Beer in a PET bottle

BEER manufacturers have the option to bottle their brew in PET topped with a crown. Whilst looking like glass, this first-ever pasteurisable lightweight PET bottle with a non-petaloid base is lightweight at 28 grams and offers the mechanical properties of PET, according to maker Sidel. The company has tested this product by blowing a 330ml version that can achieve a six-month shelf life (with less than 1 parts-per-million (ppm) of oxygen ingress and less than 17% of carbon dioxide loss). The company can also offer versions up to 600ml; other sizes will eventually be developed.

Using technologies such as Sidel's proprietary Actis™ gas barrier, the bottle prevents oxygen from entering and carbon dioxide from escaping, and keeps beer fresh for six months. The bottle can be used for flash or tunnel pasteurised beer, and also micro-filtrated beer. For tunnel-pasteurised beer a PET bottle requires a petaloid base, but the company's new bottle has a unique base and other design technologies that mean it can resist the pressures produced
by the prolonged high temperatures during this production process.

The bottle can withstand pressures of 20 pasteurisation units (PU) in the tunnel, which is standard for lagers, and retains a stable base after pasteurisation. Furthermore, the bottle design can be used on existing tunnel pasteurisers that currently serve glass bottles.

Cold and just as good
For many years there have been misperceptions about beer in plastic bottle. Some mistakenly think beer in PET gets warmer quicker. According to Sidel research, its beer bottle kept beer cold for the same time duration as an equivalent sized glass bottle, with much less wall thickness and hence much less material weight. Taste is also another misperception, with some consumers believing that beer tastes better, for example, in cans instead of PET bottles.