Ok, dumb question time. Why's bottled beer, generally, crap?
I guess I don't mean crap but "not like the real thing"
Does it contain preservatives that affect the taste? Or is it carbonation? 
(although I've had bottled beers that are not fizzy they don't seem to work 
either).

The bottled beers which I prefer are the stronger ones like McEwans 
Champion, the stronger Fullers beers, stout (eg Devout Stout - Friar 
Tuck's-an 8% Imperial Stout) to name a couple.
Cheers!

Are you buying Bottle Conditioned Beers (CAMRA's Real Ale in a Bottle) 
or Run-Of-The-Supermarket beers?
BCB's range from OK to very good, but most ROTS are pretty vile. They're 
filtered and pasteurized to keep longer, but all I can taste in them is 
a sickly caramel taste, so I never buy them any more.

Further to my reply above, I'm still trying to get a reply to the 
question of why don't I get this caramelly taste in ROTS lagers. I know 
they're crap beers, but frankly I'd prefer one of the ROTS lagers to a 
ROTS beer. But surely they're also pasteurized?
Or doers anyone know different?

On 11 Mar, 17:33, KeithS  wrote:
> Further to my reply above, I'm still trying to get a reply to the
> question of why don't I get this caramelly taste in ROTS lagers. I know
> they're crap beers, but frankly I'd prefer one of the ROTS lagers to a
> ROTS beer. But surely they're also pasteurized?
> Or doers anyone know different?

Not all supermarket bottled beers are pasteurised, some might even be
carefully pasteurised & still taste OK or better (Anchor Steam, etc
are pasteurised, but IMO taste very good).

I'm not sure why pasteurised ales might taste worse than lagers - I
would've thought that the delicate flavour of lager would be more
likely to be impaired by pasteurisation.

The other option to pasteurisation or bottle-conditioning is
filtration of some sort, normally sterile filtration (i.e. 0.45microns
IIRC - where the idea is to remove any 'bugs' to help keep the beer
fresher longer). Filtration robs flavour & colour, but you can add
more in to account for both.

Talking of BC & supermarkets, AFAIK all supermarket BCs have been
sterile-filtered before then reseeding with fresh yeast - not exactly
most people's idea of 'real'?
cheers
Mike.

KeithS wrote:
> Further to my reply above, I'm still trying to get a reply to the
> question of why don't I get this caramelly taste in ROTS lagers. I know
> they're crap beers, but frankly I'd prefer one of the ROTS lagers to a
> ROTS beer. But surely they're also pasteurized?
> Or doers anyone know different?

I've had Hop Back Summer Lightning in both cask and (BCA) bottle form.
There is little to choose between them. Both excellent. So it is possible.

-- 
Brian

On Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:23:41 +0000, KeithS  wrote:

>
>Are you buying Bottle Conditioned Beers (CAMRA's Real Ale in a Bottle) 
>or Run-Of-The-Supermarket beers?
>BCB's range from OK to very good, but most ROTS are pretty vile. They're 
>filtered and pasteurized to keep longer, but all I can taste in them is 
>a sickly caramel taste, so I never buy them any more.

I seem to find the summer(y) beers, quite hoppy - work pretty well in
bottles - for example the Wychwood stuff, St Peters Ale and so on
works out OK if you're on a night in <hic!>

Cheers - Neil
------------------------------------------------
Digital Media MVP : 2004-2009
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs

KeithS wrote:
> Further to my reply above, I'm still trying to get a reply to the 
> question of why don't I get this caramelly taste in ROTS lagers. I know 
> they're crap beers, but frankly I'd prefer one of the ROTS lagers to a 
> ROTS beer. But surely they're also pasteurized?
> Or doers anyone know different?

Supermarkets sell what people take off the shelves.  Sometimes this happens 
because of effective marketing either generally or at point-of-sale.  Fancy a 
cracking good gueuze - well most supermarket customers would want their money 
back.  The other thing to remember is that anything in a supermarket is brewed 
down to a price and then the price is cut more.

So there you have it : Mass produced beer for mass consumption. (The answer is 
to educate the masses which for those that have forgotten is the main purpose of 
beer festivals.)

-- 
Peter 'Prof' Fox
Multitude of things for beer, cycling, Morris and curiosities at 
<http://vulpeculox.net>
2 Tees Close, Witham, Essex, England    +44 (01376) 517206

My favourite bottled beer is the white beer Etalon. It is a Ukrainian
lager.
Leffe is also very good.
Netto is about to sell Bishop's Finger for 99p a bottle.

Offramp wrote, On 03/12/2009 11:00 AM:

> My favourite bottled beer is the white beer Etalon. It is a Ukrainian
> lager.

Etalon is brewed in the same manner as a Bavarian-style wheat beer,
which uses a top-fermenting yeast.  It is *not* a lager.

> Leffe is also very good.

This is also not a lager.

In message <gpafgc$et4$1@localhost.localdomain>, Peter Fox 
 wrote

>  The other thing to remember is that anything in a supermarket is 
>brewed down to a price and then the price is cut more.

The cost of brewing is probably the same for beer sold in supermarkets 
and in the pubs. The price charged in pubs bears no relationship to the 
cost of manufacture. For example, now that Greene King is aiming their 
leading brands at the bottom end of the market their IPA can be sold by 
some pubs for less than £1 pint but in others at £2.50+. Same brewery, 
same beer and probably the same dray delivering it.

>
>So there you have it : Mass produced beer for mass consumption. (The 
>answer is to educate the masses which for those that have forgotten is 
>the main purpose of beer festivals.)

It is not unknown for small brewers to produce the same quality of beer 
as that disliked by many as the national blands.  Just calling something 
real ale or that saying that it comes from a small brewer doesn't 
necessarily make it good.

The publican or cellar-man also makes a massive difference to the 
quality of the ale on sale,  either from the main producers or a micro 
brewery. In my area, which is not noted for pubs of distinction, I 
occasionally find a good tasting pint brewed by one of the big players 
in the market. Unfortunately if I go back to the same pub a day later I 
will be served with something with the same name but tasting completely 
different. Many of the brewery tied/managed houses don't seem to want 
repeat custom from real ale drinkers and so do not bother with any 
quality control.

-- 
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

I don't know.I used to be a very keen home brewer but however hard I
tried the beer tasted "dumbed down" after being in a bottle or
pressure cask.It lacked so much of the subtle nuances the beer had
before I bottled it.
 The commercial brewers are aware of this and the bottled versions of
cask ale are usually significantly stronger to compensate.
 Much bottled beer seems pleasant and drinkable but put it side by
side with a pint from a well kept cask you will be amazed at how many
extra flavours the cask version has.

On 17 Mar, 19:39, valeofbelvoirdrinker  wrote:
> I don't know.I used to be a very keen home brewer but however hard I
> tried the beer tasted "dumbed down" after being in a bottle or
> pressure cask.It lacked so much of the subtle nuances the beer had
> before I bottled it.
>  The commercial brewers are aware of this and the bottled versions of
> cask ale are usually significantly stronger to compensate.
>  Much bottled beer seems pleasant and drinkable but put it side by
> side with a pint from a well kept cask you will be amazed at how many
> extra flavours the cask version has.


OTOH, the best bottled beer -- white shield or most Belgians--has not
cask equivlaent and
works fine in the bottle.