Microbrews: Bottled very different from Kegged

Has anyone else noticed that most bottled microbrews are overcarbed and bland compared to the kegged versions?

I sure have, especially with hoppy beers. A bottled hoppy microbrew tends to have all the bitterness with none of the flavor, whereas the kegged versions have a ton of flavor and just the right amount of bitterness to balance everything else.

I'm guessing the phenomenon is merely due to bottled beer being past it's prime, because it doesn't seem to happen with malt-centric beer (except for the overcarbonation part).

This gives me even more reason to homebrew, because I can't afford to pay $3.00/pint every day, and I'm not willing to sacrifice quality.

Any thoughts?

Bottles are pasteurized and kegs most of the time are not. Once bottles leave the brewery the brewer has no clue whats going to happen to them. They could sit in a 100* warehouse for 6 weeks before being sent to stores. Alot of brewers don't bother to filter kegs since they go from a cold cellar at the brewery, to a air conditioned truck, to a cold room at a bar.

Absolutely! In fact, at the Sierra Nevada pub they have a "Draught-Style Pale Ale" and a draft "Pale Ale". The former is a slightly different recipe to get the beer to taste very close to what you get in the bottle, and the latter is a kegged version of Pale Ale. They are very similar, but you can taste the difference in a side by side taste test.

Also some breweries will contract out their big distributed beers and then make the kegs for their pubs in house. Sometimes it's just easier to have someone who has the capability to do a 100BBL batch produce your big seller, which leaves you more time to concentrate on your other brews.

Once again, its only some breweries who do this, not all for you nitpicking types

TwoHeadsBrewing said:

Absolutely! In fact, at the Sierra Nevada pub they have a "Draught-Style Pale Ale" and a draft "Pale Ale". The former is a slightly different recipe to get the beer to taste very close to what you get in the bottle, and the latter is a kegged version of Pale Ale. They are very similar, but you can taste the difference in a side by side taste test.

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I find this difference very evident in Sierra Nevada. The weird thing is, I like SN better in bottles than on tap.

blacklab said:

I find this difference very evident in Sierra Nevada. The weird thing is, I like SN better in bottles than on tap.

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Yeah, SN Pale Ale is pretty good in the bottle. But I'd say Mirror Pond Pale Ale on tap from Deschutes blows it away. Unfortunately, the bottled Mirror Pond is just alright.

In general that's true. The main exceptions are when I buy bottles at the brewery and store them properly. It's the only way you can be certain of getting the same beer, other than buying a cornie-full.

mew said:

Yeah, SN Pale Ale is pretty good in the bottle. But I'd say Mirror Pond Pale Ale on tap from Deschutes blows it away. Unfortunately, the bottled Mirror Pond is just alright.

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Tell me about it. I lived in Bend for 8 years. I think one of the barstools at Deschutes Brewco still has my name on it.

Everyone once in awhile they had a Mirror Pond keg on nitro. That was niiiice.

TwoHeadsBrewing said:

Absolutely! In fact, at the Sierra Nevada pub they have a "Draught-Style Pale Ale" and a draft "Pale Ale". The former is a slightly different recipe to get the beer to taste very close to what you get in the bottle, and the latter is a kegged version of Pale Ale. They are very similar, but you can taste the difference in a side by side taste test.

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So I take it that is why Guiness on tap taste different from Guiness in the bottle???

I guess they try to make em taste similar by putting that wedget in the bottles..

Don't work.. Guiness on tap is me favorite beer. :rockin:

Not too found of the bottled product..

I always go for what's on tap. It's always better.

Slinggalin said:

So I take it that is why Guiness on tap taste different from Guiness in the bottle???

I guess they try to make em taste similar by putting that wedget in the bottles..

Don't work.. Guiness on tap is me favorite beer. :rockin:

Not too found of the bottled product..

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Guinness on tap is a different creature. The widget is there to introduce nitrogen into the beer when you open it, but it doesn't do as well of a mixing job as a draught head. I suspect the brews are slightly different as well, but don't quote me on that.

