I’m so happy to see a video like this being made. I once bought a pack of Estrella that was brewed in the UK as I’d drank it in Barcelona and really enjoyed it. The UK version was more or less undrinkable. Complained directly and they sent me some from Spain. Why we have all these nasty beers brewed in the UK but badges up as something European is beyond me. It’s incredibly misleading and should be illegal, actually. You can’t distill Glenmorangie in Poland and badge it as Glenmorangie. And you’re totally correct, the UK accepts the most awful shit. Not just beer, everything. There needs to be a drastic change to the British mindset, but I fear that’ll never happen.

@ed1726

Жыл бұрын

Problem is most British have awful taste, but loudly disagree that they do. Companies, of course, know they can exploit this for profit.

@DAGATHire

Жыл бұрын

I don't know mate. the last time Britain were left to make a "drastic" change hasn't seemed to work out all too well. I should think we'd be better off not consulting the people on anything important. They are clearly not capable of making logical decisions 🤣

@Rozmic

Жыл бұрын

@@DAGATHire Intentionally scuppered, as you well know.

@DAGATHire

Жыл бұрын

@@Rozmic scuppered by self harm, as you should well know.

@Sabhail_ar_Alba

7 ай бұрын

Its about selling cheaply brewed beer at a rip off price.

I remember Stella in the UK going downhill when they brought out Stella 4 to fleece the public into thinking they had a new brew rather than a watered down tax fiddle. Becks did the same at the same time. Pretty sure it was something to do with higher tax on 5% beer. As for your excellent summaries on the UK public acceptance of shite is spot on. We as a nation are convinced that paying less tax is good but in turn we get human shit released into our rivers. Could be an analogy for UK Stella

@jameswatters9592

Жыл бұрын

its exactly what happened, they all just dropped their % content

@iantjohnson

Жыл бұрын

The uk has managed to turn a great lager into piss!!!

@garyphisher7375

Жыл бұрын

We pay plenty of tax. The problem is the top few percent are creaming off more than they should. Water companies should've been forced to re-invest a set amount of money into upgrades and maintenance. Instead the money goes elsewhere. The worst people you can give your money to, are Governments.

@IamBATMAN2024

Жыл бұрын

We don’t pay less tax do we? Less tax than who? We are up there with one of the highest taxed nations on earth! We get taxed to breath!

@Energyflash1979

Жыл бұрын

@@IamBATMAN2024 any Scandinavian would think we were cheap skates who get what we pay for. We don't have a high living standard compared to many northern European countries.

No contest, the UK brewed is a low abv tasteless atrocity and has never matched up to the imported 5.2% which I used to drink regularly for years before my corner shop stopped stocking it.

@altvamp

Жыл бұрын

It was 5.2% when I last drank it 20 years ago

@DJunclepaul2nd

Жыл бұрын

I basically just said the same thing. Would love to get some import

@leehenry5764

Жыл бұрын

It went from 5.2% 5.0% 4.8% and now it's 4.5% in UK

@SimGTAandCOD

6 ай бұрын

@@leehenry57644.6

@Appophust

17 күн бұрын

I personally think they BOTH taste like shit. It's basically just Corona from Belgium. Tastes like a skunk arse.

Hi Simon, back in the 80's all the pubs in my area were Brakspears ( when they were a proper brewery). The only draught lagers they had were Stella and Heineken. The Stella was the full monty, 5.2% and the original Belgian taste. Well, as you know Stella did not earn the title of "wife beater" by accident. We tried an experiment in our local, mixing 1/2 pint stella with 1/2 pint heineken in a pint glass. The heineken took the sting off the stella and the stella gave the heineken some flavour. It proved so popular that the landlord added it to his chalkboard behind the bar! It was there under the stella and heineken as 1/2 & 1/2. So many people asked what is 1/2 & 1/2, when they tried it they were hooked. If you tried it now you would end up with a pint of p***water. 1988, 1/2 & 1/2 94p per pint, oh how I wish I could turn the clock back.

@jonhelmer8591

Жыл бұрын

I thought I was the only one who mixed beer. Where I grew up, Snakebite qualified as a Cocktail.

@Welshhomie

Жыл бұрын

Amazing. That's 2.44 in today's money.

@martin-1965

Жыл бұрын

@@Welshhomie Yup but £5+ in the pubs which is taking the piss (and I don't blame the pubs who have been through hell with energy costs and covid). I can remember the "shock" when a pint of decent beer hit £1 a pint. Like you, I wish it was still that cheap lol. Or even £2.50 would be reasonable but... Welcome to Britain 2023 eh?

@paulholland5270

Жыл бұрын

​@@martin-1965I'm all right jack i can afford £10 pound a pint .🥴🤪😝😋😃😛😜😂😆🤣😭😭not fucking rip off .

@martin-1965

Жыл бұрын

@@paulholland5270 "Your round mate" - "No worries, let me call my mortgage broker" 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Ab InBev have a lot to answer for. Budweiser abv 5.0 - 4.8 (2012) - 4.5 (2017) Stella abv 5.2 - 5.0 (2007) - 4.8 (2012) - 4.6 (2020) Becks abv 5.0 - 4.8 (2012) - 4.0 (2020) Introduced Bud Light to the UK market at abv 3.5 when in the USA it is 4.2. All to do with tax savings. They also bought the Rolling Rock brand around 2006 and then promptly withdrew it from the UK market.

When it was 5.2 % in Britain....it really stood out from the crowd. At 4.6% it is a poor version of itself and now i rarely drink it. It's a shame because it was a legendary beer.

@Ltasty

Жыл бұрын

Was my fave beer but haven't bought it since it went to 4.6%

@gerardmackay8909

Жыл бұрын

100% agree it used to have such depth and flavour and tasted like no other lager. The modern version is like any old tasteless fizz and is a shadow of its former glory. I stopped buying it.

