COLLOQUIALLY known as ‘Wife Beater‘, Stella Artois was introduced to the UK way back in 1976 but has changed many times since and is now a vastly different animal to the Belgique version.
But what are the differences, what went wrong and where you can get hold of the original?
Stella Artois has its roots dating back over 600 years to the renowned Den Hoorn brewery in Leuven, Belgium, which was established in 1366.
The beer was given as a Christmas gift to the townsfolk of Leuven and named as Star (or Stella in Latin), and to this day every bottle still carries the star image.
When the beer first came over to the UK it was a respectable 5.2 per cent ABV and believe it or not, in a world where pubs happily knock out 8 per cent brews on tap, it was considered premium and high-class.
Over the years though the product has drastically changed, it has undergone two major drops on ABV and is now a thin 4.6 per cent – angering Brits who moaned the result ‘tasted of nothing’.
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So what’s it like if you head back to where it all began… on the Continent? Let’s find out.
Bottles head to Head
The UK version has a paper neck and is slightly bigger at 285ml vs 250ml but the major difference is the ABV, with the UK coming in at 4.6 per cent and the continental version a decent 5.2 per cent.
Real Ale expert Simon Martin sampled the two brews, citing a world of difference between them, and he didn’t pull his punches.
“The British beer is very very skunky that is almost intolerable. Skunkiness is when the Hops get affected by light being on a supermarket shelf under the UV lights or exposed to sunlight.
“The difference in the aroma is night and day, the British Stella the aroma is terrible.
“The British Stella is a little bit over carbonated and then you’re just left with this kind of skunky hot striped mess of a beer really.
“The Belgian [is] a completely different beer. It’s got more of a softer carbonation, you pick up much more of a hoppy stinging nettle kind of spicy peppery [flavour] coming through.
“It’s drinkable, you’re picking up the malt quality in the beer. I’d drink that.”
So there you have it, all we get is the dishwater version of Stella and for that we should be gutted as it is without doubt a vastly inferior product.
And if you want to find out for yourself…
Click here to get your hands on the imported Stella.
