After having several recent experiences where, after very much liking a brew on draught I’ve come up with a somewhat less than stellar taste out of the bottle on the same beer. For the experts out there, what exactly are the differences between the two that might lead to different experiences for the taster?
Draught is almost always better. Very few exceptions.
While I would like to agree with this statement, I can only do so with an *. That * is that draught requires properly-cleaned and maintained glass(es), line(s) and tap(s). It seems more the rule, rather than exception, to experience some failing of those three requirements when I’m out at a bar in CA, which thereby makes the draught experience a lesser one than the bottle experience. Naja’s’ fastidious attention to clean (and proper) glassware, clean (and short) lines, and clean taps is part of what makes them the best bar in the world.
I personally love draft. In a bottle you can’t get your nose into it and smelling is half of getting all the flavor.
Although, I have heard that bottles of Stella are better than draught i think for sanitary reason, I am not so sure.
This is why we pour the beer into a glass before drinking it.
Definitely what Brian said. Most beers in bottle are flash-pasteurized so that could certainly alter the flavor. But as draft beer is ‘fresh’ and usually unpasteurized, it therefore has a higher order of handling requirements and if you’re not in a place where they take line cleaning seriously that could reduce the enjoyment of that ‘special’ tap beer.
There are three reasons why draft beer tastes better. Brent mentioned one of them. Another is that for at least some breweries, the bottled beer is filtered and the draft beer isn’t. The third reason is that heat and time are the enemy of beer. The draft beer was much more likely to have been refrigerated the entire time while the bottled beer may have sat out in an unrefrigerated warehouse. In addition, draft beer will usually turn faster than bottles.
Well obviously I drink beer in a glass, whether it came from a bottle or draught, but a bottle just doesn’t do it for me like from the tap.
Thanks Rick. I really notice it when drinking these seasonal and vintage beers. That all makes some sense. I picked up a six pack of the Deschutes Jubelale that I loved on draft and it doesn’t quite measure up from the bottle. The sweetness sticks out more and its seems heavier. A nice beer but not as enticing as it was from drought over a month ago.
Then why does it matter that you can’t stick your nose in the bottle? Your previous post made it sound like you don’t pour bottled beers into a glass before drinking it.
It may be my hometown history, but I usually associate bottles with macro brews and draught with craft brew. If I have the displeasure of drinking bud light I won’t pour it into a glass.
I would think that there are many, many more craft brews available in bottle then are in draft.
GH
I think that the last of these is probably the largest reason for the taste difference. I am kind of doubting that many draft beers these days are unfiltered as I don’t see any residue in the beer from draft (which you should really see as you get towards the end of the keg). I know for a fact that all Anchor products are treated equally (both draft and bottle). They are sent through a DME filter and then flash pasteurized.
I actually think that beers often taste worse on draught than from bottle. I believe this is usually due to the factors Brian mentioned. But for breweries that bottle condition, I imagine that could also cause flavor differences? In the case of Sierra Nevada PA, the draught recipe is actually different from the bottled! Less malt and less hops = I never order it on draught (but love it from the bottle).
Interesting tidbit on the Sierra Nevada. I have had the opposite experience with some beers. It tends to be lighter examples. I’ve recently had that experience with Anchor Steam, Boont Amber Ale and Red Seal Ale. Two of those I drink from bottle so I thought familiarity could be part of it.
I’ve always been told, when visiting breweries, that’s it’s the first (pasteurization) that contributes most to the difference. The fact that they are refrigerated from brewery to bar is a side product of the fact that the kegs are unpasteurized.
First of all, if there was a residue, it would be in the first few ounces of the keg, not at the end. Anything on the bottom of the keg will be the first thing out.
Filtering is probably more of a brewery choice, but I do know breweries that filter bottles and don’t filter kegs. Part of this comes down to the issue of refrigeration. If the beer will be refrigerated until consumed, there’s less concern about something going wrong, so there’s less reason to filter. While pasteurization is damaging, I think you’re underestimating the toll that time and heat can take on a bottle of beer. Figure that a beer ages twice as fast for every 10 degrees Celsius increase over 0. So if beer sits in a warehouse at 30C (86F) for a couple of months, it’s the equivalent of sitting at 3C for 20 months… One of the big reason that beer tastes better closer to the source is because it tends to be fresher.
I don’t thing that there’s any difference between our kegs and bottles. But then we don’t filter or pasteurize our beer, we keep it refrigerated at all times, and we don’t use wholesalers, where the beer can sit in unrefrigerated warehouses for god knows how long.
MGD is cold filtered- not heat pasteurized like those other beers. That’s why I drink MGD.
Gee, I figured it was because MGD is “Triple Hops Brewed”. Up until the late 70s, all bottled beer in Oregon had to be pasteurized - this was a way of keeping Coors out of the state, because they were the first to “cold filter”. This was one of the key impediments to Craft Brewing in Oregon back then, along with fact that it was illegal to own both a brewery and a pub.
Ain’t the Oregon alcohol statutes loverly?