 and Old Chub Scottish Ale a 7.8. Two other canned offerings scored higher than 7.There is much more to the article than just the scoring, however, including a useful history of the canning process so have a read. Nice to note that I have a Stone's IPA in the stash just waiting for a quick note sort of review.One other thing became clear -- on the taste front, cans weren't much of an issue. A few beers that panelists conjectured might be cans were actually bottles. And of the nine canned beers, Tony identified two -- and not because he detected a metallic taste but because he thought he'd recognized the beers from previous tastings. Jeff called one can correctly. On the other hand, sipping a different beer I knew to be canned, he joked, "If this comes from a can, I'm buying Alcoa stock."
Comments
blork - August 29, 2005 1:05 PM
This is the "summer of lagers" for me -- primarily because it has been so hot and humid, and a good crisp lager goes well with such days. As such, I've been drinking a lot of European lagers in the past few months -- none of them obsure by any means. I've enjoyed it as a nice change from a decade or two of darker beers.
All that to say, back in early July, while I was pouring a 500 ml can of DAB into a tall glass, an inlaw commented "those European beers always taste better out of a can." Ding! A light went on, and I realized he was right. At least as far as lagers and pilsners are concerned, I think the can preserves them better than bottles.
Knut Albert Solem - August 30, 2005 4:28 AM
I agree. Especially German pilsners IMHO, and I would say the same for Bavarian Weizen as well.
At the same time, I feel that when they started selling Grolsch in cans instead of the old-fashioned bottle, it was definitely a loss. But that has much more to do with nostalgia (getting drunk on the stuff in Holland a few decades ago) and what pleases the eye and not the palate.
And it also a matter of a sensible use of resources. I find it silly to ship bottles of bland lager across the world, not to mention Lufthansa serving bottles instead of cans aboard their planes
- http://beerblog.motime.com/post/464692
We have the same discussion here in Norway at the moment, with some complaints about metallic taste of the Mack beers - see "New brews from the Midnight Sun
http://beerblog.motime.com/post/469044.
Cheers,
Knut Albert in Norway
Beered - August 31, 2005 9:46 AM
Strange how we all coordinate postings without a phone call the morning before. Actually, Baba Beer just created an Alan-like "stash" at a previously undiscovered shop in Virginia. Among the finds were two canned west coast styled beers.
I await all y'alls thinkings...though (even at this early hour) I am moved to face the gasoline prices and drive over to the SpiritHaus.
Alan - August 31, 2005 9:53 AM
And it is most excellent that the shop is called Norm's.
Reif - August 31, 2005 6:38 PM
I generally prefer bottles and was surprised when Capitol Brewery in Madison, WI started putting its Amber in cans about a year ago. Shockingly, it was better in cans, much better! Capitol’s Amber tastes distinctly crisper, fresher, and much more like it does on tap when served in a can as opposed to a bottle. This was an eye-opener to aluminum for me.
Rene Levell - December 22, 2006 5:18 PM
I usually mix and match import selections from my local government store as the best deals on price are the 500ml single cans. Many of the brands are recognizable European brands such as DAB,Holsten,Lowenbrau,Stella,Veltins, etc are available and seemingly stock is always fresh.I have no problem with "beer in a can" and have never come across taste issues.