beer

[kitzg]

In the U.S. Heineken is now the Number Two import beer -- second to Corona. Heineken continued to go after golf with an upper income, upper age crowd while Corona (and I am not a fan of either beer) went after a young hip crowd. Corona won.

[Gillman]

Interesting, thanks. I believe Heineken never issued a light version of its famous lager bier. Maybe this is what they need to overtake Corona and reclaim the number one spot. There are beers I admire more than those two but sometimes a cold Heineken is just right, and same for Corona.

Gary

[kitzg]

As you stated earlier it seems to be marketing that made Corona number one. I doubt Heineken Light would be a hit vs. Corona. My students see Heineken as an "old man's beer" and Corona as a "beer for someone like me" (meaing 21 - 25 year olds).

Corona markets as an attitude -- relaxation. Very smart in our world. While Golf is a form or relaxation and despite Tiger Woods it is not necessarily seen as a 'relaxation attitude.'

Anyway, that is my humble opinion based on following beers in the US for quite a few years.

Thanks for the open dialogue.

I must say I've not tried Heineken recently enough to have noticed that the skunky taste is gone. I'll give it a try. I do enjoy good European lagers (as well as good ales). However, my new "favorite Saturday night pub" has Hooegaarden, Hacker-Schorr, and Boddington's on tap with a special that night.

[pepcycle]

Isn't Amstel Light nothing more than Heineken Light?

[pepcycle]

That clear Corona bottle makes for a wonderfully skunky flavor. In a recent blind tasting of 15 commercially available beers, Corona was mistaken for Heineken by a large group of participants. What's the cure for Skunky beer? Disguise it with Lime!!!!
Go Figure

[cowdery]

In the U.S., Amstel Light is, effectively, Heineken's light beer entry. In Europe, however, Amstel (not light) is a brand in its own right. When I was in Greece in 1995, that was the main beer there and made locally. We drank a lot of it and it was quite good, as lagers go.

When in the Netherlands, I'm happy to drink Heineken, although everything tastes good when you're smoking the local bud (except, of course, Bud). Over here, I don't mind the imported Heineken, although if I want an imported lager I'm more inclined toward Becks or, best of all, Pilsner Urquell. However, in Prague I prefer Staropremen, which is available here but, for some reason, doesn't seem to travel as well as Pilsner Urquell, probably because it doesn't do the volume. Over there, I would almost always be drinking draught.

Ah, fond beer memories.

[Gillman]

I agree, regarding the Amstel Light, in the sense that Heineken and Amstel are brands of the same corporate owner. But from a North American brand franchise point of view, it is not correct to say Amstel Light is "Heineken Light". Not 1% (I estimate) of those who drink either brand in America know they are owned by the same company. Heineken should do a line extension to Light for the flagship (in North America) Heineken brand. It would attract those aging Heineken drinkers who want to ease up a bit and perhaps attract that younger crowd that is wedded to Corona (and the new and rather unnecessary Corona Light).

Re Staropremen, I heard it is brewed under license in England and that adjuncts (brewing sugars in this case) are added. Every time I had it in London it tasted not right, like an adjunct beer. I am sure it is great in its East European homeland but unlike Urquel it does not transplant well (of course the Urquel we get is still brewed in its homeland, but so are countless German and other Northern European lager beers and Urquel smokes them all).

Gary

[tdelling]

> That clear Corona bottle makes for a wonderfully skunky flavor.

Actually, the bottle isn't the culprit this time.
Many beers, including Corona, are made not by adding actual
hops, but rather with "reduced hop extract", which is hop
extract that's been treated with sodium borohydride in order
to make it skunk-proof.

Much beer is handled poorly (sits around for a long time,
undergoes temperature swings), which is the main cause of
bad beer... but that's not the manufacturer's fault.


Tim Dellinger,
...Corona drinker

[cowdery]

Gary, we are of exactly the same mind on these subjects. I did not know that the Staropremen we get here is brewed in England from a different formula, but that explains a lot. When I have purchased it here, in addition to it not tasting as good as I remember it, I frequently have gotten bottles that were completely flat. Now if I want a Czech beer I exclusively buy Urquell.

You are right about Heineken and a Heineken Light probably would succeed in the U.S., but their strategy, wrongheaded though it may be, seems to be to use Amstel as their light beer entry. While you are correct that few U.S. consumers are aware of the common corporate parentage, it does give the company a product for the Light beer consumer and one that has been quite successful. I think at this point their fear would be that a Heineken Light would simply cannibalize Amstel Light. Another way of thinking about it would be in lieu of a Heineken Light, where would a Heineken drinker seeking a light beer be most likely to go? Miller Light? Bud Light? Or Amstel Light, even without knowledge of the common corporate parentage?

[tdelling]

> In the U.S., Amstel Light is, effectively, Heineken's light beer entry.

The funny thing is that in the Dutch Caribbean, there is a beer that
is lighter then Amstel Light, called Amstel Bright!

Tim Dellinger