Packaging
Brown glass bottle
Brown glass blocks most of the wavelengths that cause lightstrike, making it the only glass colour genuinely suited to beer.
Brown glass blocks the wavelengths of light that cause lightstrike, the reaction in which light breaks down hop-derived compounds into a chemical almost identical to skunk spray. It is the reason the overwhelming majority of the world's beer is bottled in brown rather than any other colour.
It is not a complete solution. Some oxygen enters through the crown seal over time, and brown glass does nothing about temperature — a bottle stored warm will stale whatever colour it is. But against the single fastest way to ruin a beer, it is close to a complete defence, and it costs no more than clear glass.
How well it protects the beer
| Light | good. Absorbs most of the ultraviolet and short-wavelength visible light that degrades hop compounds. Prolonged direct sun is still not advisable, but ordinary shelf lighting is not a problem. |
|---|---|
| Oxygen | low. A small, steady rate of ingress. Over months it contributes to hop fade and eventually to cardboard notes. |
| Conditioning | Beer can referment in this container, which builds carbonation naturally and leaves a yeast sediment. |
| Material | brown glass |
| Typical volume | 330–750 ml |
Other formats
- Aluminium can — complete light protection, very low oxygen ingress.
- Cask — complete light protection, high oxygen ingress.
- Clear glass bottle — none light protection, low oxygen ingress.
- Green glass bottle — poor light protection, low oxygen ingress.
- Keg — complete light protection, very low oxygen ingress.
- Mini keg — complete light protection, low oxygen ingress.
See the side-by-side table on the packaging index, or how this plays out over time in storage and freshness.
Last reviewed 2026-08-15.
Evidence
What BeerHQ knows about this, and how. Every statement carries the state of the evidence behind it rather than being presented flatly as fact.
On Aluminium can
BeerHQ declines to name a best package format: cans protect better from light and usually from oxygen, which matters greatly for a hop-forward beer and not at all for a cask, whose air exposure is deliberate.
BeerHQ’s own reading