@simonh6371

Жыл бұрын

Can't you get the proper one brewed in Leuven in the UK any more?

@Cous1nJack

Жыл бұрын

Many a good time on stella actatwat

@wilbur2643

Жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree with you more, Stella now is awful and leaves a bitter taste in your mouth it lost its sweetness. It was my drink of choice in the 90s early 00s but when the design of the can changed that embossed logo was probably the same time it was brewed in the UK. Stella needs to get a grip, I'd pay the extra to have it as brewed in Belgium.

I've been saying this to my mates for years, the British brewed versions of a lot of lagers are rubbish! Corona used to be a decent drop on a hot day but the brewed in the UK version they sell nowadays is awful 🤢 Heineken is another good example!

@IamBATMAN2024

Жыл бұрын

It’s probably the shitty water being used or not very good ingredient’s.

@bigjj1109

Жыл бұрын

Juplier in Belgium is better again brewed by inbev Belgium Stella is still very good can be hard on the stomach though! The UK stuff is really bad great vblog

@fanfeck2844

Жыл бұрын

I’m very surprised a company would accept an inferior product being produced under their brand name. I doubt it’s the water, as with chemicals and filters you can reproduce the same water purity. Perhaps it’s just what the public want?

@IamBATMAN2024

Жыл бұрын

@@fanfeck2844 or the English brewers don’t know what they’re doing. I bought 4 cans of the unfiltered Stella yesterday and can’t see what’s wrong with it. Maybe I’m use to shit lager idk or maybe I have bad taste. Probably the latter 😅

@fanfeck2844

Жыл бұрын

@@IamBATMAN2024 doubt it’s the brewers. Englands been making beers longer than Belgium has existed. It’s more likely something to do with cost and protecting their margins.

I was a mid-late teen when we were based in Belgium. Stella was the local tipple and when I experienced a UK version several years later the difference was massive.

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

It also has a poor image the nickname is wife beater

I remember when Stella first came to the UK. It was so strong they only sold it half pints (that was the story anyway). It was light years better than the pond water they sell now.

I remember when they reduced the strength below 5% to avoid higher tax.. at the time I remember thinking that in reality, it cannot be Stella Artois because the recipe had been changed to produce a weaker beer. And should no longer be allowed to be called Stella Artois if it's made using a different recipe

@thearno2885

Жыл бұрын

no its worse than that, its brewed at high strength and then watered down. All lagers in UK are watered down from high ABV brews.

Spot on mate I feel the same, it's not been the same since they lowered it to the weaker version in UK, if its not broke don't try to fix it

A classic! I remember buying imported Stella near where I lived as a young man and refusing the UK stuff. I've not seen the import for so many years. This is a great vid. You just popped up on my feed, never seen a channel like this before!

I totally agree with you. And everything you said goes double for European beers brewed here in the USA. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and started drinking beer at a far too young age. But with that said in the early 1970"s when Löwenbräu was imported from Germany it was my favorite beer. But after Miller Brewing company attained the rights to brew it in America it went totally to shit. Like you said the difference was day and night, and not a good night at that. It cuts into the profit margin when you brew a beer elsewhere like it's was originally brewed in its place of origin. This is why the companies do this in the first place. It's all about maximizing profits. And the quality of the beer (and the consumer) be damned. I really like the content on your channel. I especially liked your review of Fuller's ESB. I agree with you that it's a definite 10/10 beer. It's been near or at the top of my best of list for decades. Cheers!!

I was in Brussels about a week ago and I was flabbergasted how good the Stella was compared to back home. I was well happy sitting in the sunshine, drinking a few pints of it with a few mates. But to be honest I really shouldn't have been so surprised.

@Ken_oh545

Жыл бұрын

I was in Brussel 3 weeks ago and found a nice little bottled Pilsner, Manneken Pis by name but actually rather moreish

Never get attached to an imported lager. It’s inevitable they start brewing it here and that’s the end of it. Brooklyn is the latest one.

@heiltd1286

2 ай бұрын

Try getting Brooklyn lager made in USA now in the UK. I wouldn't mind if there were a choice.

@MrJamessmith90

2 ай бұрын

@@heiltd1286exactly. I’m sure the proper stuff would sell well.

@heiltd1286

2 ай бұрын

@@MrJamessmith90 These brewers don't want a choice available. Now I firmly believe that we have the best beers in the world brewed in England. One only has to check out independent and craft beer breweries throughout England to taste phenomenal beers. If I want foreign beer I want the best foreign beers, not degraded imitations. I understand Stella Artois in Belgium is a good beer and so is Staropramen in Czechia. They're brewed here to an inferior standard and why do people tolerate it. I'm wondering if the same degradation of standards is happening with Brooklyn Lager. I always drank this beer going back years. Since its being brewed here I don't trust the quality. I need to try out US brewed Brooklyn Lager and compare to UK brewed version. You know even such dismal beers as Budweiser, Coors and Corona piss poor as they are in their home countries are brewed here in the UK and made even worse. That's hard to believe, but it's true.

Your review mirrors exactly what I’ve thought for ages. That horrible watery, astringent taste of the U.K. muck. My first taste of Belgian Stella was a revelation!

Back in 1975 when I was19, I went to Amsterdam for the first time, and remember drinking Heineken and thinking, why does this taste so much better than the Heineken piss water we get back home. Around the same time, you could get Australian brewed Fosters in cans only, and not everywhere. It tasted so much better than the British brewed lagers, although my favourite (Australian) canned lager was Swan Lager. Then Fosters started being brewed under licence in the UK. It was different and worse, even the cans, than the original.

