The Great Stella Artois Scandal

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Jack

Jack

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Joined
Nov 11, 2007
This great Belgian pilsner beer started off life as a premium lager at 5.2% ABV, the Belgian standard for such beers was sold at super premium prices.

This reassuringly expensive tipple carried the nickname wife beater due to its strength.

From 1986 this Belgian beer was beer was brewed under licence in the UK. It was and still is advertised as a Belgian pilsner, you've got to look quite hard to find a reference to the UK! A normal glance at the bottle, can or tap and you'd be forgiven for thinking it's Belgian.

It gets worse.

In 2008 the ABV was reduced from 5.2%, for this premium lager, to a less than premium 4.8% still at the premium price. The money saved in alcohol duty made its way into the company's profits.

It gets even worse.

The ABV is now only 4.6%. Profit before product.

It's still 5.2% in Belgium and while it was possible to buy the Belgian version in the UK it has become much more difficult. There's other changes over the years. I'm surprised they're allowed to call it Stella Artois in the UK!

Stella Artois isn't the only 'foreign' beer masquerading as an overseas premium drink. To be honest most foreign beers are brewed under licence in the UK, in England using their pishy water!

Beer seems to be an anomaly as far as this deception goes.

Imagine the outrage if an inferior Scotch whisky was brewed under licence in some far flung quarter of the world. Would the French standby if an inferior wine made elsewhere was extensively promoted as French wine? Would they fuck?

There's advertising standards for virtually everything except beer. Why do us beer drinkers put up with this?


PS I'm not that fussy on Stella Artois but do enjoy an overseas beer now and again. Its the principle of the thing!
 
Jack said:
This great Belgian pilsner beer started off life as a premium lager at 5.2% ABV, the Belgian standard for such beers was sold at super premium prices.

This reassuringly expensive tipple carried the nickname wife beater due to its strength.

From 1986 this Belgian beer was beer was brewed under licence in the UK. It was and still is advertised as a Belgian pilsner, you've got to look quite hard to find a reference to the UK! A normal glance at the bottle, can or tap and you'd be forgiven for thinking it's Belgian.

It gets worse.

In 2008 the ABV was reduced from 5.2%, for this premium lager, to a less than premium 4.8% still at the premium price. The money saved in alcohol duty made its way into the company's profits.

It gets even worse.

The ABV is now only 4.6%. Profit before product.

It's still 5.2% in Belgium and while it was possible to buy the Belgian version in the UK it has become much more difficult. There's other changes over the years. I'm surprised they're allowed to call it Stella Artois!

Stella Artois isn't the only 'foreign' beer masquerading as an overseas premium drink. To be honest most foreign beers are brewed under licence in the UK, in England using their pishy water!

Beer seems to be an anomaly as far as this deception goes.

Imagine the outrage if an inferior Scotch whisky was brewed under licence in some far flung quarter of the world. Would the French standby if an inferior wine made elsewhere was extensively promoted as French wine? Would they fuck?

There's advertising standards for virtually everything except beer. Why do us beer drinkers put up with this?


PS I'm not that fussy on Stella Artois but do enjoy an overseas beer now and again. Its the principle of the thing!
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I have drunk Guinness all my life Jack and not much else. I know where it's brewed, though remember on my first visit to Malaysia the first thing I saw being driven into KL was a huge Guinness Brewery. I drunk the stuff and it was fucking brutal.
The Guinness brewed in Nigeria is 9% and drunk warm FFS!

BIG G
 
To me it’s a good thing. These super strength beers serve no good purpose and there has been a regrettable trend for beers to get stronger for no reason. If you’re out for a beer surely the point is to have a good sesh and a chat, for which the old 3.x beers were great. Now you get these hipster efforts that don’t even taste like they’re strong and often high 4 or over 5%. A nonsense imho.

If you do have a complaint with Stella though, I think it’s with those setting the tax laws. In terms of the strength anyway. The brewed under license is another racket.

@GORDONSMITH7 the African guiness always seemed cynical af to me, basically loopy juice marketed for the purpose.
 
GORDONSMITH7 said:
I have drunk Guinness all my life Jack and not much else. I know where it's brewed, though remember on my first visit to Malaysia the first thing I saw being driven into KL was a huge Guinness Brewery. I drunk the stuff and it was fucking brutal.
The Guinness brewed in Nigeria is 9% and drunk warm FFS!

