Canned Beer vs. Bottled Beer: Which is better?

Can vs bottle beer: does it affect the taste?

For years, many drinkers were sceptical about beer in cans. That hesitation made sense. Early cans were untreated, and the metal could affect flavour. Anyone who remembers old canned food will recall that unpleasant metallic taste.

Thankfully, those days are long gone. Modern cans are lined with protective coatings that prevent the beer from coming into contact with metal. Today, canned beer does not taste metallic. And hasn’t for decades.

Another factor that shaped perception was the rise of cheap, high-strength lagers sold in large cans. That created negative associations for some drinkers, but it had nothing to do with the packaging itself.

Why canned beer often beats bottled beer

When it comes to protecting beer, cans have some serious advantages. In fact, from a technical point of view, there’s no better packaging for beer than a can.

Here’s why can vs bottle beer matters:

• Light protection
  Beer reacts badly to light, especially UV rays, which can interact with hops and create unpleasant sulphur flavours. Cans are 100% light-tight, while bottles — even brown ones — offer less protection.

• Oxygen control
  Oxygen exposure causes beer to oxidise, leading to stale aromas often compared to wet cardboard or newspaper. Cans are fully airtight, making them excellent at preserving freshness.

• Temperature stability
  Beer tastes better cold, and biochemical reactions slow down at lower temperatures. Cans cool faster than glass, helping beer stay fresher for longer.

When flavour preservation is the priority, canned beer clearly outperforms bottled beer.

Reduce, reuse, recycle: the environmental case for cans

The benefits don’t stop at flavour. Cans also come out on top when it comes to sustainability.

• Aluminium can be recycled indefinitely

• Around 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still in circulation

• Recycling aluminium uses 95% less energy than producing it from scratch

• Cans are lighter than glass, meaning lower transport emissions

From production to recycling, canned beer has a smaller environmental footprint than bottled beer.

Canned beer in the UK

UK brewers have generally been quick to embrace cans. Perhaps a nation that happily lives on baked beans and tomato soup never doubted the efficiency of tins.

Today, breweries such as Beavertown, Fourpure, Wild Beer Co and First Chop offer a wide range of craft beers in cans, covering everything from lagers to hop-heavy IPAs.

Canned beer in America

Beer in cans actually originated in the US. Experiments began as early as 1909, though early cans weren’t strong enough and often exploded during production.

That changed on 24 January 1935, when Gottfried Krueger Brewery successfully launched canned beer. While flavour issues persisted for decades, modern lining technology eventually solved the problem.

In 2002, Oskar Blues became the first craft brewery to fully embrace cans — a move that helped shift opinion across the industry. Today, around 30% of all beer sold in the US comes in cans.

Canned beer in Europe

Europe was slower to come around, but attitudes are changing fast. Small, independent breweries in particular are choosing cans over bottles — especially for aromatic styles like lager, IPA and wheat beer, where freshness is key.

Greg Koch of Stone Brewing famously criticised Oskar Blues for using cans, only to later admit he was wrong. Stone’s Berlin brewery now uses no bottles at all.

Elsewhere, breweries like And Union in Germany and Two Chefs Brewing in the Netherlands have added canned beers to their ranges, proving that quality and cans go hand in hand.

So… is bottled beer better than canned?

In short: no.

While bottled beer still has its place, especially for ageing or presentation, canned beer offers superior protection, better sustainability and fresher flavour for most modern styles.

When it comes to can vs bottle beer, cans aren’t the compromise they once were, they’re often the smarter choice.