OK, beer question.

[TerryH]

I'm a cheap date. Budweiser in a can is my choice of beverage. Occasionally Alaskan Amber or Newcastle, but mostly cases of Bud cans.

[svandamme]

if you gotta go cans... i found carlsberg 50cl's to work real wel on the balcony in Tenerife... not indoors though...

cans do work sometimes , but only on sunny days , as they tend to stay cooler , longer...

[911 Rod]

Brew my own at a brew place. Actually they make it and I bottle it.
Tastes good, cheap, plastic bottles don't break and I always have lots.
I enjoy all of the imports anyway they come too.

[TerryH]

Originally posted by svandamme
....... cans do work sometimes , but only on sunny days , as they tend to stay cooler , longer...

If your beer is getting warm.... DRINK FASTER!!

[svandamme]

Originally posted by TerryH
If you beer is getting warm.... DRINK FASTER!! :beer:

see, that might work in normal areas
but Tenerife is almost the equator

between 12 and 2 , you'de have to shotgun all beers the moment you get em out of the fridge


we're talking taste&style here, not drinking abilities...
i have no insecurity about ability to process alcihol...i'll do marathons... sprints are just juvinile...

[TerryH]

Garage hangings. Christmas gift from wife.

[stuartj]

Off the tap is far and away superior. Usually. There's taps and taps. A good publican takes pride in his kegs and taps- and most importantly, his lines. And in educating his bar staff. Guinness can only be taken off the tap, ofcourse and then preferably in Dublin. Same with the superlative Belgians.

[azasadny]

Huge difference! Always go with the beer thats "on tap", bottled is a distant 2nd and beer in a can is almost undrinkable, unless it's Guinness in a nitrogen capsule can, then it's OK.

[snowman]

Wine is clearly better than beer. Bottle, of course, or keg real oak. Box or can, NEVER.

[stuartj]

Originally posted by snowman
Wine is clearly better than beer. Bottle, of course, or keg real oak. Box or can, NEVER.

Well, that may be. But if you sit down with a winemaker at the end of a hard day, you'll generally be handed a coldie. :-)

[stevepaa]

Originally posted by svandamme

guiness is better in dublin, and according to the cabdrivers
it's even better in a low key , old brown pub than in a fancy pug in temple bar area

actually Guiness is delivered fresh everywhere in Ireland, and it is better there.

[stuartj]

They take the pouring (and cellar care of) a Guinness very very seriously in the Emerald Isle. Bar staff get trained and accredited by the brewery. Often marked by the 4 leaf clover patterned on the head of a pint straight off the tap- always a good sign.

[MikeCT]

I think the difference in taste would come from bottled beer being naturally carbonated (CO2 is a by-product of yeast during fermentation) while keg and can beer is force carbonated. Commercial breweries are able to regulate pressure in their conditioning fermentors so that a desired amount of carbonation is left in the beer for bottling. The biggest difference is probably perception, cans seem cheap. I'd bet that in a blind taste test there wouldn't be a difference from can beer and kegged beer. I don't drink much canned beer but there certainly is a difference between bottles and kegs. It's probably due to freshness or conditioning or a combination of both. Some beers might taste better after they are conditioned longer in a bottle than served fresh from a keg or vise versa. Bottled beer will sometimes have yeast left in the beer so that the conditioning continues. Alcohol content also has a role in the shelf life of a beer. A beer with a high ABV will stay fresher longer. St Bernardus claims their Abt 12 (10.5%) can be aged something like 15 years, I wouldn't try that with a Budweiser. Exposure to light would also have an affect on the flavor. UV rays break down alpha-acids from the hops which will give beer that skunky flavor. Oxidization can be another cause for off flavors, like a cardboard taste. A bar with leaks in there tap lines could have bad keg beer.

[K.B.]

There are 3 main questions being considered here.

1. What container is the beer stored in?

2. What container is the beer drunken from?

3. What do your taste buds like?

1. There are exceptions, but generally the beer is made the same no matter what it is going to be packaged/stored in. Most beers are stored in either aluminum or glass.

2. Mostly people drink beer out of either aluminum can or glass container ( or at partys - plastic or styrofoam cups.)

3. Many people say they prefer tap beer to can beer, but kegs are generally made out of aluminum just as beer cans are. Perhaps the surface area that contacts the beer in a keg is lower for the volume contained than the surface area in a beer can. If my lips touch the aluminum in a can, I seem to be able to detect the flavor of the aluminum more than if I pour it into a glass.

Some people grow used to that aluminum flavor and actually like it. Other people like the "Skunky" flavor of a beer stored in a clear bottle like Corona that is subjected to growing other cultures besides the active yeast culture.

It may depend on whether you are drinking an ale or a lager, or something else. Ale yeast cultures are pretty much done right away while lagers keep going sort of like the "active cultures" in yogurt. The beer yeast cultures are definitely affected by the material the container is made out of. Some people believe that trace amounts of aluminum build up in your body and eventually cause alzheimers. Now where did I put the other cans of beer I just bought...................

[svandamme]

one more thing...
bottled heavy beers, don't travel well
don't drink em right after moving em.