BIG G
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I'm not against stuff not being brewed in the country of origin as such but they should be up front about it and it should be as close to the original as possible. If its not its surely something else!
 
egb_hibs said:
To me it’s a good thing. These super strength beers serve no good purpose and there has been a regrettable trend for beers to get stronger for no reason. If you’re out for a beer surely the point is to have a good sesh and a chat, for which the old 3.x beers were great. Now you get these hipster efforts that don’t even taste like they’re strong and often high 4 or over 5%. A nonsense imho.

If you do have a complaint with Stella though, I think it’s with those setting the tax laws. In terms of the strength anyway. The brewed under license is another racket.

@GORDONSMITH7 the African guiness always seemed cynical af to me, basically loopy juice marketed for the purpose.
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The point isn't about beers that are available. Strong beers and session beers have always been available. Dark beers in Scotland commonly sold as 60/-, 70/-, 80/- and 90/- in the past.

It's the deception that overseas beers aren't from overseas, aren't brewed the way they say they are and to add to that they are reducing in strength ... not for public health benefits or anything like that but to avoid paying tax and boosting profits.
 
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Jack said:
I'm not against stuff not being brewed in the country of origin as such but they should be up front about it and it should be as close to the original as possible. If its not its surely something else!
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A subject that boils my pish. I remember going on nights out and drinking beers such as Molson and Michelob. Moretti and other continental beers. They were all very good and had their own distinct flavours. Now? Every single fucking beer tastes exactly the same because it’s brewed under licence in the uk. 🤬

Anytime I go out nowadays (extremely rarely) I stick to Guinness or get a German wheat beer.
 
Beagle said:
A subject that boils my pish. I remember going on nights out and drinking beers such as Molson and Michelob. Moretti and other continental beers. They were all very good and had their own distinct flavours. Now? Every single fucking beer tastes exactly the same because it’s brewed under licence in the uk. 🤬

Anytime I go out nowadays (extremely rarely) I stick to Guinness or get a German wheat beer.
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More and more of my mates are turning to wheat beers. I'm not a fan.
 
Hibee Kev said:
Apparently even the Perfect Draft Stella is the UK-brewed stuff now @Jack 😒
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Yeah 😠

There was a time they used to make the original stuff available but not anymore.

Try finding out on their website where their various beers are brewed and it's not as easy in my opinion as it should be.
 
Purple & Green said:
Becks. Only ever brewed in Bremen, Germany.

Used to be true. Not any more.
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It was bottled by Scottish Brewers at Fountainbridge from the early 90s (I don't think it was brewed - maybe???). It was a huge deal for them at the time anyway.

Around the same time they went through a very drawn out process to get a deal to brew Murphy's under licence, including learning the entire process, recipe, etc.

All of a sudden that mysteriously fell through & Gillespies appeared along with some BS story of historic Scottish stout.

Aye right.....🤔
 
Jack said:
The point isn't about beers that are available. Strong beers and session beers have always been available. Dark beers in Scotland commonly sold as 60/-, 70/-, 80/- and 90/- in the past.

It's the deception that overseas beers aren't from overseas, aren't brewed the way they say they are and to add to that they are reducing in strength ... not for public health benefits or anything like that but to avoid paying tax and boosting profits.
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I agree with the deception point. On the tax point, they’re probably trying to meet a price point as much as increase profits, after the tax changes last year ?
 
Jack said:
The point isn't about beers that are available. Strong beers and session beers have always been available. Dark beers in Scotland commonly sold as 60/-, 70/-, 80/- and 90/- in the past.

It's the deception that overseas beers aren't from overseas, aren't brewed the way they say they are and to add to that they are reducing in strength ... not for public health benefits or anything like that but to avoid paying tax and boosting profits.
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Exactly. I don't drink much beer anymore, more of a wine and whisky man these days, but it used to bug the shit out of me that you would pay more for imported lagers and once they became popular they were quietly changed to brewed under licence in the UK but you were still paying the "imported" lager premium.
 
Beagle said:
A subject that boils my pish. I remember going on nights out and drinking beers such as Molson and Michelob. Moretti and other continental beers. They were all very good and had their own distinct flavours. Now? Every single fucking beer tastes exactly the same because it’s brewed under licence in the uk. 🤬

Anytime I go out nowadays (extremely rarely) I stick to Guinness or get a German wheat beer.
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Yup. It's all homogenised crap. Originally these beers tasted distinctive, which was why I liked them.
Having said that, you can get decent lagers brewed here now. St Mungo by West brewery in Glasgow and Paolozzi by Edinburgh Beer Company at Sighthill are decent.
 