Excellent review Simon was looking forward to hearing your opinion and knowledge on that. I really enjoyed the Belgium Stella its a taste of its own👌. Growing up Stella was the premier lager drink and was known as quality and the best it had an excellent brand. Then they started to mess with it.. 20 years later i seriously dont no any body who would dream of buying Stella in UK it might as well be carling.

I used to love Stella years back. It's been ruined by In-bev. Hope their execs watch this vid and go back to the original strength.

Remember the ad slogan "Reassuringly expensive"? It was a lovely beer, although it made me fall off a bar stool in Antwerp.

Bought 4 cans yesterday, haven't drank Stella for years. I could tell the difference immediately. It tastes like cheap, supermarket own brand lager now.

Cool idea! When I visited London, as a Belgian I got offered a lot of drinks with: "Oh you're Belgian, you must know this!" All kinds of Stella Artois I had never seen before and lager I didn't like at all :D

Stella was 5.2% in the UK as well for many years. It changed to 5% relatively recently and has gone down since.

@samwatkins5492

Жыл бұрын

Changed to 4.6 not 5. Unfiltered is 5

@itsinthetreesitscoming7431

Жыл бұрын

@super ted that's shite as well...

@simonfellows2158

Жыл бұрын

Agree Stella is dreadful nowadays, I remember back in 80’s when Stella was introduced next to XXXX and it showed up all the UK and Aussie beers. Now it’s a pale shadow of itself. I was over in Dubai recently and they had the 5.2% on draught, perfect.

@paulwilliams8536

Жыл бұрын

I very rarely drink Stella now, and it used to be my go to drink inbev have ruined it

I remember back in the late seventies we used to drink Stella before a gig in the same pub in St Albans, the beer was brewed in Belgium. One weekend we were there for a gig and it was brewed in Luton. Lots of rushing to the toilet to throw up including myself. Never drank Stella again.

You can find proper Stella in some ethnic corner shops and off licenses, in cans, usually around only £1 each. The can is different and has multiple languages and embossed lettering. Lorry drivers smuggle or bring it in without duty and sell it to the shops. There is no comparison between the UK version and the real article. I can find it in several places in south Birmingham, when I find some I telephone a few friends and usually buy the lot and get a decent discount.

@adamandlorraine

Жыл бұрын

Yeah I used to buy slabs of 24 in London. 500ml. £20 cash. This was the early 00's though.

@mrchico2621

Жыл бұрын

Man you're lucky, nothing like that where I live sadly lol

It's literally because of you I started paying attention to WHERE my beer was brewed. It's insane how much of a difference it makes. I live in America and I swear all the beers brewed here ate flat and watered down. Such a shame.

It's all due to profiteering from the major breweries. They slowly swap out the ingredients for cheaper stuff, lowering the quality and quantity used, but doing it gradually so people don't notice while their margins improve. Eventually you have a terrible product but the brand is established so people keep buying it out of habbit. Same has happened with chocolate since Cadbury were bought out, it's horrible now but people keep buying because of the brand.

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

Same with anything Diageo Ireland or before that Guinness Ireland

As a Brit who lives in South America, the Stella here is brewed in Argentina. I must say, it's pleasantly surprising how good it is. It tastes more like the Stella of old. Plus they actively seem to add more beers to their arsenal, just last week I got a "Stella Noire" which was a decent'ish black lager.

Good review. Accountants know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Marketing think they can sell rubbish to the council tip. Put them together and you get Eurolager and it is ubiquitous.

It's not just UK, it's everywhere, producers switching to inferior ingredients to cut costs and transfer the profits to the owners/shareholders. The stealtflation is universal, the sad part is they get away with it because they can. :( I bet Stella tasted better in Belgium 10-20 years ago too but there they done it slower.

@nigelwatson2750

Жыл бұрын

The Brits just water their beers down.

@wullaballoo2642

Жыл бұрын

@@nigelwatson2750 We make good beer and ale, the lager brewed here by these big companies however is just a concentrated beer syrup mixed with chemicals and water and will have you feeling as sick as a dog the next day

I've just stumbled upon this presentation, and am utterly amazed. Way, way back in the mid 1950s, I used to spend a weekend every month during the summer season, enjoying the delights of the Belgian coastal resorts (particularly Blankenbergh). I have never been much of a lager drinker, and I know now why that might be. I drank Stella Artois in Belgium and always enjoyed it: coming back home to London full of enthusiasm, I could never understand why the same brand had absolutely nothing to commen it. It seems that nearly 70 years has seen little or no improvent. Bloody hell!

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

My grandfather knew a group of fellas who went to Belgium and went to a pub and tried a beer they had never had before really enjoyed it. Went to go back to the pub and “what was the name of the pub” “Stella Artois”

Good video, Simon - you have another convert! An old story on my part: in 1988 I went to work on Cairo for the Foreign Office and, in setting up home, I used the embassy commissariat for beer. The only one I fancied was Fosters, so I bought a case. The guy managing the comm ( a great guy called Tom Rae) apologised, saying that the usual British supplies were late, and that he had had had to 'borrow' some from the Australian embassy to tide over. Knowing the uninspiring British reputation of Fosters, I wasn't expecting a brilliant beer, but was very pleasantly surprised by this one's excellence. A week or so later, the British resupply arrived and I happily bought more. I couldn't believe it was the same beer, it was so awful. That's where I learned that you had to look closely at the labels of foreign beers in the UK to check where it was brewed - the statement 'Brewed in the UK under licence' then became highly significant. And the only reason for the difference is: it saves money! However, even the British Fosters soon tasted excellent as, whenever I drunk beer in Cairo bars, the only one I could afford was the local Stella (no connection there!) - it was very much an acquired taste, in which my taste buds learned to appreciate the truly awful. But keep up the good work - I look forward to more of these comparisons.

