Home Brewing Supplies – The Beer Bottle
If you classify yourself as a casual beer drinker you probably don’t have much, if any, problems in picking up a case of cans, putting them in the cooler and enjoying. The difference between cans and bottles probably never crosses your mind, nor should it.
If, on the other hand, you fancy yourself as something of a beer aficionado you may very well never buy beer in cans because you are certain the product tastes much better out of a bottle than it does coming out of a can.
This difference of opinions has been around ever since the first cans came on the scene early in the last century and does not show any signs of being settled anytime soon.
The real question is why bottles are still with us at all. Some 60% of all beer sold at retail is sold in cans. Other advantages of cans are:
- Cans protect the beer from harmful UV light
- Cans are easily recycleable
- Cans are not subject to breakage and are transported much easier
- Somehow, cans just seem more “user friendly” than bottles
Yet, despite all these advantages, the bottle continues to have a secure place in many refrigerators.
And well it should! Beer bottles have been around since the 1600s and have been produced in hundreds of different shapes and sizes over the centuries.
Today, in the U.S., most bottled beer comes in a type of bottle that is known as a “long neck” and is the industry standard bottle, or “ISB”. Also better known as “longnecks” these bottles have the same capacity regardless of the brewer. The design itself came about to provide an air cushion on top of the beer to help absorb the pressure of carbonation and reduce the risk of the bottle exploding from the pressure.
Fun fact: Longnecks are recycled about 16 times each.
Other U.S. bottle styles are:
- “Bombers” with a capacity of 22 ounces
- “Fortys” which holds 40 ounces; most often used for malt liquor
- “Growlers” These hold a U.S. half gallon and are used frequently by home brewers and also by brewpubs to sell take out beer.
- “Stubby” a short bottle holding a bit over 11 ounces, it is no longer much used in the U.S. except by Red Stripe Brewing which has built a whole marketing campaign around their “ugly” bottle
To adequately protect the beer inside from UV light, bottles should be amber, or green. Beer packaged in clear glass is very susceptible to being “skunked”, or destroyed.
Beer that is sold in clear glass is usually part of a marketing campaign.
Beer remains one of the most popular beverages in the world, ranking just behind water and tea, regardless of how it is packaged.
Author: Jesse L Moore
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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