Beer on tap

[Ove]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm Beeeeeeeeer

I love beer and preferably from tap. I DO believe it tastes better, is more fresh etc.

 

[BlackKat]

Beer is generally better out of a tap, but I have never had a bad beer out of a can or bottle, but quite a few out of a tap, probably due to contaminated lines.

There was a famous underground music bar/club in Boston known as the Ratskeller (The Rat Cellar). Rumor has it they never ever cleaned their lines in some 40+ years of business.
While I am sure this was an exaggeration, all the beer on tap there did have an odd salty flavor, which may mean the lines were rarely cleaned.

 

[Drewbot]

Depends on the conditions

In a bar, I think draught beer tastes better, but is that because of the atmosphere, and the idea that it is fresh from a keg, and it is in an ice cold glass, and it's a bigger glass than a 12 oz. bottle.

However in a blind taste test, would I be able to tell the difference, probably not. But when I had Bell's Hopslam on tap this spring, I thought it was infinitely better than the bottle version.

Do hoppy beers fare worse in the bottling process?

 

[Soapy Sam]

Dare I suggest that a question of taste might simply be due to...taste?

 

[Drewbot]

Dare I suggest that a question of taste might simply be due to...taste?

Yeah sure, whose taste?

Do hoppy beers transfer their flavor to a bottle as well as beers with fewer hops?

What if it is in a green bottle?

What if it is in a brown or clear bottle?

Are you talking about a pressurized Keg? or a Gravity Cask Conditioned keg?

 

[aggle-rithm]

This requires serious investigation. Skeptic team: to the pub!

Skeptic lush powers, ACTIVATE!

 

[Psi Baba]

I would suggest that the tap vs. bottle is more about texture than flavor. It may have something to do with the liberation of nitrogen and CO2 from the beer in the form of bubbles. The kegged beer is likely under a lot more pressure than the bottled/canned beer. Texture has a huge effect on how something "tastes."

 

[Rasmus]

Ratskeller (The Rat Cellar).

Uh... no, wrong.

That's Rat as in "City Council" and not the rodent.

(They might call it a rat cellar there, or it might even be one, but it's not what the word means.)

 

[Soapy Sam]

Yeah sure, whose taste?

Do hoppy beers transfer their flavor to a bottle as well as beers with fewer hops?

What if it is in a green bottle?

What if it is in a brown or clear bottle?

Are you talking about a pressurized Keg? or a Gravity Cask Conditioned keg?

I'm talking about the taste of the person drinking it.

 

[BlackKat]

Uh... no, wrong.

That's Rat as in "City Council" and not the rodent.

(They might call it a rat cellar there, or it might even be one, but it's not what the word means.)

If you had ever seen the main show area (in the basement) you'd understand why my translation was appropriate. Alas for all it's dingy, nastiness the place is one of the most missed clubs in the city. Some of the best punk rock shows took place there.

 

[Doc Daneeka]

Uh... no, wrong.

That's Rat as in "City Council" and not the rodent.

(They might call it a rat cellar there, or it might even be one, but it's not what the word means.)

Are not the two terms nearly synonymous? Do not most city councils consist of at least a large plurality of rats?

 

[Mojo]

I would suggest that the tap vs. bottle is more about texture than flavor. It may have something to do with the liberation of nitrogen and CO2 from the beer in the form of bubbles. The kegged beer is likely under a lot more pressure than the bottled/canned beer. Texture has a huge effect on how something "tastes."

"Keg"? "Pressure"? Noooooooooooooooooooo!

 

[MikeSun5]

Yeah sure, whose taste?

Do hoppy beers transfer their flavor to a bottle as well as beers with fewer hops?

What if it is in a green bottle?

What if it is in a brown or clear bottle?

Are you talking about a pressurized Keg? or a Gravity Cask Conditioned keg?

...Or does advanced alcoholism make certain things seem to taste better?

 

[Cainkane1]

This requires serious investigation. Skeptic team: to the pub!

Amen brother.

 

[carlitos]

If you had ever seen the main show area (in the basement) you'd understand why my translation was appropriate. Alas for all it's dingy, nastiness the place is one of the most missed clubs in the city. Some of the best punk rock shows took place there.

Not disagreeing with you about your translation, but Ratskeller is the German word for the tavern that is traditionally located in the basement where the city council (rat) meets. And all the puns are accurate

I like all beer, just for the record, but if given a choice, I go with on tap.