@simonh6371

Жыл бұрын

I only found out there was an inferior British Fosters a couple of weeks ago. When I was younger in the 80s I'm sure it was always Aussie Fosters here.

@lesjones6745

Жыл бұрын

@@simonh6371 I remember back in the mid-to-late 1980s that there was a debate, possibly involving Camra, on the UK brewing foreign beers under licence. Perhaps that was the time it all started.

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

I would get bottles of Guinness original and Irish brewed foreign extra

The problem you are describing when comparing the Belgian and the British brewed Stellas is partly due to international ownership of what used to be local brewers and partly due to legislation. C&C group plc now owns Tennent Caledonian Breweries, having purchased it from Belgian brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev, who owned the Stella Artois Brand. The Stella sold in Scotland (and possibly the rest of the UK) is brewed at the Tennent's brewery in Glasgow and used to be 5.2% until the introduction of a Scotland wide law that set a minimum price for alcoholic drinks, based on alcohol content. (50 pence per unit). Following introduction of this law most brewers reduced the alcohol content of their brews to try to off-set the price increases the law created, hence the lower alcohol content of the British brewed version. If the Stella brand had been retained by the original Belgian owners, I am certain that they would have insisted that products using their brand elsewhere in the world should have maintained the same characteristics of the original in order to not undermine their reputation for a quality product. Now that the brand is owned by an international conglomerate they can do with it as they wish and use the brand name for inferior products to trade on the reputation of the original product that they bought out. This includes varying the alcohol content, which is a major part of the flavour profile of any beer. A friend of mine, who is a Chemistry graduate, used to work for Tennents back in the 1970s in their quality control labs. I remember him telling me that while different flavours can result from slight variations in the brewing process these were anathema to the production of lager where they wanted a consistent product that tasted no different from batch to batch. Alas, it seems to me that we are now seeing that mind-set applied across brands as well.

I still remember the nectar that was Stella on drought in a Brussels hotel about 30 years ago. Nothing like it sold here in UK.

It's the drinking culture in the UK. "Lads" can drink way more pints of low strength tasteless lager.

Sorry if you've already picked up on this, but Leffe have recently reduced the ABV of their Blonde from 6.6% to 6.0%. I can taste a difference. Would love to see you do a comparison between the two and hear your opinion... if you can still find a bottle of the 6.6%.

@williamsimpson8115

Жыл бұрын

I brought a 6.6% in Tescos today . Must be old stock

@seshelbow336

Жыл бұрын

St Pierre in Aldi is a great alternative 👍🏻

All the british brewed lagers taste exactly the same to me, doesn't matter if it's bud, stella, moretti, heineken etc, anything brewed in this country just tastes really foul and utter rubbish in comparison with the stuff brewed at the actual brewery on the continent. Must be the water, or cheaper production, storage conditions, or a little bit of all of that.

Right I’ve been working constantly the last week and got loads of reviews ti catch up on, just opened a beer and going to get through them all. As the old Grandfather used to say “A Pint of Beer is the working man’s Pat On The Back” this video I know is going to be glorious. Cheers Si!

There seemed to be a time in the 00s when they tied turned and we started getting decent Continental lager. Heineken went export only for a while, we had decent grolsch, decent Stella and carlsberg export was genuinely export. Then the breweries realised they could save a few pennies on tax by slowly dropping the abv to the mess we have now. Even brewdog doing the same by dropping punk ipa from 5.6 to 5.2

@slipslider9048

Жыл бұрын

PUNK IPA tasted amazing when it was new; now it literally tastes like all other lager made in the same factory.

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

Ringwood’s strong bitter 5.6 to 5.1 is brutal

I'm normally a Guinness drinker, but a few weeks back a visitor came over with a few different beers to share - Morretti lager and Cobra were among them. I swear, if you drink them side by side there's no difference what so ever. I wouldn't have believed it unless I tried it.

I remember thinking they had screwed the flavour up when the strength of Stella dropped from 5.2 to 5 or less, I didn't realise that the weaker brew was made in the UK. This explains a lot! I used to like the occasional Stella but stopped drinking it once I couldn't get the 5.2% which is really nice. Still, I would rather have a decent real ale to be honest.

I'm so glad someone made this video. I've been saying this for the last 20 years now.

Simon, have been loving your videos. Keep up the great work. It would be fascinating to see a blindfolded version of the same beers, brewed in different countries, and ideally + one freshly drafted. I would love to see if you are able to tell the difference and which is what version of the beer.

@patchso

Жыл бұрын

Agreed. It’s surprising just how strong your cognitive biases really are. I’ve done it myself, and totally surprised myself with a blind tasting.

Ruined under licence in the UK. A little story...many years ago, I would occasionally drink Stella (the company I worked for would do a Friday lunch fish and chips run, with an optional can of Stella). I started to get a taste for it. One day it tasted different, not as good. It took another couple of Fridays before I realised it was 4.9%ABV instead of the 5.2% of the Stella I had been drinking. On further examination, I realised it wasn't Belgium Stella. It then fell a further .1%. I ceased to work for that company so stopped drinking the Stella. Shocked to find it's now 4.6%. IT'S JUST NOT THE SAME BEER. Similar happened to Brugge Tripel. I first drank that in Bruges in the 2000s. 9.2% and utterly sublime. Beautiful deep caramel and baked apples. The company was bought out and first the % went down to 8.9 (I think) and then dropped further. IT'S NOT THE SAME BEER. It's getting increasingly difficult to get genuine continental beers "off the shelf". First it was Stella, then Backs, then Staropramen an probably many more I have missed. The only one I can now find is Warsteiner which is a decent beer and still brewed in Germany...at the moment. 🤦‍♂

@npche9865

Жыл бұрын

Pilsner Urquell. It is on the weaker side but the taste is phenomenal.

