What a difference a week makes. Unless you have just returned from a tropical holiday, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

So the drinking season has well and truly returned,  and I’m going to get straight down to business this week.

Whilst draught beers tend to come in kegs of a similar design, bottled beers - on the other hand, come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. This got me thinking about whether the bottle itself makes a difference? I mean, are my customers persuaded to drink one beer or another, simply because of the bottle? For me, I suppose an attractive slender shape and a nicely designed label could have a tiny, but sub-conscious, influence over my choice of drink.

But surely the bottle itself shouldn’t be a big factor, because... after all, what is most important is what is inside the bottle. Right?

Wrong! As there is one very important exception... colour!

If you know why, you don’t need to read on, and can go to the bar at this point and order you next beer. But if you don’t know what I am rambling on about.. read on.

Most breweries prefer to use brown bottles as it protects the beer from light, whereas some companies prefer to put their beers in (more attractive) green or clear bottles.

But drinker beware... because whilst green bottles may catch the eye -  green glass does not protect the beer from light as well. This means that beer in green bottles is more exposed and, in plain language, can start to smell a bit. This is because the light passing through the bottle converts part of the hops into a a new, nasty-smelling chemical, similar to a skunk’s perfume. And as the sun has just woken from its hibernation, please take note, as direct sunlight can cause the smell in just minutes!

So why do breweries use the green bottles at all, I hear you ask? Well that’s a question for the marketing teams rather than the brewer.

My advice, is to simply think before you drink, or enjoy a draught beer of course.