Podcast Episode CBA 006 Draft Beer vs. Bottled Beer Welcome Welcome to the sixth episode of the craft beer showdown, where we pin two foes in the craft beer world against each other like rock em sock em robots, and see which one's head pops first. In this episode, we will take a look at a a showdown that has been going on for literally more than a hundred years, and was even written about in the first book about brewing. It's the battle of draft versus bottles. Draft Beer Draft beer as we know it today is when pressurized beer flows from a draft faucet when a draft handle is pulled. This basic idea started in 1785 with Joseph Bramah's patent on the beer engine. This originally was used to pump beer out of wooden casks. The beer would be pumped, each pump drawing beer up from the cask, out of the faucet, and into the glass. This is how the term draft came into being. The original spelling of draft was D-R-A-U-G-H-T, but was generally still pronounced as draft. In the early 20th century, the standard beer engine began to be replaced with serving from pressurized vessels. These were earlier versions of the kegs we know today. With pressurized containers came artificial carbonation. CO2 was pumped into the pressure vessels to force-carbonate the beer, and a lower pressure level was used to keep the beer fresh, pressurized, and keep constant headspace in the keg. The first artificially carbonated beer on record was the beer Red Barrel from 1936 in the United Kingdom. This lead to the battle between force-carbonated beer and real ale, beer still served in casks and drawn with a traditional beer engine. There is an entire episode in that fact alone, but more on that another time. The standard keg used today is the half barrel, which holds 15.5 gallons of beer. Depending on the beer being kegged, they can go as small as 1-5 gallons. Kegs
today are a very standardized system, with standard fittings and sizes, for the most part. This helps their widespread use. Some European beers have different fittings that align with their standards, but for the most part, it's a very standardized system. What was started as a novelty has now become the backbone of many bars, which can have literally a hundred or more taps if they choose to. Ok, that's the basics of draft beer. Let's look at the positives of Draft Beer. Positives of Draft Beer 1. The first, and probably best positive here is that kegs are great for beer. They block out light 100%, and create a great seal, keeping air out and beer in. This makes them much easier to handle than bottles. 2. Kegs are generally hard to rupture, and can be stacked and stored much easier than bottles can, especially when talking about the volume of beer in each. 3. Next, kegged beer is very eco friendly. a standard half barrel holds 15.5 gallons of beer. This means that a keg holds roughly 6.8 cases of 12 oz bottles of beer. That is 165 bottles of beer from one reusable container. A standard half-barrel keg's lifespan is 10 years, with about 6 fills per year. That's a lot of glass saved. It also takes a lot less manpower and resources to keg beer than bottle it. This is why many small breweries have kegs but no bottles. 4. Generally the best drinking experience is given with a draft beer, since using a glass is obviously required. There is no trying to explain to someone why a glass is better. Here, it's necessary. 5. Depending on the beer you are having, you generally get more for your money in draft beer because a standard pint is 16 ounces, where a bottle is generally only 12 ounces. Ok, now that you have a few of the positives, let's check out the negatives.
Negatives of Draft Beer 1. The biggest negative worth mentioning for draft beer is that draft lines can get dirty. If the bar doesn't clean their lines as they should, the lines can grow bacteria and other bad thing in them, causing off flavors and aromas in the beer when it's served. Clean lines is a very important factor in getting a good draft beer. 2. Another possible bad factor to draft beer is the bad pour. Pouring beer is an art form for sure. Not doing it correctly can leave too much head or not enough, and can even introduce bacteria and off flavors. Having the beer poured correctly in a clean, proper glass is vital for a good draft beer. If you are drinking somewhere you're not familiar with, or being served by someone you haven't dealt with before, you are taking a chance on the quality of your draft beer. 3. The last issue here is the possibility of improper CO2 pressure in the draft system. Having too little pressure for a specific beer can cause over foaming as the beer collides with the inside of the line and faucet, and over-pressuring the system can cause nothing but foam to come out. This not only makes the beer take longer to pour, but can affect the head, mouthfeel, and aroma of the beer. Having the system tuned to the proper pressure is a necessity, one that is commonly overlooked. Overall Impression Overall, draft beer is what is most commonly found when going to a good craft beer bar. The majority of craft beer fans tend to lean in this direction when ordering. More bars today have multiple tap systems, which are great for giving a better selection as well as allowing for samples of each. Draft lines are important, so I'd only get draft beer from a bar I trust. Try a sample of a draft before ordering a full one from an unknown source. As always, a proper, clean glass is vital to the overall experience. The glass can change the taste and smell, for sure. Ok, that's the info for draft beer. Before we make any decisions we need to look at bottles first. So let's take a look at them next.
