title_body: Why use clear or green bottles?
upvoted_answer: Fully attributing the Berghoff Beer Blog for this interesting story (emphasis mine),
  
  
    Around World War II, brown glass rose in demand and many companies had to forfeit their brown glass for their country. Unfortunately that meant companies with higher quality beers had to use clear glass, which made their beers look like cheaper, clear glass beers. Higher quality brewers’ solution was to sell their beer in green bottles so a consumer could tell the difference between a regular beer and a higher quality. The green beer bottle became a status symbol for many European breweries.
    
    These days, there’s not much of a reason to sell a beer in a green bottle other than for marketing and aesthetic. Many companies use it to distinguish their beer from others. Of course, some beers have used green bottles for so long, it would seem silly to switch to a brown glass now.
    
    Lucky for us, glass suppliers are able to apply clear, UV protected coats to glass that help keep beer fresh no matter what kind of bottle it is in. [...]
  
  
  http://www.berghoffbeer.com/blog/what-does-the-color-of-your-beer-bottle-mean/
  
  So, perhaps it's no longer the case that clear and green bottles are (noticeably) inferior to brown bottles!
  
  
  
  Edit: I failed to find historical sources for the above claims, even some indication of higher demand for brown glass during World War II. However, the story seems widely believed today, true or not.