Love buying and trying foreign beers but I always make sure they're not brewed under licence in the UK , they just don't taste the same. One prime example Tiger beer,used to love it when on runs ashore in singapore tastes nothing like it used to.
One beer I buy is Leffe, still brewed in Belgium.
 
Peevemor said:
It was bottled by Scottish Brewers at Fountainbridge from the early 90s (I don't think it was brewed - maybe???). It was a huge deal for them at the time anyway.

Around the same time they went through a very drawn out process to get a deal to brew Murphy's under licence, including learning the entire process, recipe, etc.

All of a sudden that mysteriously fell through & Gillespies appeared along with some BS story of historic Scottish stout.

Aye right.....🤔
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Gillespies was magic
 
paigntonhibby said:
Love buying and trying foreign beers but I always make sure they're not brewed under licence in the UK , they just don't taste the same. One prime example Tiger beer,used to love it when on runs ashore in singapore tastes nothing like it used to.
One beer I buy is Leffe, still brewed in Belgium.
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Among other things they also do a wheat beer that I normally keep in stock for mates coming round.
 
paigntonhibby said:
Love buying and trying foreign beers but I always make sure they're not brewed under licence in the UK , they just don't taste the same. One prime example Tiger beer,used to love it when on runs ashore in singapore tastes nothing like it used to.
One beer I buy is Leffe, still brewed in Belgium.
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I used to love Phoenix Beer, an absolute bane getting it from Mauritius but I think you're spot on - beer just doesnt taste the same if it's brewed under licence in the UK maybe because they arse about with the taste for the UK mass market.
 
Sancho Panza said:
Yup. It's all homogenised crap. Originally these beers tasted distinctive, which was why I liked them.
Having said that, you can get decent lagers brewed here now. St Mungo by West brewery in Glasgow and Paolozzi by Edinburgh Beer Company at Sighthill are decent.
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Aye. The St. Mungo is a decent beer. My laddie was at a wedding reception at their place last year. He was fuckin buckled by the end of the night. Had to stop twice on the M8 🤮🤮 after I picked him up. 🤣🤣🤣
 
Beagle said:
Aye. The St. Mungo is a decent beer. My laddie was at a wedding reception at their place last year. He was fuckin buckled by the end of the night. Had to stop twice on the M8 🤮🤮 after I picked him up. 🤣🤣🤣
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😆
I was there for my Godson's stag do. Got a tour of the brewery followed by their tasting menu. The German scran was good too. Suitably refreshed on the train back to Edinburgh. So much so that I didn't make it out for the evening session. Must be getting old. 🤔
 
paigntonhibby said:
Love buying and trying foreign beers but I always make sure they're not brewed under licence in the UK , they just don't taste the same. One prime example Tiger beer,used to love it when on runs ashore in singapore tastes nothing like it used to.
One beer I buy is Leffe, still brewed in Belgium.
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I like leffe as well,just checked a bottle out of my fridge,brewed in the uk as well.Budweiser own leffe so not surprised.1704804772928563877682009549879.jpg
 
I'm a red wine fella in the house but if I'm out it's usually Guinness. You know where you are with it, seldom (if ever) varies. Modern lagers are all fairly bland to me and make constantly need a p**h (but I suspect that's more an age thing).
 
sockyboy said:
I'm a red wine fella in the house but if I'm out it's usually Guinness. You know where you are with it, seldom (if ever) varies. Modern lagers are all fairly bland to me and make constantly need a p**h (but I suspect that's more an age thing).
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I was basically 100% Guinness when out too. Around the same time as the Rutger Hauer adverts (mid 80s) Guinness and the pubs upped their game and made it the most consistent pint going. It also became available almost everywhere, which wasn't the case before.

I started drinking Guinness in LA 35 years ago. I was across for a week playing pipes (brilliant job) and as a brown beer drinker (80 bob, export..) I didn’t fancy the lager so tried the Guinness - never looked back!
 
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Leffe also reduced from 6.6% to 6.0% and brewed under licence. Given water is a major component to the flavour of beer as soon as something becomes 'brewed under licence' it's basically inferior. Trying to find lagers that are still imported (e.g Peroni or Budvar) is a worthy challenge though! Apparently Budweiser in the UK is better than it's American counterpart but that's more due to how bad the latter is than the UK version being good.
 
