Draught beer vs Bottled beer

Ale · Jan 17, 2017

I always find that I prefer draft beer from the pub to bottled (or canned) beer. Even if I buy the same beer by the same brewery it always tastes better in the pub.

Is there a reason for this or is it just in my head?

JFB · Jan 17, 2017

Ale said:
I always find that I prefer draft beer from the pub to bottled (or canned) beer. Even if I buy the same beer by the same brewery it always tastes better in the pub.

Is there a reason for this or is it just in my head?

Not sure but I agree with you. Always feel a little bit cheated if I'm sat in a pub and beer didn't come from a tap.

mgkpancake · Jan 17, 2017

Ale said:
I always find that I prefer draft beer from the pub to bottled (or canned) beer. Even if I buy the same beer by the same brewery it always tastes better in the pub.

Is there a reason for this or is it just in my head?

Lots of variables. I do often times find draft to taste better as well.

Temperature swings, shelf life, light, how the product has been maintained, how long its been sitting (undisturbed), turnover; all things considered- everything is against the bottle.

From a production stand point, if you were to taste side by side bottle vs keg at the point of fill, there is little if any taste difference.

John Kimmich from the Alchemist indicates shelf life to be a big factor in hop flavor

I don't have proof that kegs are not sitting somewhere too long waiting for Wetherspoons :mrgreen: but if some variables are taken into consideration and maintained bottles can taste as good.

Cwrw666 · Jan 17, 2017

I have a feeling that squirting the beer through a beer engine is the thing that affects the taste most.

Brewed_Force · Jan 17, 2017

Also, the bottled version is often a different ABV from the draught, which can contribute to the taste.

IainM · Jan 17, 2017

I've had good beer from bottles and draught, and bad beer from bottles and draught. I think bottles and kegs are more consistent, but the quality of cask beer varies a lot. There was an interesting article in the Morning Advertiser yesterday written by the founding author of Cask Matters, about why he stopped drinking cask beer, and it amounts to the lack of training and dedication by most publicans to bring the best out of it.

willycoolj · Jan 17, 2017

I had a shipyards pale ale on tap from Wetherspoons in bath a few months ago, it was fantastic and creamy, I buy bottles of it in Tesco ,it's nicer than your normal commercial beers but not as good as draught

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Pfeffer · Jan 17, 2017

Some gas mixtures have added nitrogen for a different head, which contributes to taste. Also the priming sugar ratio is different, resulting in different carbonation and ABV.

And I'm pretty sure there's the therapeutic effect as well.

Clint · Jan 17, 2017

...are we talking about force carbonated bright beer or cask conditioned real ales vs bottled? Plus what's been said regarding draught vs bottled abv which can often vary considerably, more than priming sugar would produce...as for the Shipyard pale ale...I used to buy quite a bit from asda before starting brewing and found it quite a bitter,citrus,dry beer..I too had this on draught just before Christmas and it was as the bottled version was...no hint of creaminess. ...

Cheers

Clint

terrym · Jan 17, 2017

IainM said:
I've had good beer from bottles and draught, and bad beer from bottles and draught. I think bottles and kegs are more consistent, but the quality of cask beer varies a lot. There was an interesting article in the Morning Advertiser yesterday written by the founding author of Cask Matters, about why he stopped drinking cask beer, and it amounts to the lack of training and dedication by most publicans to bring the best out of it.

+1 on that.
A few years ago I went on an Ale Trail one evening with a friend. We went in five different pubs from the same brewery and the cask ale served up varied from "I'm taking this back" to "this is a really good pint", with shades of grey in the middle.

jceg316 · Jan 17, 2017

I try and stick to bottles where I can, unless the pub is a specialist craft beer/real ale pub. I find a lot of pubs aren't cleaning their lines properly or something, so when I have a beer from the taps it tastes bad. Bottles from these places are from larger craft breweries usually (Brewdog, Camden etc) and so have been pasteurised, filtered and are less likely to spoil.

When I'm somewhere like Craft Beer Co, Euston Tap, or one of London's many good beer places, I know their taps are good quality and well kept so will not differentiate between the two; I'll take whatever I fancy from the menu.

Ale · Jan 17, 2017

jceg316 said:
I try and stick to bottles where I can, unless the pub is a specialist craft beer/real ale pub. I find a lot of pubs aren't cleaning their lines properly or something, so when I have a beer from the taps it tastes bad. Bottles from these places are from larger craft breweries usually (Brewdog, Camden etc) and so have been pasteurised, filtered and are less likely to spoil.

When I'm somewhere like Craft Beer Co, Euston Tap, or one of London's many good beer places, I know their taps are good quality and well kept so will not differentiate between the two; I'll take whatever I fancy from the menu.

I had a short spell with a second job as a barman, I couldnt afford to be in the pub every night as a customer so decided to get paid for it instead. One thing I learned is pubs and health inspectors take cleaning beer lines very seriously. Not doing it properly results in off flavours very quickly and a lot of returned pints and that hits profits. If people get ill as well its a lot of trouble. Doesnt mean there aren't a few rogue landlords out there though who try to get away with it, but in general they should be good.

