Messages in a bottle

The quality of packaged beers has improved dramatically in recent years. Richard Jones looks at what’s on offer

They cover many things at parenting classes, but bottled beer isn’t one of them.

In my younger, fancy free-er days, I firmly believed that a decent pub was the only place to drink beer. Not just for the ambience, the socialising and ogling at the opposite sex, but simply to enjoy a proper pint or three.

If I wanted to stay in, I’d generally drink wine; but if I fancied a fresh, fragrant real ale or a crisp, refreshing lager then I’d head for the pub. Of course that was before I discovered the joys of fatherhood – and the price (and non availability) of babysitters.

Beer has been stored in countless different containers over the years.

From clay pots and leather skins through to wooden barrels and kegs, each has enjoyed varying degrees of success.

Storage is one thing, but the move towards beer in bottles (and cans) implies something different altogether: portability – namely the ability to enjoy your beer away from the confines of your local hostelry or public house, a ‘take-away’ beer in modern parlance. Or rather a ‘godsend’ if, like me, you can’t just nip out to your local when you fancy a swift one.

Beer is a natural product and, as such, is naturally prone to deterioration. Once a beer has been produced, microbes and oxygen are its prime enemies: bacteria, unwanted yeasts and other organisms can cause reactions that create off flavours, whereas oxidation makes a beer taste flat and stale. Excessive exposure to heat and light only serves to encourage these troublema.....

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By Richard Jones

Section : Bottled Beer

Page number : 66