Heineken

[DJR]

$22 is too bloody much for CUB swill. Sure it uses goldings but it's still CUB swill.

Pilsner Urquell is on special at Amato's for $43 a case which means Dan Murphy's will have it even cheaper this week.

 

[Mr Bond]

Becks,Stella, hieneken, guinness, bass pale, newcastle brown on tap are all brewed locally(regionally).More and more are converting to bottled version.Read the lables carefully b4 purchasing.

 

[wee stu]

and the cans always tasted better then the bottle

[post="106796"][/post]​

I agree with you there Oz. Never did like the contents of either very much though

 

[wee stu]

I can't remember who makes Stella.

[post="106806"][/post]​

I have no idea who makes Stella in Oz, but, for those in SA who may want it, Skye Cellars have been selling the imported version for $48 a carton for some time. A month or so ago they also had Dutch Heineken for under $40 a carton.

No affiliation, and not keen to buy it for myself, but my mates in the work social club I buy for seemed happy enough.

Those who preferred the taste of Heineken before it was made here, may want to check any bottles you have left. Lots of Heineken was being imported into Australia before and there is almost certainly more Heineken brewed in our Asian neighbour countries than in Holland.

As has been suggested, check the labels carefully and don't jump to conclusions, especially if they are influenced by cultural cringe.

Heineken was a globally produced and shipped brand, long before Lion Nathan got involved.

 

[Stickler]

All the breweries that brew these beers under licence claim the taste difference is the freshness, as somebody mentioned it hasn't been sitting on a boat for a couple of months. I've also read that a sample of each batch is sent back to the head brewer in the country of origin to be tasted before it is released locally. Not sure if they all do but I know they do with heineken and Chuck hahn does that also with Kirin Ichiban which I think is still brewed at the malt shovel.
I haven't done the side by side taste test yet but I'm usually happy with any beer as long as it's pure.

Cheers

 

[Spun]

I think Heinekan may be trying to head this kind of talk off at the pass - check out this add.

 

[WillM]

I still don't understand why it tastes so bad on tap. Maybe is was just the venues.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

I think Heinekan may be trying to head this kind of talk off at the pass - check out this add.

I have dial-up at home, so I'm not waiting 20 mins for it to load.

If it is the one where he "goes back in time" on the way to the shop after running out and then proclaims "it's just the same", then yeah I agree, as in the ad the new bottle shape is featured h34r:

As for how it tastes, yes I bought a sixer of the new stuff yesterday and it wasn't what I was drinking a month or so ago...in fact three of them are still in the fridge

PZ.

 

[jagerbrau]

always called it dutch VB, but if lion nathan doing it prob new zealand still cause it has been made there for a bit, still imported though, but have felling it may be made closer to home these days, prob using torrens water

 

[jagerbrau]

arron got it right mega swill..... becks, stella they are all doing it the buggas

 

[Poodz]

That pour and scraping off the overflowing head is exactly how they do it at the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam. The 3 beers they gave me were really nice, plus the extra 3 i scored from tokens people werent using

Much nicer straight from the tap in Amsterdam than out of a stubby in Adelaide.

 

[Aaron]

Much nicer straight from the tap in Amsterdam than out of a stubby in Adelaide.

[post="112232"][/post]​

I have heard it is a totally different beer when sampled at the source from a few people. Over the last few days I have been to a few events fron the Adelaide Fringe which seems to have Heineken as it's default beer. I have had it off tap which I assume was locally produced. I have had bottles from Holland and Australia and a can from New Zealand. There are differences in the flavour. However, it has not made a huge difference to me as I'm not a fan of the beer in the first place, I'm drinking ir becaus it is still better than TED. So if you are in Adelaide get out to some Fringe gigs and you can try all the colours of the Heineken rainbow.