I am aware of other factors affecting flavour such as where the beer is stored, ambient temperature, how long its been left to settle. This could explain differences between pubs, but not why draught generally tastes better than bottled for me.

jceg316 · Jan 17, 2017

Ale said:
I had a short spell with a second job as a barman, I couldnt afford to be in the pub every night as a customer so decided to get paid for it instead. One thing I learned is pubs and health inspectors take cleaning beer lines very seriously. Not doing it properly results in off flavours very quickly and a lot of returned pints and that hits profits. If people get ill as well its a lot of trouble. Doesnt mean there aren't a few rogue landlords out there though who try to get away with it, but in general they should be good.

I am aware of other factors affecting flavour such as where the beer is stored, ambient temperature, how long its been left to settle. This could explain differences between pubs, but not why draught generally tastes better than bottled for me.

Interesting to know, so it's probably that they don't store the kegs properly other than it going off. I'd like to discuss the questionable flavours of some pubs but wouldn't want to name and shame...

For example, one of my ex local pubs (I've moved away from that area) had Sierra Nevada on tap. IT tasted like generic lager, so I assume there was a mistake or they were trying to pass off Stella or something as SN. They had rotating bottles so I always stuck to them.

There is a craft beer bar in Holborn I go to, the beer tastes horrible from there. For a long time I thought I hated Siren and Lagunitas, when I had their beers from other places I realsied these were really good beers and this bar has some tap problems.

Sandimas · Jan 17, 2017

Ale said:
Even if I buy the same beer by the same brewery it always tastes better in the pub.

Quite often it isn't even the same beer e.g. Doom Bar cask is brewed in Rock, Cornwall; Doom Bar bottles is brewed in Burton-upon-Trent. Breweries outsourcing bottled beers seem fairly common. And sometimes the ABV differs.

But I know what you mean, if I'm brewing a traditional ale I much prefer it from a pressure barrel than a bottle.

dad_of_jon · Jan 17, 2017

in Belgium they consider bottled beer superior to beer on tap!

as do I, at least for the beers i like :grin:

Ale · Jan 17, 2017

jceg316 said:
Interesting to know, so it's probably that they don't store the kegs properly other than it going off. I'd like to discuss the questionable flavours of some pubs but wouldn't want to name and shame...

For example, one of my ex local pubs (I've moved away from that area) had Sierra Nevada on tap. IT tasted like generic lager, so I assume there was a mistake or they were trying to pass off Stella or something as SN. They had rotating bottles so I always stuck to them.

There is a craft beer bar in Holborn I go to, the beer tastes horrible from there. For a long time I thought I hated Siren and Lagunitas, when I had their beers from other places I realsied these were really good beers and this bar has some tap problems.

What can be an issue is not rinsing the lines properly but the beer does that after the first couple of pints. The pub I worked in had the beer stored in a glorified shed in the courtyard that was higher than the bar. The beer wasnt that great there until a new landlord had it properly insulated and then the beer improved. I've got a feeling he put an air conditioning machine in there or something to mimic a cellar and a few other changes. He understood that good beer will draw in customers and not taking care of it would lose you customers.

Letting it settle properly is always a big one as well.

sausagefingers · Jan 17, 2017

willycoolj said:
I had a shipyards pale ale on tap from Wetherspoons in bath a few months ago, it was fantastic and creamy, I buy bottles of it in Tesco ,it's nicer than your normal commercial beers but not as good as draught

I was going to post the exact same thing! It's a great pint but the stuff in the bottle is a different story

willycoolj · Jan 17, 2017

I have to say Lidl craft ales are good, amber adder and green gecko I enjoy, would be amazing in a cask imo

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Zappa86 · Jan 17, 2017

IainM said:
I've had good beer from bottles and draught, and bad beer from bottles and draught. I think bottles and kegs are more consistent, but the quality of cask beer varies a lot. There was an interesting article in the Morning Advertiser yesterday written by the founding author of Cask Matters, about why he stopped drinking cask beer, and it amounts to the lack of training and dedication by most publicans to bring the best out of it.

I agree, I do love cask beer and when it's done right I find it to be superior but there are some pubs I go to and I can regularly get a 'bad' pint. Often they blame it on the cask being near the end but I feel it's down to poor cellar management as I can go frequently to my local which has 8 real ales on tap and not once, in the 10 years I've been going, have I had to send a pint back. Such a difference in quality from pub to pub.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

Headlands · Jan 18, 2017

Stating the obvious here. Bottled beers are generally pasteurised, which adversely affects the flavour (or some might say completely destroys the flavour). Keg beers, too. Cask beers are not, but obviously need to be looked after better.

Draught beer vs Bottled beer

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

Senior Member

Landlord.

No ragrets

Landlord.

Pretty Womans from your town for night

Landlord.

Regular.

Regular.

Forum jester...🏅🏆

Member

Landlord.

Senior Member

Landlord.

Landlord.

Beer designer

Senior Member

Well-Known Member

Regular.

Active Member

Active Member

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!