@richardhill1682

Жыл бұрын

Try duval 8.5% belgium and Heineken in the 330 ml cans are imported

No idea why we tolerate this rubbish. But looking around my local Sainsbury's it is very difficult to find a quality, continental lager not brewed in the UK. Why can't they sell imported Stella / 1664? I would buy it! As others have said, uk government now incentivises brewers to produce lower strength beers hence that's what they sell us. But why do we put up with it!

@cehaem2

Жыл бұрын

They can't sell it for legal reasons and because most people wouldn't buy it because it would be expensive. My local offie used to do Spaten for 2.39. I was pretty much the only person buying it.

@andrewcarr5923

Жыл бұрын

Sainsbury's have always had a poor lager/beer selection try Krombacher, Warsteiner, Veltins, Paulaner all top German lagers available in Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

Great video, have always wanted to see this! Would love to see you do an irish brewed version versus their continental counterparts! Would be happy to send you the irish versions!

I like stella more now 🤣 i was drinking San Miguel all the time but i honestly don't mind the Stella UK brewed stuff. I find myself buying it more, maybe because its cheaper, but to me it still tastes fine.

This has been going on for years since we've gone from Original Gravity to ABV, as the strength has been lowered because of the UK tax scheme on alcohol the taste has been affected, try finding British beers that have a nose where you can smell the hops (like Flower's bitter) virtually nonexistent these days!

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

The Irish tax scheme is stupid as well Sullivans red costs more in tax than brehon brewhouse red because it is 5 percent vs 4.5 percent

same as real mexican corona compared to what we get or in eu. spain etc. also noticed the red peroni compared to the uk blue one is lovely . italian made red peroni.

You’re 30 years behind the times. Even when it’s was brewed by Whitbread in the 90’s at 5.2%, it was terrible in cans and bottles. It was just about passable on draught. You could shop at corner shops who brought in the Belgian version in bulk at one time and Tescos used to do 24x25cl bottles direct from the continent, Belgium or alternatively Poland I think. The other transformation is Stella at a bar or restaurant on the continent because they always pour away the first 200ml so the beer is never stale, then sweep the contamination off the head with a pallet knife. Ultra crisp and fresh. InBev or whoever they are at the moment have screwed over a lot of their superstar brews, Hooegarden which was stocked by several pubs at one time, Leffe which used to be sold in cans and Stella which they have never applied the Belgian quality control standards to with the stuff made here. 😱😭😤

Brilliant comparison Simon 👏

I'd genuinely choose the new Unfiltered Stella over the Belgian brewed Stella

It's very interesting what we put up with isn't it? I'll never forget my first trip to Ghent in my early days of 'beer hunting' and being astounded at the level of respect the Belgians had when it came to serving different beer styles and matching with food, just oozed quality. Then I come back to Aus and am not even offered a glass. For the average Joe brought up on crap, it's all they expect and the big beer cartels sell to this apathy.

The imported stella in the green bottle with the white paper import label that goes over the top of the bottle top!? That was the best Stella! I haven’t seen it for many many years. It came in a 660ml bottle. Don’t think it made it through the tax duties those years ago and so they stopped.

Hello Simon, I am a new person to your website. I am so glad I subscribed. All your reviews are so professional. You have got it set just right for beer lovers. Keep it up and I hope this site grows and grows. Jon

Great analysis, many thanks! Good info. For a while, I've been amused at chaps drinking Stella as though it was a sophisticated, premium lager (which it might have been, once upon a time); and I've been thinking "geez mate, might as well be drinking Fosters". But from my naive, uninformed position I couldn't quite put me finger on the exact problem; you've explained it very clearly, here. Great work!

You need to pluck up the courage to do a blind tasting. Doesn't mean you have to be blindfolded, just means what you are drinking is unknown to you. I've done the same test with a group of three, blind. The British Stella came above the Belgian. Surprised the hell out of me. You have to make sure they're as fresh as each other and preferably bought from similar locations, how a beer is transported and stored makes a difference. Also good to throw in a ringer to mix things up. That said, I seem to remember the British Stella being 4.8% when we did the test. I wish they'd stop effin' about with it.

Before Guinness became popular in pubs.Long before it became available on pulls Dad enjoyed a bottle,not sold in cans at that time so you can tell how long ago.He would only buy if the bottle had a Irish label on not London label.

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

Guess it was true back then. My great grandfather loved bottled Guinness off the shelf and preferably past the best before then in 2000 it became filtered. Guinness foreign extra brewed in St James Gate is your best bet.

I think we all like Belgian stella so much because British stella has set our expectations so low that when we first try it we're all blown away! I had that privilege about 10 years ago and have not looked back!

I’m glad someone had the bottle to say it. Finally, I don’t know why we put a plate of rubbish in the UK. It’s the same thing with food as well.

*This is my biggest beer pet peeve* I live in New Zealand, where we have an amazing amount of top quality breweries and brewing history. Yet we 'brew under license' and make SHIT versions of all the beers I want to drink. Can't get genuine Heineken or Stella or Sapporo here at all anymore, and the importers must be taking a bribe because we can't get ANY of the imported genuine versions anymore. It sucks!

Great review, would be great to see the following: UK Carlsberg vs Danish Carlsberg UK Kronenbourg vs French Kronenbourg UK Starapramen vs Czech Starapramen UK Heineken vs Dutch Heineken

@johnp8131

Жыл бұрын

Staropramen is a good shout. Due to the deliberate "misguidance" on the label, most people in the UK still think it's Czech brewed? Got a sneaky feeling I heard that Heineken is now brewed back in the Netherlands again, at a newish "Mega Brewery"?

