Just before it folded, Stone Berlin turned out a pilsner in collaboration with American beat combo Metallica. It's called Enter Night and is an unreasonably strong 5.7% ABV. I can't say I was mad keen to try it, but then I had an idea. Dunnes Stores has a plethora of German beers you don't see anywhere else. I picked a cheap pilsner from among them, Germania by an Eichbaum subsidiary in Rhineland-Palatinate. It's a middle-of-the-road 4.8% ABV. Stone-Metallica cost €3.99; Dunnes took €1.15 off me for the other one. Is the price difference justified? Set 'em up blind!They look fairly similar, both clear yellow with a decent sized head. Beer 1 has a mild haze while 2 is pure and clear. 1 smells bready with a slight lemon washing up liquid sharpness while 2 is all malt: a wholesome porridgey richness. They're very different but neither is bland or nasty. 1 has a coconut foretaste, suggesting Sorachi Ace. It turns a little plasticky late on, which is unpleasant but entirely in keeping with how plenty of German pilsners are created. Not to my taste, but not flawed. 2, meanwhile, doubles down on that malt, the sweet grain offset, but not really balanced, by an unsubtle green bitterness which indicates hop extract to me.
I'm not a big fan of either, and I absolutely cannot taste how one is a multiple of the price of the other. The Dunnes one, whichever it is, is showing plenty of character for a cheapie. The Stone one, conversely, is not justifying the price tag: neither of these is better than a decent pale lager of the sort you can buy for buttons in Germany and not a massive amount here.
Guessing game time: I'd say 1, with the extra hop character and unfiltered fuzz, is the Stone one, while 2 is Dunnes being unnecessarily characterful. And I'm right!
I don't think I've learned anything other than €4 is too much to pay for a premium-branded pilsner, while you don't get much for your money down in the €1.15 bracket. I knew this already. As you were.