.

 

[RhodyDave]

There was a famous underground music bar/club in Boston known as the Ratskeller (The Rat Cellar). Rumor has it they never ever cleaned their lines in some 40+ years of business.
While I am sure this was an exaggeration, all the beer on tap there did have an odd salty flavor, which may mean the lines were rarely cleaned.

HA! The "Rat" - I spent more time and money there than I'd care to admit. I went to college in Boston, right in that neighborhood, in the 80's, and I can confirm that the Rat was indeed as dirty as you heard. I saw many bands there, including one of my good friend's, and almost everyone that spent any amount of time there would drink ONLY bottled beer. I don't even want to think about the cellar, although there were some great bands that played in that subterranean hole. I'll always remember the Neighborhoods and the Turbines there...

I remember there was even a short period of time when they tried to make a go of having bar-b-que in the kitchen. Yes, there was an alleged kitchen, but I can't confirm the edibility of anything to come from it. The Rat had a perpetual fog of cigarette smoke in it - real thick, sour, and what you'd expect from one of the most notorious dive bars anywhere. What a scene that place was, with Mr. Butch stumbling about out front with his electric guitar in one hand and a bag with a beer in the other, and the dingy, dirty, glorious bar inside. Yeah, they don't make 'em like that anymore.

 

[CORed]

That's Rocky Mountain spring bilgewater, to you.

Coors gets their water from Clear Creek. The drainage of Clear Creek is riddled with abandoned gold and silver mines. However, since the Superfund cleanup of the Argo Mill in Idaho Springs, the metal content of Clear Creek has been reduced to the point that the creek now supports trout. It used to have very few trout, as trout do not tolerate much metal content in the water. However, the idea that Coors uses really good water to make their beer is laughable. I'm not claiming that their are any health hazards. Several cities also get their drinking water from the same creek, but there is definitely enough iron and other metals to affect the taste. Of course "Made with pure Rocky Mountain mine waste" wouldn't sell a lot of beer. I have also noticed that, in recent years, their ads say "pure Rocky Mountain water", whereas, they used to say "pure Rocky Mountain springwater". Of course, the water still tastes better than the beer.

 

[aggle-rithm]

Several cities also get their drinking water from the same creek, but there is definitely enough iron and other metals to affect the taste. Of course "Made with pure Rocky Mountain mine waste" wouldn't sell a lot of beer. I have also noticed that, in recent years, their ads say "pure Rocky Mountain water", whereas, they used to say "pure Rocky Mountain springwater". Of course, the water still tastes better than the beer.

Ouch!

 

[sadhatter]

My wife and I had a conversation over lunch yesterday when I mentioned that a particular beer I liked tasted better on tap than in bottles bought in the store. She said that she would expect the opposite to be true...since beer on tap is stored in aluminum, the beer should take on a metallic taste, while bottled beer would taste more pure because it's stored in glass.

She went on to theorize that perhaps the difference in taste is purely psychological...beer on tap is supposed to taste better, so it does.

I don't think this is true, but I can't think of any particular reason why beer on tap would taste better. Anyone have any ideas?

Probably going to get destroyed for saying this but...

I think i am the only person who hates the taste of beer but drinks it. I like getting drunk, but all beer to me tastes unpleasent, ironically i find the " better " beers to taste worse ( with the exception of exceptionally heavy beers, those i mind less than thin beers.).

My sole consideration for beer is alcohol content, which is why, for my money Black ice is the king of beers.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Coors gets their water from Clear Creek. The drainage of Clear Creek is riddled with abandoned gold and silver mines. However, since the Superfund cleanup of the Argo Mill in Idaho Springs, the metal content of Clear Creek has been reduced to the point that the creek now supports trout. It used to have very few trout, as trout do not tolerate much metal content in the water. However, the idea that Coors uses really good water to make their beer is laughable. I'm not claiming that their are any health hazards. Several cities also get their drinking water from the same creek, but there is definitely enough iron and other metals to affect the taste. Of course "Made with pure Rocky Mountain mine waste" wouldn't sell a lot of beer. I have also noticed that, in recent years, their ads say "pure Rocky Mountain water", whereas, they used to say "pure Rocky Mountain springwater". Of course, the water still tastes better than the beer.

We used to joke that the Bud brewery next to the Houston Ship Channel wasn't tanking their water in from Colorado ..
Doesn't sound as funny now ...