As weird as it may sound, actually agree. Regular Heineken is avoided at any cost unless no other options, but when I had not even the alcohol Heineken decided for it and was surprised.
They're implying that the flavor of standard light-struck Heineken 5.0 isn't "natural "? The damn sun does it - doesn't get more natural than that. (Well, florescent light, too, but whose say which one for any given bottle?)
It’s now over ten years since the late Prof Ludwig Narziss, the legendary author of one of the standard German brewing textbooks, in one of his last speeches, slammed the state of German beer, making precisely the same points that the ruthless competition leads to dumbing down of flavour: https://refreshingbeer.blogspot.com/2014/11/narziss-slams-state-of-german-brewing.html There’s no sign of the tide turning, though.
As long as the main concern of German beer consumers is meeting a cheap price point then there will be no tide turning. There was a number of issues with Stone opening a brewery in Berlin but one was price point. Greg Koch was confident he could ‘educate’ German beer consumers that ‘better’ beer was worthy of a higher price. Needless to say but the Germans had (and still have) differing thoughts on this matter. It could be argued this situation is a race to the bottom? Prost!
Just so I’m clear, this in regards to the Becks of the world correct? The mass produced best selling German lagers? The Paulaner, Ayinger, Weihenstephan, Hofbrau, Andechs taste great to me.
Looks like Heineken changed the recipe for their NA, Heineken 0.0. Top label, ©2023 listed a calorie count of 69 with "natural flavors" listed after hop extract. The two below ©2025, titled ULTIMATE and ZERO, have NO calories (!) and use more flavoring that hop extract. Weirdly, they use Carbonated Water to "brew" it. Is that even possible? Perhaps it is more of a mixture of these ingredients than an actual brew? Also, correctly labeled (in fine print on the rear label) as: MALT BEVERAGE WITH NATURAL FLAVOR Yeah, checking out what used to be the "Beer" section of any retailer, and it is obviously that a lot of people don't have a problem with flavored (natural or artificial) beverages of all sorts. (And not just the "Beer" aisle, either. "Peanut Butter Whiskey" ? WTF....) But I suppose one would have to ask the Heineken brewmasters why they don't put those "natural flavors" in their flagship beer. Others might follow up with: "And what the !@#$ ARE these natural flavors anyway?"
I prefer Heineken as a drink but not as a company... The number of beers on the shelves in the shops now that are brewed under licence by other big concerns (and obviously not with the indigenous ingredients of the original) is just ridiculous. Even Leffe now... so sad.
I haven't had either of those in 30 years, probably more. Based on what I usually consume nowadays, I'd probably ask for water.
Whatever gave you that idea? (ABInBev in the US learned its lesson - well, the "accurate & legible labeling" lesson anyway.).
I only know Stella is now made here because I'm on BA. Otherwise, it's pretty clear the message isn't getting out. Every beer menu I've seen in the past year still lists Stella as a Belgian beer, and every time I point out that it's now made in the US, my statement is met with surprise and/or disbelief.
