Can vs. Bottle

Unwittingly, my choice of beer this week has led me into a world of debate about storage methods. Three beers from Maui Brewing Co. were sat on the shelf in my local beer shop, looking pretty and exotic, drawing me to them.

142: Mana Wheat, Maui Brewing Co., 5.5%
Mr Ticker picked out pineapple, which according to the website this beer is flavoured with. For me, banana stood out. This may be due to my uncertainty about wheatbeers. There is a flavour, which is the banana ester-y component of wheatbeers which dominates for me when I taste them. Often I find this too intense, but for this beer it was muted somewhat, and actually I really liked it. It had a totally different type of fizzyness to any beers I've had before, full large bubbles. No idea if this has anything to do with the can, but certainly was different.

143: Big Swell IPA, Maui Brewing Co., 6.8%
Typical IPA aroma, florally, fruity. Different carbonation, more muted. Perhaps this isn't a can- thing then. More bitter than Mana Wheat, considerably so, but not overpowering which sometimes I've experienced in an IPA. Delicious beer. (Drank this with a burger and wedges- managed to match beer with food successfully for once!!)

144: CoCoNut PorTeR, Maui Brewing Co., 6.0%
I love porters, I loved this. More hazlenut than coconut in my opinion, but certainly different from any porter I've had. Smooth, bittersweet, delicious.

There was a compelling argument on the side of the can, about why they were packaged in cans. This being a can will keep the light out, will recycle easily, will be cheaper to export. Their website goes into more depth about the sustainability of cans, and the fact that they are safer than glass when on the beach/pool etc (not that this is a particular concern of mine in sunny Bradford...). Also, they say that metallic taste in the beer is not an issue because the inside of the can has a special coating to prevent this happening.

For me, I drank the beers being a bit ignorant about the debate on Cans vs Bottles, and only discovered this after the fact. So, my opinion from a truly unbiased stance, was that I drank three lovely beers, there was nothing metallic about the taste, they tasted fresh and I will look forward to trying more of their range. I also feel a little bit less guilty about the packaging and carbon footprint due to shipping half way round the globe.

Nothing but success in my eyes. Feel free to argue with me!