Bottled Beer I talked a lot about bottled beer in the previous episode 4 of Craft Beer Showdown, bottles versus cans. For this section, I am talking about bottled or canned beer. I'm just using the term bottle for ease of reference. For those of you that didn't get that one, here's some basics on bottles. The first bottles for beer were used some 400 years ago in England. Originally bottled beer was a luxury for the more affluent beer drinkers, as well as for export. The first bottled beer was actually bottled and sold by the bottle makers to help sell their bottles. Bottling beer became more popular once bottles could be made strong enough to handle the carbonation process, and were not widely used in the beginning mainly due to their high cost of packaging and corking. Today, most breweries that distribute use bottles and have their own bottling lines. Today's bottles are commonly sealed with a crimp-on cap that is either pried or twisted off. Flip-top bottles are still used, but the majority of beer in bottles has a cap. Now that you have the basics of bottles, let's check out the positives of bottled beer. Positives of Bottled Beer 1. One of the best things about bottles that draft beer can't promise is a clean container for the beer. Generally bottles are clean, sanitary containers to store beer in, and they don't have to go down possibly dirty tap lines to get to your glass. This means that if the beer was packaged correctly from the brewery, it will be the same when it is served. 2. A second positive here is the portability factor. Draft beer is notoriously hard to move from one place to another. While you can use a growler, these are still not the easiest thing to crack open by yourself, and even at that, a growler must be consumed within a day or two of opening. Bottles, as well as cans, are just easier to move from one place to another and to transport. 3. While not as reusable as a keg, bottles can be refilled as well as recycled. Depending on the brewery and the state, bottles can be refunded and possibly refilled, meaning they can have a life past your initial beer. Glass is a very recyclable material, so even if not refillable, glass bottles are
commonly recycled and reused. 4. The last point to make here is the ease of use for a bottle or can over a draft. If you buy a case of beer, either in bottles or cans, you need next to no tools to get into your beer. The same can't be said for buying a keg. You need a draft setup to enjoy a keg at home. Like I said above, you can get a growler filled of a draft beer, but depending on the beer and who's drinking it, you may not want four of the same beer within 1-2 days from opening. Craft beer fans tend to like variety, which is why bottles are great here. you only need to finish 12 ounces of a specific beer, and there is not necessary time frame for the next one. It's a lot easier to store multiple bottles in your fridge as well. With this, there is the overall beer experience factor in bringing beer home. a growler of beer is technically beer poured twice. It's poured from the tap into the growler, then from the growler to your glass. This does affect head, retention, and carbonation. The bottle will be better for the home experience. Ok, those are some pretty simple positives. Let's check out negatives now. Negatives of Bottled Beer 1. First things first, I am going to contradict myself. I just said bottles are good because they can be reused and recycled. While this is true, and a good thing, compared to draft beer and kegs, they are not very eco friendly. Many bars do not recycle, which means their bottles end up in a landfill. Even though glass CAN be recycled, it doesn't mean that it IS. This is definitely something to keep in mind if you care about the environment, which you really should. 2. The most noticeable detractor of the bottle is it's ability to let light in, causing lightstruck beer. Dark bottles can fix this to an extent, but they still let light in. This causes chemical reactions in beer that can totally change the taste. While you may leave beer in a dark box and barely let it see the light of day, you don't know how the bar and distributor handled it. Light is one of the biggest enemies of good beer. 3. Bottles, and even cans for that matter, can be broken and ruptured fairly easily. Bottles can shatter fairly easily, causing a pretty big mess and totally ruin a good beer. Kegs don't have this issue, as it takes a pretty good force to break one of them open. knock a case of bottles over and there's a pretty good chance some are breaking. Knock a keg over and you'll just have to let it settle again. 4. Bottles have caps that hold the beer in and air out. They do a pretty good job at this, but overall can still impart off tastes and let some light
