New Stella Artois, WTF!

CJhaughey

I was a longtime drinker of Stella, but the new stuff is .2% less (doesn't bother me) but tastes nothing like the old stuff used to.
Anyone else find the new brew crap or is it just me?

fatboypee

Are you referring to the triple filtered one ? I began thinking it was crap, but, having purchased a 4 pack, perservered and I got into it by the end. I love stella, but it's not called wife-beater in the UK for nothing and a lesser strength, even if the taste is slightly less, is a better drink if you're having a few...

FBP.

CJhaughey

fatboypee wrote: »

Are you referring to the triple filtered one ? I began thinking it was crap, but, having purchased a 4 pack, perservered and I got into it by the end. I love stella, but it's not called wife-beater in the UK for nothing and a lesser strength, even if the taste is slightly less, is a better drink if you're having a few...

FBP.

No just standard Stella Artois.
How is a lesser taste a better drink? I used to drink it because I liked the taste, not to get smashed.
Now I won't be drinking it at all.
And as for the wifebeater label well thats just a load of S***E in my opinion.

Goibniu

I had heard that Inbev in the UK were trying to move away from the wife beater image by lowering ther alcohol volume. As for triple filtered...what's wrong with the filters that they can't get all the yeast out in one pass? Sounds like a marketing gimmick to me.

fatboypee

CJhaughey wrote: »

No just standard Stella Artois.
How is a lesser taste a better drink? I used to drink it because I liked the taste, not to get smashed.
Now I won't be drinking it at all.
And as for the wifebeater label well thats just a load of S***E in my opinion.

lesser taste is not per-say a better drink, but, as much as I like the taste of stella I am not able to drink more than 3 of the 5% brew without getting ridiculously drunk, Stella seems to affect me differently to any other lager and therefore, in my view, a lesser strength brew with a much-the-same taste is a welcome addition.

BeerNut

CJhaughey wrote: »

the new stuff is .2% less

fatboypee wrote: »

I am not able to drink more than 3 of the 5% brew without getting ridiculously drunk, Stella seems to affect me differently to any other lager and therefore, in my view, a lesser strength brew with a much-the-same taste is a welcome addition.

I'm confused. Ordinary Stella, minus .2% ABV is 5% ABV. Is it getting weaker by the day?

rubadub

I saw an ad and it seemed it was 4% in the UK, dunno what it is here, the BUL UK bottles are 5.2% in offies here. Becks vier is 4% in the UK and I think 4.3% here.

http://www.offlicencenews.co.uk/articles/63292/Inbev-pushes-4perc-Stella-in-off-trade.aspx?category=9059

Inbev is to push its lower strength version of Stella Artois in the off-trade, with on-trade outlets taking a back seat, the group announced on Thursday.

The 4% abv Stella will hit retailer's shelves in August in a range of SKUs including four, eight, 10 and 15-packs of 44cl cans.

A four pack will have a recommended retail price of £3.49, which is a “10% premium to the rest of the 4% lager category”, according to Inbev’s UK & Ireland president Stuart MacFarlane. He added that the brand will available in bottles in the first 12 months of the launch.

The move will spearhead Inbev's plans to re-invigorate Stella Artois in the UK.

Although it will go into pubs in November, MacFarlane said Stella 4% will be “more biased to the off-trade”. It will be backed by a “significant above-the-line investment” starting in October and running until December.

Despite refusing to reveal specific figures, MacFarlane said the marketing campaign will cost “significant millions” and will include TV, press, poster and online ads.

This month, Inbev UK ended its long association with the Stella Artois-backed tennis tournament at the Queen’s Club event. MacFarlane hinted that the brand will be moving away from link-ups with sporting events, and will instead pursue sponsorship opportunities in the arts, which he described as a “more appropriate platform for a premium brand”.

Inbev has no plans to de-list any of its other brands as a result of the launch, MacFarlane added. “The brands will play different roles”, he said, with Becks Vier targeted at a “younger audience” and Stella 4% targeted at 25 to 44-year-old consumers drinking at more social, food-oriented occasions.

“The consumer awareness of abv or strength is greater than it was 20 years ago. But that’s not our starting point. The 4% lager category in the UK is worth £6 billion in retail sales value. The beer industry is in decline – if we are going to make money or add value, we have to do it by premiumisation.”

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

I saw an ad and it seemed it was 4% in the UK

So Cjhaughey is talking about Stella Artois Four (that one with the ads all in French, so the man is asking for "a Stella Artois oven")? That's a totally different product and isn't replacing standard Stella, in the same way Becks and Becks Vier continue to co-exist.

CJhaughey

BeerNut wrote: »

So Cjhaughey is talking about Stella Artois Four (that one with the ads all in French, so the man is asking for "a Stella Artois oven")? That's a totally different product and isn't replacing standard Stella, in the same way Becks and Becks Vier continue to co-exist.

Nope I am talking about bog standard Stella Artois.
It was 5.2% it is now 5%, The 4% stuff I have never seen.
There is no 5.2% here anymore.

BeerNut

CJhaughey wrote: »

Nope I am talking about bog standard Stella Artois.
It was 5.2% it is now 5%,

Quite right, sorry. Just back from Tesco where the UK-brewed half-litre cans, dated May 2010, are indeed 5% ABV.

CJhaughey wrote: »

There is no 5.2% here anymore.

Tesco also had loads of bottles, dated June 2009, which are 5.2% ABV.

CJhaughey

BeerNut wrote: »

Quite right, sorry. Just back from Tesco where the UK-brewed half-litre cans, dated May 2010, are indeed 5% ABV.

Tesco also had loads of bottles, dated June 2009, which are 5.2% ABV.

Must be old stock. buy it quick.

BeerNut

CJhaughey wrote: »

buy it quick.

Errrrm, no. No I don't think I will.

rubadub

CJhaughey wrote: »

Nope I am talking about bog standard Stella Artois.
It was 5.2% it is now 5%, The 4% stuff I have never seen.
There is no 5.2% here anymore.

Right, I thought it might be a new range like the vier, becks got around the 4, by saying "4 ingredients", i.e. not just inferring 4%.

This reduction in % is just a subtle way of increasing the price, or like bars etc, keeping the price the same and lowering the grams, in this case lowering the %, which means they have to use less ingredients and pay less duty.

The whole "wifebeater" thing is mainly down to the fact many people will drink X amounts of pints or bottles, regardless of %. Many people just think of booze in "drinks". At 5.2% it is 1.2 times stronger than 4.3% beers. So people will have more alcohol in their system drinking the same 6 pints, also it will dehydrate you more due to the higher % "per unit water" and higher alcohol intake overall and its diuretic effect.

Tuborg also dropped from 4.2 to 4% discretely last year.

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

becks got around the 4, by saying "4 ingredients",

Which of course corn-loaded Stella Artois Four can't do. Brewed since 1366 using an ingredient unknown in Europe before 1500 :rolleyes:

Goibniu

Excise rates on alcohol are going through the roof in the Uk at the moment. Maybe this drop in ABV is part of AB-InBevs efforts at off-setting the extra cost. Those InBev boys do love to cut costs, in fact that seems to be the only business strategy they have.