Karlskrone Gold
Brouwerij Martens NV

 

I went to Aldi today and bought the Germany's cheapest beer, which all come in plastic bottles. Now, I've nothing against plastic for beer, and the advantages are obvious for weight, breakability and production costs, and they're fully reusable with a paid deposit.

In Aldi, all you get is their own brand, Karlskrone. Unfortunately, they didn't have a Pils but only had the Gold.

Here it's 1.69€ for a 6-pack, or 28¢ per bottle, and again, the deposit at 25¢ is almost the same as the price of the beer with beer in it.

Who makes their beers? Brauerei Martens in Belgium for the Aldi beer Karlskrone, but for the price point I guess Germans don't bat an eye when buying a Belgium made beer, something that in other circumstances would be sacrilege.

So how do it taste? I'm just going to give my basic impressions.

Aroma: Some slight Pils malt aroma, almost a chemical smell, but overall not horrible.

Flavor: Very disappointing in flavor. I get just a little Pils malt flavor, some bitterness and then tartness, and then more sweetness. It's almost good flavor-wise but not quite average even.

Mouthfeel: Weaker, not watery, but not at all satisfying.

Overall: Again, not horrible and better, at least maltier, than Bitburger or Warsteiner, but not worth buying if anything else is available. But, if you're broke, for the price, you can't go wrong here. 2.3 of 5

This beer is better than BMC beers, but which German beer isn't? For the price, they're frighteningly not bad.

Coming back to this from Lidl, the more I drink of these beers, the more I feel I'm drink a beer-soda. Not real soda or a soda-mix, but if one imagined beer as soda: spritzy, "refreshing" but just enough beer taste,... just enough... to make you feel you're drinking a beer, but not enough to be a serious beer. So... beer-soda is my new schema for these beers.

Appearance: Pale, straw colored with big head

Aroma: Delicate, honey-like

Taste: smooth, slightly hoppy, not exciting, but a very good, drinkable pale lager

Remarks: First one given to me by my German neighbor. I thought it was decent for a beer in a plastic bottle. I didn't expect much, but it was good for sitting around drinking on a hot day.

Did not score A, T, S, M at that time; disregard those scores

Brewed for the german supermarket chain Aldi. Bought at Germany, only beer available at that supermarket. Clear plastic bottle with a screw cap, that carries 0.25 euros deposit. Price of the actual beer was a bit more than that. ABV 4,9%. Poured into a pint glass.
Deep golden colour with one and a half finger of white, soapy head, with average retention. Left some light lacing behind once gone. Medium activity in the glass.
Typical lager smell, maltywith some stale bread notes.
Ugh..! Tastes like wort, and the old bread has moved onto the taste too. Not nice.
Meduim on the body with average to high carbonation.
Well, I don't think I'll buy it again.