Why doesn’t beer come in PET plastic bottles?

[kpr121]

Except at ball parks, why?

 

[Bensiff]

I'd guess cost

 

[Jayhem]

Likely cost but could be because packaging can hurt marketability.

Would you be more likely to buy an expensive premium craft beer that comes in a 6-pack of sexy looking glass bottles or in basic aluminum cans?

Can's make it look like a low quality beer...plastic would do the same thing.

 

[PhelanKA7]

Likely cost but could be because packaging can hurt marketability.

Would you be more likely to buy an expensive premium craft beer that comes in a 6-pack of sexy looking glass bottles or in basic aluminum cans?

Can's make it look like a low quality beer...plastic would do the same thing.

This.

Bulk PET bottles aren't really that cost prohibitive.

 

[Revvy]

What do you mean? Just about every mega brewery has plastic bottles.

You can find them at my grocery stores....especially in the summer for "beach enjoyment."

 

[Jayhem]

Most beer drinkers who prefer what the market calls "import" or "premium" beer have always come packaged in pop top glass bottles. Even twist cap glass bottles "cheapens" the packaging to many consumers and makes them wonder if the beer they just spend $10+ for a sixxer was worth the investment.

 

[PhelanKA7]

What do you mean? Just about every mega brewery has plastic bottles.

You can find them at my grocery stores....especially in the summer for "beach enjoyment."

I think the OP is maybe asking why there isn't a similar movement to bottle craft beer in PET like there is with canning these days.

 

[reverendj1]

Most beer drinkers who prefer what the market calls "import" or "premium" beer have always come packaged in pop top glass bottles. Even twist cap glass bottles "cheapens" the packaging to many consumers and makes them wonder if the beer they just spend $10+ for a sixxer was worth the investment.

I would guess this as well. One of my friends who drinks a lot of craft beer was telling me about how he had a bad beer, and he started like this "It had a screw-top, which was my first sign that it was going to be bad...."

Also, yeah the BMCs do sell in plastic bottles sometimes. When my dad got started with his Mr. Beer, he used plastic Miller Light bottles.

 

[Revvy]

I think the OP is maybe asking why there isn't a similar movement to bottle craft beer in PET like there is with canning these days.

I really love how folks read different things into the same 13 words.... He doesn't mention craft beer. Just beer....Anything else is an assumption.

 

[PhelanKA7]

I really love how folks read different things into the same 13 words.... He doesn't mention craft beer. Just beer....Anything else is an assumption.

That's why I said "I think"

 

[Jayhem]

I really love how folks read different things into the same 13 words.... He doesn't mention craft beer. Just beer....Anything else is an assumption.

I think the fact that this is a homebrewing forum leads many to assume he meant "craft beer".

When he mentioned "ball park" that got me thinking more along the lines of BMC.

 

[HollisBT]

Likely cost but could be because packaging can hurt marketability.

Would you be more likely to buy an expensive premium craft beer that comes in a 6-pack of sexy looking glass bottles or in basic aluminum cans?

Can's make it look like a low quality beer...plastic would do the same thing.

I'd actually prefer cans to bottles...

 

[Revvy]

I think the fact that this is a homebrewing forum leads many to assume he meant "craft beer".

Really, why would you say that??? Actually if you get down to it, it's a higher probabilty that someone coming into homebrewing is coming from a bmc drinking background than a craft beer background, since quite simply more folks on this planet consume mass market brew than craft beer. If you look at markets like Canada (look at Craig of Craigtube) New Zealand and Australia, the reasons people homebrew are not because they're necessarily craft beer drinkers, but for economic ones. That's why I think it's rude to denigrate someone coming on here wanting to make a BMC type one beer, because not everyone came from a craft beer background like I did.

And assuming that everyone who homebrews is a craft brew drinker. I learned a long time ago not to assume anything.

In fact I bet if you look at the most sold beginner kits by Mr Beer, Cooper's, BB and all the other kit manufacturers they top sellers are those kits which are going to be in the closest approximation to a BMC beer, like the "Pseudo lager."

I think half the people I've taught brewing to were basic BMC drinkers. They gravitated to other styles later, but the first brews I help many folks with were of the above mentioned bmc-esque beers.

But yeah, ball park leads me to think mass market beer as well.

 

[sp0rk]

The Brass Brewery uses PET bottles (here in Australia at least)

 

[PhelanKA7]

Let's put it to a vote...

 

[reverendj1]

I'd actually prefer cans to bottles...

Me too if I wasn't still collecting bottles. Much easier/safer to carry around, and haul to recycle, etc. I also like the taste of the aluminum on my lips better. I have several hundred, and started kegging, but I'm still collecting them. I think this perception that craft beer needs to be in bottles is slowing changing. In Michigan here, there are several microbreweries that are selling in cans.