@mjudec

10 күн бұрын

There's a staropramen video already. Carlsberg is a good shout as when I was growing up it was a byword for dreadful lager. Cut to me in Copenhagen shocked that it's actually pretty decent over there.

it is always the same. I remember back around 1980 when Fosters arrived in the UK. It was the real McCoy, brewed in Australia. It was really nice, a change from what we had on offer from UK breweries. After it got a foothold they switched to brewing in the UK .... it was crap. Castlemaine soon followed and it went the same way. So its no surprise the Stella is the same. Belgian Stella is superb btw

Price? Maybe they found that they needed to offer Stella in the UK at a lower price so they brew it more cheaply (less ingredients) and hence does not taste as good?

@marekpolko6747

Жыл бұрын

Definitely.

@AllyRobson

Жыл бұрын

Ok Einstein !

@sean_heisler

Жыл бұрын

@@AllyRobson Ha ha. I'm not sure that Simon mentioned that did he??

Also the Perfect draft version is the Belgium brewed version it’s a lot better than the British one

@joewoodward3804

Жыл бұрын

The perfect draft is 5.0 not 5.2 tho, dunno why that’s different again?

@TheJimmyboy38

Жыл бұрын

It’s rebadged for Tax purposes there is a great explanation on the thread about PD kegging a tax

@bigupyourself

Жыл бұрын

​@@TheJimmyboy38 Explain the Pokish beers over 5% percent and Kronenburg 5% being cheaper.

@kieranskler8837

Жыл бұрын

Agree

@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe

Жыл бұрын

The Perfect Draught (That's the correct spelling in British English) of Stella served in a Small bar in a village in the Belgian countryside.

Funny thing...I'm not really a beer drinker. However, I've always enjoyed beer more over seas than in the UK. Now I know why! Great video - thanks.

Great video Simon. I really struggle to drink Stella these days.

I totally agree with you and I drink lots of UK Stella, when it was 5.2% in the UK it was sweeter and maybe deserved the nickname of Wife beater but the taste has totally changed with every drop in ABV they sucked out of it. I still drink it and find that it tastes better in the big 660ml bottles, the smaller bottles we get in the UK tastes different again, when it changed from 4.8 to 4.6 any flavour disappeared but I suppose I’ve gotten used to it now. The stuff they sell in bottles with the green label which is 5% is quite good though and you notice the difference in the alcohol increase but again they are crafty as it comes in a slightly smaller bottle to keep the price lower.

@elwolf8536

Жыл бұрын

I remember when Stella got me well sozzled but I drink it like pop now

@maxlane9210

Жыл бұрын

You can get stella unfiltered in a big 660ml bottle, thats 5% and tastes more like the old stella

@darrenboulter7663

Жыл бұрын

Gotta agree, the 660 bottles taste so much better, but the drop to 4.6 seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back for me. I no longer enjoy the taste at 4.6 whereas at 4.8 i absolutely loved it.

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

Irish and British tends to be lower abv because of taxation

Great video Simon . The uk version is awful and your knowledge and expertise really explains the reasons why . Looking forward to your other videos 👍🏻🍺😊

Thank youuuuuuu!!!! Somebody finally made a video!!!! Now I don't have to 😂😂😂 Immediately stop doing it to Staropramen too

Thank you so much for your comparison. You are right. Sella in the 90's was a great taste, I really enjoyed it. Same with 1664 Kronenberg, loved it in the 1990's. Things changed. Now those are my last choices. Sam Miguel, I had it in Madrid in 2023. Tried it in 2023 London and it was different. Perhaps it's UK brewers trying to cut costs with concentrates. The upset is now I focus local craft beers and ales.

The thing people are missing about Stella is that both the imported version and the locally brewed version are generic unremarkable beers. Same goes for all the pilsner style stuff.

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

Pilsner is Czech for piss

Wenn I studied in the UK many years ago, a Belgian classmate wondered why at the time, Stella was quite an upmarket beer in the UK as it wasn't considered anything special at all in his native Belgium. Probably everything in the recipe and marketing of Stella has morphed several times since then.

@keithbstar1

Жыл бұрын

Stoke on Trent Recycled sewer water.

@AgNoSticPope666

Жыл бұрын

I've got Belgian friends and been there many times. Nobody drinks stella. It purely an export Beer with heavy marketing that tricked the Brits into thinking it was a good beer. It never was and never will be. Brits just have no fucking taste.

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

No Troll because that was how Lager was marketed in Ireland and the UK a fancy, upscale, bright, sophistication a world away from the flat cap image of bitter,mild and porter

@scottgraham1143

Жыл бұрын

I used do work for the marketing company that set up the Stella Artois Tennis Tournament and drinking it for the first time was a revelation compared with the British lagers. They used to market it as if it was sophisticated French product with Jean de Florette styled television adverts.

@notroll1279

Жыл бұрын

@@scottgraham1143 I was on internships with an ad agency and a food producer long ago and I've read how there are now industrial breweries intermittently producing different beer brands with the same machinery, so I'm a bit cynical about how much quality a beer brand can really stand for. My current favourite is a local craft beer exclusively poured and sold in a pub and beer garden next to the microbrewery... but the old cynic inside me sometimes wonders if that stuff is really brewed there or if it's all just a big laugh. What do we know, really? 🍻

FINALLY! You've shone a light on my long-time stella torment. Only the original 5.2's for me! 🤤🤤🤤!

