The only person I know who uses PET bottles made pretty bad beer in glass
bottles so I'm not sure if the PET has anything to do with bad beer or not.
They don't seem like a good idea to me. They are easy to cap but really hot
water makes them turn into abstract art and the moulded foot makes them hard
to clean. Re Ross McKay's comment about the Aussie beers in clean bottles, I
heard that the processes the beer goes through removes the light sensitive
components so the colour of the bottle becomes irrelevant. I'm guessing Ross
is talking about Carlton Cold. I agree with him about the crappy taste of
commercial Aussie beers available in Australia (inlcluding Carlton Cold) and
I think the least of that beer's worries is the colour of it's bottle. I've
heard Fosters tastes different in every country but I would be scared to try
it. I'm guessing Ross is a fellow Aussie, and when he says
"what-hop-I-don't-know-what-a-hop-is beers" I think he's talking about the
flavourless and bitter as hell Pride of Ringwood. The only reason Aussies
drink beer so cold is to dull the flavour of this horrid hop. Stay clear of
CUB and you'll do your taste buds a favour. Boag's, Cascade and Redback are
the commonly available Aussie beers worthy of drinking, though the the rarer
Mountain Goat beers are my favourite at the moment.


"Ross McKay" <rosko@zeta.NOT.THIS.BIT.org.au> wrote in message
news:l3l5kvg8e8mg73mmu9e669muegfs78ekgs@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 22:52:44 +1000, "Mick" <rouintoy@zeta.org.au> wrote:
>[color=green]
> >I recently have been told that I shoukld be using brown bottle to brew in[/color][/color]
as[color=blue][color=green]
> >claer bottles allow the brew to be affecyted by light.
> >
> >I am hoping to obtain views from the group if anyone has any experience[/color][/color]
in[color=blue][color=green]
> >this as I have planned to brew into clear 375ml bottle plus 1.25ml & 2[/color][/color]
litre[color=blue][color=green]
> >plastic PET bottles.[/color]
>
> G'day Mick,
>
> Clear bottles will let in too much of the light that will affect your
> hops. Hop oils react with certain wavelengths of light and will produce
> nasty flavours in your beer if there is any real hops there. Notice how
> (at least Aussie) beers sold in clear bottles are the flavourless,
> what-hop-I-don't-know-what-a-hop-is beers?
>
> To an extent, green bottles are just as bad for beer. One of the guys on
> the Aussie Craft Brewer list says that it's light in the green
> wavelengths that does the dirty, so obviously green bottles are not
> going to help much either. See here:
>
> [url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CraftBrewing/message/17311[/url]
>
> Traditional beer bottles are brown for a reason - they keep out more of
> the light that will skunk a beer.
>
> As for PET, from what I've read they are good for short term storage
> only - eventually, they'll let in some oxygen which will oxidise your
> beer (that's a Bad Thing).
>
> Of course, YMMV. If you keep your clear PET bottles in the dark
> (especially away from fluorescent lights) then you might never notice a
> problem.
>
> cheers,
> Ross.
> --
> Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
> "Since when were you so generously inarticulate?" - Elvis Costello
>[/color]