 

[Bensiff]

Hmm, perhaps it is the caps that look like they belong on a coke bottle

 

[Revvy]

I think this perception that craft beer needs to be in bottles is slowing changing. In Michigan here, there are several microbreweries that are selling in cans.

Yeah and if you look at some of the treads on here about canning you'll see that it STILL is a battle to shift folks perceptions about cans. Even now that craft beer in cans has really started to roll, we still get at least 1 thread every quarter where someone is slamming canned beers and "just can't believe their precious craft beer is being canned."

 

[hughmac]

Possibly the question is 'why don't many beers come in PET bottles'?

I have no answer. I would guess it's all market research findings related to perceived quality. Same for wine.

Aluminum is the most efficient from a recycling perspective, and personally I prefer glass, then can, then plastic if I'm drinking from the packaging. Although style matters too: an American Light Lager somehow just tastes 'right' from a can.

With my renewed interest in bottling (doing lotsa small batches), I've been considering PET quarts. Somehow I just can't pull the trigger though. I wish 2.5-3 gal cornie keg prices weren't so ridiculous these days! Shoulda stocked up in the '90s.

I'd LOVE a home aluminum can setup!

 

[reverendj1]

I'd LOVE a home aluminum can setup!

Me too! I've considered buying the Bud/Bud Lights in the aluminum bottles and a bench capper, since that would be the closest us homebrewers could get.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I'm kinda glad they only served bottled beer in PET @ the Huntridge. a Nazi smoked me in the back of the head with a full bottle the 2nd time I got to see The Misfits. and let me tell y'all, he was one real tough badass: twice my size, surrounded by 20 of same sized buddies, and threw it from across the room.

as for the can vs bottle argument, I don't mind cans anymore. I used to hate them, but there's great beer inside. only problem I can find with cans is I can't package 5 gallons of my own stout or pale in them.

 

[unionrdr]

It also looks to me like some of those PET bottles use the same type of cap as ones like Cooper's. That make getting new caps now & then a lot easier. They're good for 5-6 batches they say on Cooper's forums.
The biggest thing with PET bottles is getting the caps mind numbingly tight so they don't leak. Maybe folks think they'll get a flat one?

 

[Revvy]

I have no answer. I would guess it's all market research findings related to perceived quality. Same for wine.

A

I think this is the big one. Although plastic has improved over the last decade, especially after all the bpa recalls which really is giving a rise to Pet, there still is a big perceptual problem about plastic vs glass (and aluminum now) all you have to do is look at all the stupid glass vs plastic arguments on here. Even though the megabeer corps and softdrink manufacturers wouldn't be putting their precious nectars into plastic if there were still problems with it, I mean seriously is AH/INBEV really going to risk their assets and their reputation by putting their product into something "inferior?" You know they did a ton of testing and put a lot of money into working with the plastics industry before they'd roll out their beer in them.

 

[kpr121]

Im glad I sparked debate over the subcontext of my short question. I meant beer as in, beer, as in, all beer in general. However I can see the idea of marketability so it would tend to be more applied to BMC.

I haven’t really noticed any plastic BMC or others beer being sold in grocery stores (maybe that proves the marketability point), but maybe I haven’t looked hard enough. My thoughts were that a lot of places don’t allow glass bottles (ball park, beaches, football tailgates, pools, etc) and I thought plastic bottles were actually cheaper when mass produced (Coke and Pepsi don’t mass market glass bottles anymore for a reason).

Honestly, it was mostly just a thought that popped into my head as I bought a Diet Coke out of the vending machine.

I’ve bottled some homebrew in used 2 liters before, it’s definitely a great way to take your beer to places where you don’t care about reclaiming the bottle, such as at Penn State tailgates (where theyve actually banned glass, and kegs. You can however serve beer out of a 5 gallon water cooler, but that might be a story for another thread).

 

[mikeh80]

I think this perception that craft beer needs to be in bottles is slowing changing.

Just wish I could have found some of this before the 500 back in May:

IMS lets you bring in outside drinks, provided they're not in glass containers.

 

[Revvy]

I

Honestly, it was mostly just a thought that popped into my head as I bought a Diet Coke out of the vending machine.

Bet you lived in Japan, not dontja....

 

[unionrdr]

^^Huh. Haven't seen those cans around here yet. Just Oskar Blue's Dale's pale ale.

 

[acidrain]

I'm going to suggest recycle-ability... You can't just wash out a can or plastic bottle the way you can a re-usable glass bottle.
In this order, it's:
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

 

[kpr121]

Mmmmmmm Torpedo!

Tell me you wouldnt buy a PET 2 liter of that stuff!

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Bet you lived in Japan, not dontja....

is that sake in a vending machine?!? I'm gonna put one of those in my basement!