Why Beer Bottles Are Brown In Color?

By Nandini Sharma|April 8, 20180 Comment

It’s again that time of the year when beer lovers crave for a chilled bottle of their favorite beer. In such extreme hot weather, a bottle of beer works wonders for many. It provides a chilling and a refreshing experience to the consumers. But have you ever wondered why beer bottles are brown in color or green color? Let’s find out.

Why Beer Bottles Are Brown In Color | Discoverfoodtech.com

Why Beer Bottles Are Brown In Color?

Dating back to the mid 17th century, commercial beer manufacturers started using glass bottles for the bottling of their beer. Initially, they used clear bottles but, the beer would start smelling and taste “skunky” when kept for prolonged hours in the sun. On further investigations, scientists found out that the UV rays emitted by the sun cause chemical changes in the beer.

Hops flower is one of the ingredients added in the beer providing its characteristic bitter flavor. So these UV rays break down the alpha acids (a chemical compound) in hops. Further, these react with the sulfur present in beer to yield a chemical almost identical to the one used by skunks to spray on its predators.

Hence, the brown colored bottles provide protection from harmful UV rays, similar to how sunglasses protect our eyes. The green color bottles, however, came into the picture during World War II. Due to the sudden rise in brown beer bottles, it became difficult for high-quality beer brewers to distinguish themselves from regular beer. Therefore they decided to sell it in green colored bottles.

These days glass suppliers apply clear, UV protected coats to glass that help keep beer fresh. But its always adviced to store your beer in a cool, dry and dark place.

Reference

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