Many enjoy a beer after work, a barbecue or relaxing in the park. Whether they reach for bottled beer or canned beer is not just a question of money.
The most important things at a glance
Everyone has a beer they like to drink the most. Opinions differ not only when it comes to the choice of brand, but also when it comes to the question of bottle or can. Find out which beer tastes better and which dosage form is most beneficial for your favorite beers – and why.
Canned beer or bottled beer: which has a longer shelf life?
If you want to keep the beer you have bought longer, you should use canned beer. After filling, the can is heated to 70 degrees Celsius to kill germs. This means it has a longer shelf life, i.e. it can be stored. The disadvantage of this method: the taste can suffer.
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American scientists from Colorado State University have found that opened bottled beer stays tasty longer than canned beer. However, the test was carried out with the beer types Ale and (Pale) IPA and not with Pils, for example.
What tastes better: canned beer or bottled beer?
Speaking of taste: Whether beer from a bottle or a can tastes good longer is not just a subjective matter. In a can, the liquid is protected from exposure to light. This keeps the flavors longer than in a bottle.
Thus, canned beer has a stronger hop note than the same beer from the bottle. Another factor why your favorite canned beer tastes different: As described above, canned beer is heated. The high temperatures can affect the taste.
Bottled beer or canned beer: which is cheaper?
Bottled and canned beer differ not only in terms of shelf life and taste. There are also significant differences in price. What is cheaper?
Bottled beer is available in both 0.33 liter and 0.5 liter versions. And even here there are clear price differences. The liter price of 0.33 liter bottles (average 2.33 euros/litre) is often higher than that of 0.5 liter bottles (average 1.85 euros/litre).
t-online asked several large German breweries how the large price difference came about. The Bitburger brewing group was the only one who wanted to provide information about this. “In general, the pricing of sales is solely up to retailers,” says the press office. Thus, it is primarily the trade that determines which beer it wants to offer at what price.
When asked how the different prices per liter came about for the bottles, the press office of the Bitburger Brewery Group replied as follows: “The fact that smaller packaging units are generally offered at a slightly higher price is not unusual in the beverage sector and is mainly due to economic reasons. The price differences often result from the fact that the fixed costs for packaging and bottling remain the same, but the amount of content decreases – which, converted to the liter, leads to slightly higher prices for smaller bottle sizes.”
There is also a price difference between canned beer and bottled beer. The price per liter of canned beer is slightly higher (about 0.1 euros on average) than that of 0.5 liter bottled beer. Here, too, the material plays an important role, as Bitburger tells t-online: “When comparing bottles and cans, it is also the case that reusable packaging is usually cheaper because it can be used several times.”
