rcd@nbires.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (07/16/86)
> Why is is that beer bottles are sometimes brown, sometimes green, and > sometimes clear, but never blue or red or anything else? Beer bottles are brown or green because these colors help absorb light at wavelengths that cause unwanted photochemical reactions in the beer. Beer which has been exposed to light develops an off-taste, technically known as "light-struck" and colloquially known as "skunky" or "this stuff tastes like$#%! A darkish brown is probably the best choice. Green works OK but not as well. Clear bottles are used by brewers who either don't care or don't know any better (or are more influenced by their marketing dept than by sound practice, which amounts to one of the two preceding conclusions:-). Green and brown glass also happen to be cheaper to make. (If you're in an area which gets Coors products, you may have heard their endless hype and hoopla about Killian's, in the "red" bottle--which if you've seen it is just ordinary brown glass.) Blue probably wouldn't make it, just as a matter of violating tradition, even if it were a good color choice. (I suspect it's not, since it would pass the shorter visible wavelengths.) -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...At last it's the real thing...or close enough to pretend.
daw@mhuxo.UUCP (Douglas A. Williams) (07/22/86)
>> Why is is that beer bottles are sometimes brown, sometimes green, and >> sometimes clear, but never blue or red or anything else? >Beer bottles are brown or green because these colors help absorb light at >wavelengths that cause unwanted photochemical reactions in the beer. Beer >which has been exposed to light develops an off-taste, technically known as >"light-struck" and colloquially known as "skunky" or "this stuff tastes like >A darkish brown is probably the best choice. Green works OK but not as >well. ... Good old Rolling Rock beer comes in green bottles. It's also one of the most sensitive to sunlight. It goes skunky in less than one minute on a real sunny day, so opaque mugs are a must! Their billboard ads show a Rock bottle in the middle of a bunch of brown bottles and states "Other beers are brown with envy." Oh well, what do you want from a small PA brewer? At least they treat their customers good: I wrote them a letter one time about a spoiled bottle and two weeks later some guy knocks on my door and hands me a whole case of beer! Not a bad deal. 1 1 1 1 2 1 Doug Williams 1 3 3 1 AT&T Bell Labs 1 4 6 4 1 Reading, PA 1 5 10 10 5 1 mhuxo!daw 1 6 15 20 15 6 1