If anyone like a Spanish Pilsner, Morrisons are selling brewed in Spain Mahou, tenner a box of 12, whilst the Cruzcampo they are promoting is brewed in Burton, not Sevilla.
 
Sancho Panza said:
Exactly. I don't drink much beer anymore, more of a wine and whisky man these days, but it used to bug the shit out of me that you would pay more for imported lagers and once they became popular they were quietly changed to brewed under licence in the UK but you were still paying the "imported" lager premium.
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A lot of it’s illusory. When I was working in Canada I became partial to a local beer dismissed as ‘trucker beer’ by Canadian colleagues. When I asked them what is better they said I should try an exotic imported beer. Their recommendation was… Heineken.
 
whiskas said:
Found an interesting article on the subject on the BBC website: Italian label maybe but the beer's British brewed
Also interesting that 'Madri' is an invented brand- the most Spanish thing about it is the guy who looks like Sergio Ramos on the label!
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Madri, yes when I first seen it I sent a photo of a pint in a Madri glass to my mate in Madrid, saying I had never heard of it, he laughed and said neither had he.
 
whiskas said:
Leffe also reduced from 6.6% to 6.0% and brewed under licence. Given water is a major component to the flavour of beer as soon as something becomes 'brewed under licence' it's basically inferior. Trying to find lagers that are still imported (e.g Peroni or Budvar) is a worthy challenge though! Apparently Budweiser in the UK is better than it's American counterpart but that's more due to how bad the latter is than the UK version being good.
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That American Budweiser is awful. Far too sweet. I’d rather have the Czech original although it’s probably brewed with English shit polluted water as well now 🙄
 
whiskas said:
Leffe also reduced from 6.6% to 6.0% and brewed under licence. Given water is a major component to the flavour of beer as soon as something becomes 'brewed under licence' it's basically inferior. Trying to find lagers that are still imported (e.g Peroni or Budvar) is a worthy challenge though! Apparently Budweiser in the UK is better than it's American counterpart but that's more due to how bad the latter is than the UK version being good.
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Czech budvar is better than either
 
And Staropramen - hallucinogenic beer?

Once got out my skull on it at a James Taylor Quartet gig (it wasn't Bannermans but a big basement place somewhere round there 🤔).

Edit - cellar no. 1 in Chambers Street, now the Jazz Bar.

I was only in there 2-3 times. It was a bit too "yah" for me.
 
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Peevemor said:
I was basically 100% Guinness when out too. Around the same time as the Rutger Hauer adverts (mid 80s) Guinness and the pubs upped their game and made it the most consistent pint going. It also became available almost everywhere, which wasn't the case before.

I started drinking Guinness in LA 35 years ago. I was across for a week playing pipes (brilliant job) and as a brown beer drinker (80 bob, export..) I didn’t fancy the lager so tried the Guinness - never looked back!
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Long shot mate, but you weren't in the polis pipe band were you?
 
Peevemor said:
Very nearly, but no. I had a good few mates who were though.
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Just wondered. I've a mate from Penicuik direction who travelled to the states a few times with the polis pipe band, roughly same time you're talking about.
 
sockyboy said:
Just wondered. I've a mate from Penicuik direction who travelled to the states a few times with the polis pipe band, roughly same time you're talking about.
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Stevie Stanley (good Hibee now in Australia) and Ronnie Mason (funnily enough) are 2 from Penicuik that spring to mind but I probably knew others.
 
In the USA I think Beck's was the first to fall a few years ago. Heavily advertised as the US number one imported beer it was very popular. I always used by buy a case from Costco. Then one day I was having a a Beck's and it didn't taste right. Maybe just that bottle, tried another. Nope, still doesn't seem right. So I examine the label I notice instead of the "Brewed in Bremen" the label says "Brewed to German Standard (or quality)" On further inspection, it's brewed by Anheuser, cheeky beggars!! I've never had it since and I don't think Costco carry it anymore. I noticed Stella had gone the same way last year. They are sneaky bassas because the packaging and pricing still suggests it's an import but it's not. Also Stella is comes in an 11oz bottle instead of the more standard 12oz bottle. Stell was another beer that was heavily marketed but I no longer see ads for it.
 
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