in. Bottles can also be mis-crimped, ruining the beer inside as well. Caps are great, but they're not perfect. 5. I did mention above that a great thing about bottles is that they are portable. While this is true, bottles tend to make people want to drink from them. As you hopefully know, beer should always be poured. Beer from a draft pretty much forces the consumer to use a glass, where as a bottle doesn't. This can give some people a bad impression of a beer that didn't get a chance to breathe and open up. Overall Impression Ok, with the good and the bad of bottled beer out of the way, my overall thoughts on bottled beer are very mixed. They are great because they are indeed portable, but being portable hurts the idea that you should still use a glass. Their portability does lend itself nicely to taking beer home, and no extra equipment past a bottle opener is needed when you do. As a consumer, you can age beer in a bottle, but definitely not if you bring it home in a growler. Bottles can definitely be hurt by light, which is their biggest weakness, along with being difficult to stack, store, and ship. The fact that you don't need to rely on the bar keeping their lines clean to know you're getting a good beer is a huge plus. Bad draft lines can kill a beer, so it being sealed in a bottle can be a real life saver. I do love the fact that you can have beer in 12 ounce servings instead of the standard pint that you get of draft beer, this is a plus for me, since I like to have a few different beers each time I'm out, and the 12 ounce serving size generally let's me have one more beer.the Winner And the winner is.draft Beer! Honestly, I don't think there is a solid knock out winner in this showdown. I think both racked up about the same number of points in each category. I gave it to draft beer because if I am in a bar I trust to take care of their draft system, and have the choice between a draft and a bottle of the same beer, I always go for the draft. I do feel that pouring the beer correctly from the draft faucet helps to open the beer up and release the volatiles to give the proper aroma. Poured correctly into the proper glass, a draft beer is hard to beat. Now, the biggest reason I almost gave it to the bottle here is the ability to take home and age beer with bottles. It's hard to age a draft once it's been poured. You can age a whole keg, but not a growler. I didn't count this in my decision because I looked at this as a best beer experience showdown, and I feel that a proper draft wins over the bottle every time. Start adding in variables like draft lines and light struck bottles,
and the decision gets harder. In a perfect world, I really like a draft beer more. I'm also a big proponent of creating as little waste as I can while enjoying the things I love. Draft beer uses a lot less resources to produce, ship, and consume than packaged beer does. There is no cardboard box, not glass bottle, no metal cap, and no paper labels with a keg of beer. All those parts of a bottle quite often get thrown away and not recycled at a bar, so the draft is a very eco friendly way of enjoying your beer. One last big positive that helped me with the winner is draft samples. I like to sample a few beers, or even do a flight of smaller sized beers, and that is something you just can't do with a bottle. Once it's open, you're in it for the whole thing. Closing Well, that's about it for episode 6 of the craft beer showdown. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show, please leave me a review on itunes or Stitcher Radio, I'd really appreciate it. Also, check out craftbeeracademy.com/nextshow to vote on what the next topic will be. Just leave a comment on the page and the winner will get made. Make sure to vote, or I will start doing dramatic readings of full house episodes until a winning topic is chosen. So please vote, my uncle jessie impersonation is terrible. Thanks again for listening, and hit up out craftbeeracademy.com daily for craft beer news, articles, and information to help everyone be beer smart. Until next time, Cheers! CraftBeerAcademy.Com Brian@CraftBeerAcademy.Com Resources http://www.professorbeer.com/articles/oxidative_staling_beer.html http://www.activebeergeek.com/draft-vs-bottle/ http://kegbooty.com/what%20is%20draft%20beer.htm http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/draught-vs-bottle.34951/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/draught_beer