Draught Beer - Canned and Bottled "draught"

Canned and Bottled "draught"

The words "draft" and "draught" have been used as marketing terms to describe canned or bottled beers, implying that they taste and appear like beers from a cask or keg. Commercial brewers use this as a marketing tool although it is incorrect to call any beer not drawn from a cask or keg "draught". Two examples are Miller Genuine Draft, a pale lager which is produced using a patented cold filtering system, and Guinness stout in patented "Draught-flow" cans and bottles. Guinness is an example of beers that use a nitrogen widget to create a smooth beer with a very dense head. Guinness has recently replaced the widget system from their bottled "draught" beer with a coating of cellulose fibres on the inside of the bottle. However the widget is still available in cans of Guinness draught. Statements indicate a new development in bottling technology enables the mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide to be present in the beer without using a widget, making it according to Guinness "more drinkable" from the bottle.

In some countries such as Japan, the term "draft" applied to canned or bottled beer indicates that the beer is not pasteurised (though it may be filtered), giving it a fresher taste but shorter shelf life than conventional packaged beers.