SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
Adnams brewer made a very sweeping statement. You can bottle any beer, the bottle is just the container.
What is certainly the case in respect of real ales, i.e. the beer is unpasteurized when bottled, is that they are often brewed to a slightly higher gravity than the draft version. This is because low-strength beers do not keep so well as alcohol is a natural antiseptic and the higher the concentration the slower you get any bacterial growth. Short life doesn't matter in pub beer, because you'd expect it to get consumed within a few days anyway. Generally anything going in a bottle will be intended to be drinkable for at least a year, although some really strong brews will keep much longer.