 

[jagerbrau]

i remember a while back going to the belgium bar, getting a stella. damn near spat it out, ask to speck to the keg man, cause it just wasnt right. my mate has drunk stella from the brewery, and has an uneducated palate but a good one said the same thing.

all the staff argued that it was fine, was just totally different, i have been drinking stella off and on since 1987 so think can notice. later found out through some one with in the organisation that CUB was wanting to see if the consumer would noticed.

most of the yuppy suits who drink it to look at me would not notice the differnce. i had a yuppy boss who drank becks from belgium(must be geographicaly challanged), one day at work function put a west end product in a becks bottle, was shocked that she did not spit it out. no she turned aroound and stated that was the bes becks she had drunk. later she was offered that west end product which she did spit out as rubish beer, goes to show. it was the same bottle

 

[dreamboat]

The last heineken I had, probably just before xmas, was very soapy and generally bad. Probably a year ago, I bought a carton of Heineken which was quite good.... obviously can't be sure as to whether the last one I had was poorly managed or not the same because of being brewed locally.... but it will be a long time before I have another one.



dreamboat

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

While not a fan Heineken I was gagging for something a bit better than the usual tap swill, in Brizzy airport.
$4.70 a schooner for draught beers, not bad for an airport,
" thats $5.80 thanks mate "
"but the sign says $4.70"
" this is imported premium mate, $5.80 "
Not much point trying to educate the bloke behind the bar, he doesnt give a toss and will probably call security anyway.
I just had to sit and seethe in the corner.

 

[BoilerBoy]

$5.80 for an imported locally made premium beer.......

Its beginning to look like the terrorists have already won

Cheers
BB

 

[jagerbrau]

i was at the garden of unearthly delites last night and payed 7 for a locally made imported beer. bit of JW and sugar.

 

[yardy]

I have heard it is a totally different beer when sampled at the source

[post="112236"][/post]​

same with Guiness imo, i thought it even tasted different in the rest of the UK as opposed to Ireland.

off topic a bit, sorry about that.

cheers

 

[PistolPatch]

Just had a quick skim through this thread and found it quite enjoyable because I am so old (41!). I, or my aged tate buds, can tell you that Stella and Heineken, whether it be in the bottle or on tap are nothing like those of 20 years ago.

Heineken, in the keg, was imported by Matilda Bay just before the America's Cup held in Fremantle and was, for those of us who worked at the The Norfolk Hotel, or, as we affectionately called it, 'The No Forkon Worries Hotel,' our favourite staffy beer assuming that all the Matilda Bay Dark lager had, 'blown.'

Stella was the first imported beer that Matilda Bay agreed to brew under licence as it was at the time, like Heineken, regarded as an extremely well made beer. It was also, because of Matilda Bay, the first imported beer to actually be brewed in Australia. I, and my friends loved it off tap. If my memory serves me correctly, though I could be wrong, I'm pretty sure we tried to get Heineken but were rejected.

Now, I have given up on both of these beers. They don't taste the same to me now as they did back then. Have they changed or is it just my old taste buds? Personally, I would say, without doubt, that it is the beers that have changed as I can actually taste both of those beers in my memory and on my tongue right now, the Heineken more so than the Stella. My memories have absolutely zero correlation to what I drink now.

If either of the above brewers could prove their recipe has not changed dramatically in 20 years, I would actually be gob-smacked - possibly frightened!

Don't mind a Peroni, Asahi or a Becks now though! Very easy drinking! Pretty much a lager sort of bloke even after being forced by Matilda Bay to drink every style of beer!

Cheers PP

Historical Trivia Note: Matilda Bay was the first company to start a Pub Brewery and to import beer. The Sail and Anchor (just across the road from The No 'ken Worries!' was Australia's first pub brewery.) We used to stocktake every Monday which meant having to count 150 imported single bottles of beer on display (upstairs and downstairs!) as well as those in the fridge. You can imagine the logistical nightmare of having to keep at least 2 bottles of, 'Newcastle Brown Ale,' and another 149 imported bottled beers cold! I can still see the stocktake sheets in my head. Newcastle Brown Ale - This Week (5) - Last Week (5). Theakston's Old Peculiar - This Week (2) - Last Week (2). What a crack up! The amazing thing was that we would get our stocktake to balance to about $50 without even cheating! From memory, the turnover at the time during the summer months was $120,000 per week and we're talking around 1986!