Posted on 03/11/2023 6:04:43 AM PST by where's_the_Outrage?
(NEXSTAR) – You can get it by the glass, the can, the growler or the keg. But for some reason, you can’t guzzle it from a plastic two-liter.
Beer — at least in the United States — is rarely sold in plastic bottles. The most common mediums are glass bottles and aluminum cans, with the exception of the occasional “drinkable ornament” around the holidays. (We’re looking at you, Miller Lite.) Plastic bottles, meanwhile, are rarely ever seen in the beer aisle, despite being widely embraced by the juice and soft-drink industries.
Why is that? Well, as it turns out, beer tends to lose its carbonation and become stale in plastic bottles, whereas soda does not.
“Plastic is simply not a good package for beer,” said Chuck Skypeck, the director of technical brewing projects at the Brewers Association. “The molecular structure of most plastics is not good at keeping carbonation in the package/product or keeping oxygen out to prevent staling.”
“Putting it another way, both cans and glass are superior packages in regards to delivering beer to consumers with the freshness and carbonation levels that brewer intends for the consumer to experience,” according to Skypeck.
Another reason has to do with cost. In addition to possibly going flat, beer is also more susceptible to going “skunky” if it’s not stored in a light-filtering bottle — and light-filtering plastic bottles just haven’t caught on yet. They may even be harder to recycle, and, in some cases, more expensive to produce than cans or glass bottles, according to Gizmodo.
Then again, it’s possible that the industry’s preference for glass and aluminum has less to do with the difficulties outlined above and more to do with aesthetics. According to Skypeck, many brewers tend to believe that plastic bottles are seen as an “inferior package” that may tarnish the perception of the beer.
“Using plastic packaging can damage a brewers’ brand image both from a quality perspective and a sustainability perspective,” he said. “I can’t think of many folks that want more plastic introduced into the environment.”
Of course, not everyone in the global brewing community sees eye-to-eye. In other parts of the world, certain beers are more commonly packaged in plastic bottles, including brands that traditionally only come in glass or aluminum in the U.S. And even in the U.S., many major breweries will package beer in plastic bottles for sale at sporting events, concert venues, or places where glass might not be allowed.
At the moment, however, beer aisles across the country are bubbling over with glass bottles and aluminum cans. And it’s likely to stay that way, unless the industry suddenly takes a cue from Franzia and starts selling their beer in a box.
That could be interesting.
I very rarely have canned beer. I much prefer to have it from a draft keg in a glass or from glass containers.
If you ever get to have beer from a wooden barrel, you would be in heaven.
Water going bad. I still can't get over that idea. Usually that would involve industrial run-off, murdered people upstream, etc.
Real reason is people will not buy it.
The glass bottle is half of what you are buying. It feels colder in your hand, smoother. Your not a snot nose kid any more, sneaking beer into the demolition derby. You deserve to carry around a deadly weapon while you drink your beer just like everyone else. Much more classy than a plastic soda bottle. See? You just got more of what you didnt even know you wanted.
I swear that the taste of soda in .glass bottles was better than the taste from the new plastic bottles. I don’t know what it was about the glass bottles, but it seems that when they went to plastic, the taste just wasn’t the same. Could be all in my mind, but I hated it when they switched to plastic
Trump has personally delivered truckloads of water to nature ravaged areas several times. Spent his own money so etimes too.
To my knowledge, noone from the left in power sent anywhere near what trump has done. Instead they just criticised him for trying to make it a pr event, when the fsct is hardly anyone even k ew he did it until residents in the ravaged areas mentioned it.
“...Well, as it turns out, beer tends to lose its carbonation and become stale in plastic bottles, whereas soda does not.”
Just this morning while looking through the pantry for the BIG bottle of Bailey’s (to refill the small bottle in the liquor cabinet - medicinal purposes dontcaknow) I uncovered plastic bottles of Diet Coke and Canada Dry Tonic - both with their sides caved in — clearly all of the fizz is gone from these bottles...
Can’t defend yourself with a plastic beer bottle in a bar fight.
” Your not a snot nose kid any more, sneaking beer into the demolition derby”
No, but I remain a frugal person, and paying $10 for a 12 oz draft beer at the park seems excessive to me.
That’s why I don’t drink beer out of a garden hose. You can taste that vinyl flavor like you can when you run water through it.
The article is wrong regarding sodas. Soda drinks in plastic bottles is undrinkable swill. The plastic bottle expands and contracts with temperature change, which alters the carbonation and taste...it is flat. More so for beer unless it is a very rigid plastic bottle. Cans are not quite so bad, but the holy grail is soda made with real cane sugar in a glass bottle.
Besides a plastic bottle doesnt hack it in a bar fight .........
Soda and seltzer water does go flat in plastic bottles. Why do you think that they go so rdiculously cheap quite often, but beer does not?
“Plastic is simply not a good package for beer,” said Chuck Skypeck, the director of technical brewing projects at the Brewers Association. “The molecular structure of most plastics is not good at keeping carbonation in the package/product or keeping oxygen out to prevent staling.”
Putting it another way, soda and beer dissolve the plastic.
Also you can’t poke holes in them to make-a temporary pipe to smoke your weed.
I saw BUD in plastic bottles sold at a NY Yankees game in 2012.
Yup, especially when it warms up. Pepsi in a glass bottle never had an offish taste to me like soda in plastic has, even when it got war.m
A more important question is why isn’t wine required to have calorie/nutrition info on the bottles LIKE EVERY OTHER FOOD OR BEVERAGE IS REQUIRED TO HAVE?
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