Usually when I'm drinking Guinness on tap I'm pounding it back like water, so the subtleties are lost on me. I hit up a place in Orange just a couple weeks ago in fact, and pounded what my bar tab said was 8 25oz mugs of the stuff, two newcastle mugs, and a shot of scotch. I have to take their word on it, as I don't remember much from 8pm on. The pictures look like I had an awesome time, and I have a couple phone numbers. So I guess I win...

I usually prefer draught to bottled, but every now and again you go to meet someone at some bar, and it lives up to the term "dive" by serving you what you must think is a joke. Some places are "bottle" bars, where you're best ordering from a can or bottle, because god only knows how old the stuff on tap is. I had a newcastle a week ago at just such an establishment that I knew I shouldn't have ordered as soon as I realized I was the only one drinking out of a glass. It tasted coppery, stale, and was probably the worst pint I've ever tried to drink.

mew said:

This gives me even more reason to homebrew, because I can't afford to pay $3.00/pint every day, and I'm not willing to sacrifice quality.

Any thoughts?

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Ya move to Ireland for a summer... After paying $7 a pint you'll be happy to pay $3 when you get home...

There is one beer in particular where the difference has been striking to me, a regional brew we have here called Over-the-Rhine Pale Ale by Christian Moerlein. On draft it has the most lovely hop aroma and floral flavor accents, but that's all lost when you buy a sixer of the stuff. I assume it's due to pastuerization. There aren't many other beers that I regularly drink both on draft and in bottles. I don't notice much of a difference with bottled and draft Boston Lager. There is perhaps a *slight* drop in quality of Great Lakes beers from the bottle, but I think it's minimized by the fact that they do NOT pasteurize their bottles.

On a side note, I'm always going to go for the draft option in a bar or restaurant, even if that means a pint of Killians instead of a bottle of Bass or Boston Lager (a typical decision in franchise restaurants round these parts). It stems from the fact that I am less likely to get the draft varieties at home. Why pay 3 times the price for a bottle of beer at a restaurant that I could be drinking at home? I also find, as the OP suggests, it's just a better drinking experience on draft.

blacklab said:

I find this difference very evident in Sierra Nevada. The weird thing is, I like SN better in bottles than on tap.

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I have heard that SN is dry hopped in the keg but the bottles are not.

blacklab said:

I find this difference very evident in Sierra Nevada. The weird thing is, I like SN better in bottles than on tap.

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I know I'm replying a little late, but I'm glad you said that. I've always felt the same way. SNPA in bottles is one of my all-time favorite beers, and I consider it the baseline that all other APAs should be judged by. But on draft, I'm always disappointed.

BlindLemonLars said:

I know I'm replying a little late, but I'm glad you said that. I've always felt the same way. SNPA in bottles is one of my all-time favorite beers, and I consider it the baseline that all other APAs should be judged by. But on draft, I'm always disappointed.

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This is kind of an odd thing...but the draft SN Pale Ale is NOT the same recipe as the bottled recipe. If you go to the SN pub you will see two different Pale Ales on the menu...one will be "Draft-style Pale Ale" and the other will be "Pale Ale". The first one is actually the recipe that goes in the bottle...the second one is what goes into kegs to distribute. Honestly I can't tell the difference between the two on tap...but on tap vs. bottles there is an obvious difference. I suppose it's the natural carbonation vs. forced carbonation.

TwoHeadsBrewing said:

Honestly I can't tell the difference between the two on tap...but on tap vs. bottles there is an obvious difference. I suppose it's the natural carbonation vs. forced carbonation.

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Well, the bottles are naturally carbed, and there is normally a very dense ring of yeast at the bottom of an empty SNPA. Perhaps the kegs are force carbed?

From what I understand the Pale Ale kegs are force carbed, and the Draft-Style Pale Ale kegs are naturally carbed.

Ahh, gotcha.

I seldom have the chance to drink it on tap, usually it's at Staples Center, from the single SNPA tap there. I assume it's not the "draft-style," but the force-kegged one. While it's not terrible, it doesn't compare to the bottled variety.

One of my favorite local bars has Edmund Fitzgerald on tap and that was were I first had it. I absolutely loved it so I started buying it in bottles at the grocery store. I noticed a huge drop in quality... but still, I buy it... that's some good beer!