I was a technician in the beer industry 12 yrs . I live in Spain Costa del sol You are right about how beer brands brewed under licence in other countries are not the same as in the original country I believe it is down to the water and ingredients used . The actual brewing process I assume should be equal . Maybe varying standards or processes in the brewing could be a factor ? Storing conditions where climate in various countries may factor in as well ? I have an interesting story . San Miguel once aquired the brewing licence to brew Carling here at the Malaga San Miguel brewery ( just outside the airport ) This was around 2012 ? It was a disaster . They couldnt get it right and our british clients who we sold to all took it out . Saying it was too dark and too strong in flavour ( It was , we checked ) . In the end they lost the licence about 18 months later . Dont know what it was but it just was not Carling . I dont like heineken export but when I went to Holland and visited the brewery there and went out to a couple of local bars It was a total different experience and was really quite nice . Came back to UK and it was horrible again. The stuff in Spain isnt much better so it isnt just one particular country I never knew about light strike till I watch your video on Peroni vs Moretti using brown bottles instead of green or clear ones. Most companies do use brown bottles as well. never really took notice of that , lol Im going to watch the San Miguel one now ( Ive never had UK San Miguel only Spanish so I will be interested to hear that one ) If you can try to do a video on Estrella Galicia . Its a really great Spanish beer ( I used to work there ) Interested to know if its different in the UK ( I think you can get it there in UK )

As I have often said here, I can't stand the disparity between the original foreign brew and the UK brew. Nothing to stop Stella from brewing a decent "Stella Artois British Lager" but what I hate is UK lager pretending to be the same as the Belgian version and not having the choice to buy the import. (Even the Belgian version has deteriorated - it now has corn and is 5% no longer consistent with the German Beer Purity Law and 5.2%). I stopped buying the UK version in the 1990s. It was just about OK in the 1980s when Whitbread brewed it at 5.2% but even then I looked for the Belgian import. I drank Stella in Brussels when I was working there in the early 2000's. Its on another planet from the UK version. Better to find good UK breweries that make good lager. Camden Hells is one good example. Buy British craft lager when at home!

@longjonwhite

Жыл бұрын

I find the problem with British craft lagers is the horrible pale cloudy colour and far-too-hoppy taste. Can’t they make a nice clear golden one that doesn’t look and taste like a bad pint of bitter?

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

@@longjonwhite That is why Ale brewing is what Ireland and the UK are only good at

The IBU as well as the ABV has dropped dramatically over the years. I won't touch the UK Stella anymore

I remember in the early 80s the brewing of Stella by Whitbread was stopped for retraining because it had deviated so much from the Belgian version. The managed houses were supplied with Stella draught from Belgium and it was a totally different experience , the head was dense and creamy and stayed to the bottom of the glass similar to a good Guinness. Nowadays the accountants rule in the big breweries so cheap and nasty wins. I notice Leffe has taken a dive from 6.6 to 6.0 so that’s another step down a slippery slope.

New Zealand brewed Stella is one of my favourite beers. I was appalled at how different it tasted in the UK when I went there in 2001. I don't know what they do differently, but it's literally a different beer.

British Stella has a lower ABV than the Belgian Stella because the alcohol strength decides the amount of tax on the beer. Inbrew have cut the strength of British Stella several times over the years to keep the price down.... which as Simon has stated has made the beer undrinkable..... R.I P Stell Artois.

@tomwilliams7391

Жыл бұрын

The newish Stella unfiltered in the UK is much better and closer to the Belgian one, also 5%...so there's hope for Stella!

@underneonloneliness2

Жыл бұрын

Heineken and Kronenberg are 5% and their prices are still on par with Stella so that excuse doesn’t really work for Stella.

@andrewcarr5923

Жыл бұрын

@@underneonloneliness2 The UK brewed Kronenbourg is atrocious since Carlsberg bought them out, they've ruined the recipe by adding glucose syrup and Heineken isn't much better.

@underneonloneliness2

Жыл бұрын

@@andrewcarr5923 It is a shame these big Brewers are buying everyone out. It means certain lagers are losing their uniqueness. It’s like that everywhere though. From beer to motor vehicles. It would be nice if all companies were independent again.

@wullaballoo2642

Жыл бұрын

UK brewed Lager is chemical soup and will have you feeling sick as a dog the next day

What got me was when Staropramen used to be imported here back in the day it was incredible when compared to the other drivel you get on the supermaraket shelves, however they started brewing it here and it's absolutely disgusting now.

@tombutler5489

Жыл бұрын

Same with Budvar

Nobody drinks Stella here. I mean, you can find it in Carrefour, but there are foreign beers I've never heard of which get more shelf space. Almost all lager/pilsner beer in Belgium is either Jupiler or Maes. Unlike in the UK where there is a LOT more competition and brands, Jupiler has about 66% of the entire market alone, and Maes is about 25% of the market. There's a huge Stella Artois brewery just outside Brussels in Leuven, a student town, and I just found it funny how huge the facility was when it's barely on the supermarket shelves or in the non-touristy pubs. When I moved to Belgium it was during the 2018 World Cup and Jupiler had temporarily rebranded itself to just "Belgium". I found it so weird that everyone in Belgium was drinking a beer just called "Belgium". Took a couple months to realise it was actually called Jupiler.

I'm glad other people are finally talking about this. You can find the continental brewed stuff in UK super markets sometimes but it's in small packs (usually 4 bottles) and it costs considerably more. Like wise restaurants often serve things like Italian brewed Peroni not the UK brewed stuff (in bottles not keg of course). Honestly I don't think this should be allowed. They're completely different products but presented as the same thing!

5.4/5.2 Stella was my go-to in the early 00s, was pretty much the only lager I drank in my 20s- switched to craft and real ale only in my mid 20s then had a pint in the pub one day and I couldn't believe I used to drink it, it was so cheap and fowl. Was only later I realised the abv had changed and was now brewed here. It used to be "reassuringly expensive" which I know was a gimmick but even for the off the shelf "premium" lagers, nowadays it's way way worse than what it was up against when I was younger - a shockingly bad beer

@capitalb5889

Жыл бұрын

Ironically, even when it used the "reassuringly expensive" strapline, it wasn't expensive at all - it was often one of the cheapest cans on the shelf.

