Aluminum Bottle Collectors
www.cabottle.com
By Peter Rowe
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 15, 2006
As Vince Lombardi might have said, it's time to think outside the bottle.
On Oct. 12, the Chargers' will test local tailgaters' mettle – or is that metal? New city regulations will ban glass bottles from Qualcomm Stadium's parking lot.
“I'm not going to like it,” Armon Carter, a fan of the Chargers and bottled Corona, told the Union-Tribune before an exhibition game last month.
Carter is far from alone. In May, a survey by a New York-based design firm, Dragon Rouge USA, found that 96 out of 100 beer drinkers prefer their brew in bottles. They insist that lager and ale taste better when encased in glass.
One sign of a championship team, though, is its ability to devise a winning strategy even under pressure. Going into football season, local beer-loving tailgaters have numerous options. Each has its pros and cons. Taken together, though, they may provide enough flexibility for a successful season on the blacktop.
Plastic fantastic
Kickoff: Since at least 2000, breweries have experimented with bottles made of a plastic compound, polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Gains: Drop a PET bottle and it bounces, which is a) a relief, and b) a boon to those struggling to qualify beersketball as an Olympic sport. Moreover, plastic is lighter than glass.
Losses: In San Diego, these puppies are as scarce as Ryan Leaf fans. Your best bet for finding them is inside stadiums and concert venues – kinda defeats the whole point of tailgating, don't you think? – or at liquor stores near the beach.
An informal survey of five Ocean Beach stores found two had heard of this product, but didn't stock any; one was staffed by a genial ignoramus (“Beer in plastic bottles? That's a new one!”); and two had the PET goods. Chris' Liquor & Deli, 2275 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., sells Oggi's California Gold in clear plastic. Liticker's Liquor and Deli, 4955 Voltaire St., offers Gordon Biersch Marzen in a dark plastic bottle.
Lineup: Limited. Inside Qualcomm and Petco, you can find Budweiser, Miller and that San Francisco classic Anchor Steam. Outside, finding liquor stores that peddle Oggi's, Gordon Biersch or any other beers in plastic can be a chore.
The canottle
Kickoff: A few years ago, a handful of microbreweries – including Big Sky in Missoula, Mont., and Highland in Asheville, N.C. – created an aluminum can in a bottle shape.
Gains: Drop a canottle and it doesn't bounce – drat! – but neither does it break. But to truly probe this hybrid's technological advantages, ring up Paul Gatza, the Brewers Association director, in Boulder, Colo.
Losses: Pioneered by microbrewers, this breakthrough design was hijacked by megabrewer Anheuser-Busch. Even so, it is not readily available. If you must have Bud Lite in canottles, which pour a generous 16 ounces, check the closest well-stocked liquor store.
Lineup: Nearly everything you want can be found in a canottle, as long as you want Anheuser-Busch beers: Bud, Bud Select, Bud Lite and Michelob.
Ein can, Mein Herr?
Kickoff: Canned beer is often seen as the choice of – hmmm, how to say this without stooping to unfair stereotypes? – inbred, drooling, slack-jawed yokels. But not only is this view slanderous, it's also a totally outdated slander.
Gains: Within the last decade, aluminum cans have been fitted with polymer linings. “The beer is never in contact with the metal,” Gatza said. Remember how the last swig from a can of beer tasted like a mouthful of old coins? No more.
Cans also superbly protect beer from light and air, thus ensuring longer shelf life.
SORCE
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