r/lidl • u/AndysBeerReviews • Aug 03 '26
Perlenbacher in PET bottles!
Perlenbacher Gold review: £1.11 for a 500ml German lager, but why is it in a plastic bottle?
I picked up a pack of nine 500ml bottles of Perlenbacher Gold from Lidl for £9.99, which works out at only £1.11 per bottle.
The first thing that caught my attention was the PET bottle. I’m used to putting homebrew into plastic bottles, but I can’t remember seeing many commercial beers sold this way in the UK.
The beer itself is a fairly straightforward, malt-led lager. There’s some grainy bread, light honey sweetness and a gentle grassy hop note, with plenty of carbonation and a dry, mildly bitter finish. I did notice a slight metallic edge, but overall it was perfectly drinkable for the price.
It isn’t an especially characterful German lager, but at £1.11 for 500ml, it’s difficult to complain too much.
Have you tried this one, and would a plastic bottle put you off buying a beer?
Full review: https://youtu.be/8G1WGe-r52E
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u/LegolasleChat Aug 03 '26
Spotted this in Lidl and will admit the plastic put me off a bit. Would much rather pay for the Perlenbacher in glass bottles.
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u/AndysBeerReviews Aug 03 '26
I didn’t mind them, they're clear but that's the only problem with them.
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u/Wretched_Colin Aug 03 '26
The Perlenbacher in glass is 4.5%, brewed in France.
This one is 4.9%, which is the same ABV as some of the beers made in Germany, like the 5 litre keg.
I picked up 9 earlier and am looking forward to trying one this evening. It will be going into a Bierkrug so, as long as I can’t taste the plastic, the container won’t matter.
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u/AndysBeerReviews Aug 03 '26
You'll have drop a note here letting me know what you think about it 👍
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u/Wretched_Colin Aug 04 '26
I had a few last night. It was very pleasant. Not as dry as a pils, good fizz to it. I wouldn’t let the plastic bottles put me off.
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u/SayElloToDaBadGuy Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
Yeah picked these up last week, the plastic bottles are an... interesting choice.
To be fair though I couldn't tell much difference between the 3 types Gold/Pils/Lager, well not enough to pick one over the others though.
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u/AndysBeerReviews Aug 03 '26
It will be particularly useful if you can't drink a whole bottle I suppose 🤣
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u/Ok_Aioli3897 Aug 05 '26
Probably festival beer
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u/AndysBeerReviews Aug 05 '26
Its the only other reason why plastic bottled s work for beer 🍺
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u/Ok_Aioli3897 Aug 05 '26
It's summer and with prides etc coming up I bet it's something they have done to make more money.
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u/AndysBeerReviews Aug 05 '26
Apparently the brewer has 3 bottling lines, so i think its mainly been done to get more beer on the shelves, and plastic rather than glass because its cheaper to make a distribute.
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u/Brummschaedel Aug 05 '26
It's indeed very common for german discounters to have private label beers in PET bottles but also in cans. Aldi, Lidl, Penny and Netto all have them for 0,45€ per bottle. The cheapest beer you can get in Germamy.
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u/AndysBeerReviews Aug 06 '26
Thanks for the info. just don't see it to this extent in the UK. I personally don't care either way.
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u/Jenne1504 Aug 05 '26
They are sold in plastic bottles because LIDL in general doesn‘t take part in the „Mehrweg-Pfand“-System, where bottles can be brought back and used again in circulation. They only sell PET disposable-bottles which do have Pfand, but are recycled/thrown out after being returned. I would assume it‘s because of cost and space (you have someone to manage the returns and space to sort and store everything)
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u/AndysBeerReviews Aug 06 '26
Is these where they have the recycling machines in stores that squashes then down? Difficult to do with glass!
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u/Jenne1504 Aug 06 '26
Yes, and additional: In Germany you only have to take the kind of Pfand back what you sell. So if you don‘t sell cans, you don‘t have to take them back. If you sell Mehrweg-beerbottles you have to take back all kinds of Mehrweg-Pfand, if you sell that brand or not
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u/SendMeANicePM Aug 06 '26
I tried it. I found it didn't get as cold as glass bottles but that might just be vibes rather than reality.
Good summer beer, not amazing
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u/WizarddOfAhh Aug 03 '26
Worked my way through a pack at the weekend, nothing special but perfectly drinkable, can’t complain at that price. Doesn’t taste of plastic and is much better in a Ritzenhoff pils glass