@Mike-iu6sz

Жыл бұрын

When it was 5.4 it was called Stella acta twat

Its not about making good beer here its about max profits

My local off license used to stock the proper stuff, was 5.1% gold top can with a silver ring-pull.. Miss them days

I always check the label to see if a foreign beer is UK brewed.If it is, it goes back on the shelf. I don't want to be drinking a pale imitiation of the original beer. Never ever drink UK brewed foreign beers.

I worked for Whitbread in the 80s and Stella packaged supply was often switched from Salmesbury to Belgium and vice versa, we could always tell the difference but customers didn’t notice. It seems like things have gotten much worse. Can’t say I’ve drunk it for 30 years now, it’s a damaged product and brand.

@richardbaxter2057

Жыл бұрын

Hi, I worked for Whitbreads (Whitbread Coaching Inns) between 1986 and 1992. I remember when we got the Belgian Brewed Beer (in barrels), as opposed to the Stella that was brewed here in the UK. At the time, we had the Whitbread Fremlins Head Brewer staying with us and he explained that because of anticipated Strike Action at Magor Brewery (Wales), Home to all the “top pressure” beers, Whitbread had bought in a large volume of the Belgian Brew “just in case”! As it was, the strike action didn’t go ahead and we only had the Belgian stuff on two deliveries, before resuming to UK produced. The difference was very noticeable. I’d describe the Belgian Brew as “soft on the pallet”, which is possibly down to the lower Co2 content (gasification)....the knock on benefit being to the taste of it, which was fuller, richer almost bisquity, if you get my drift? The UK stuff was quite thin by comparison....it couldn’t hold a candle to its “Dad”! One other thing: Brewers talk about “reconstituting the water”! This means “designer water” for each beer. As the brewing became a centralised process, Stella, Heineken, Murphy’s, etc (top pressure beers) located to Magor and all the “Real Ale” products went to Salmsbury, so the brewing “water” had to be “mixed” by the chemists, so that each product could be said to retain its traditional qualities.....Pigs Might Fly....

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

@@richardbaxter2057 I think Smithwicks took a dive after 2013 when production ended in Kilkenny

They say that the Belgians themselves don’t like the Stella Artois beer, It’s the same with a lot of my fellow Dutchmen and women, we don’t like in general the Heineken lager. But worldwide they seem to like them, they’re being brewed by two of the largest breweries in the world.

@IamBATMAN2024

Жыл бұрын

@@drewskih4005 no he’s right lol

@IamBATMAN2024

Жыл бұрын

And like the Australians with fosters lol

@drewskih4005

Жыл бұрын

@@IamBATMAN2024 no he's not, go to Antwerp and tell me I'm wrong. What person would you Heineken I didn't even talk about that it's crap and no one should be drinking it. Take fosters away from the whole thing it's piss water. Cheers mate Good night God bless ciao

@drewskih4005

Жыл бұрын

@@bizzclub8622 I don't normally enter these KZread debates because no one listens! Wakey wakey rise and shine

@Jannes-pj4cd

Жыл бұрын

@@drewskih4005 I don’t know, I’ve never had a Stella before. I’m just saying what I’ve heard from other people.

I'm that guy in the shop studying the label to make sure my continental lager hasn't been brewed in the UK. I won't tolerate it.

Definitely cool these comparisons lately.

I lived in Belgium for 18 months and have been on brewery tours and have to say they really know how too put together a beer. I have to say i completely agrue that all uk brewed foreign beers are inferior copies. Corona is a prime example, it was traditionally all brewed in the same factory in mexico and shipped worldwide, and ive drank it in several different countries and its always been a go too. Now that its brewed in the uk i have too say that ive gone off it and only found out afterwards that is was now uk brewed.

@johnpeelslovechild

Жыл бұрын

Same here, since it became UK brewed Corona is a hard NO for me. Same with Sol RIP. My beloved Estrella is my last bastion.

@jimbo10003

Жыл бұрын

Agreed on that! just false choice now

@imaginitivity7853

Жыл бұрын

I mentioned recently to my French mother in law that I was really missing British beer since living here in France. Bless her, she bought me some Kingfisher lager, quite reasonably reading on the label that it had been brewed in the UK. 😂

@martinroberts4391

Жыл бұрын

@@imaginitivity7853 I'd have thought jupiler and Stella would have kept you going. Unless you mean beers over lager in which I totally understand, the Belgians know how to put together a crack strong beer but they don't really do anything like an old speckled hen.

Great idea and very interesting 👍 why can't we just have the good stuff. All this lowering the abv is bull. Was all good stuff back in my day. What went wrong?

SAME WITH CARLSBERG AND GUINESS. WHAT A HELLUVA DIFFERENCE IN MALAYSIA. JUST THE WHOLE TASTE IS DIFFERENT, AND NUCLEAR COLD WITH THAT LOVELY MALAYSIAN FOOD.

Hiya mate, just popped up on my feed and agree 100% with what you say, and it's got even worse over the years as well ugh. Also, as a Kairdiff boy meself, I recognise that accent so know you are an expert when it comes to drinking your beer 😎 and love your setup. Your enthusiasm is infectious mate. These days only drink Weissbeers that have been imported as I'm too old to deal with the hangovers from the chemical crap that we Brits get slopped up with by the pubs and major brewers. Like you, been to Belgium many times and totally different class of beer. Trouble with the UK is that as long as it gets you pissed most boys don't give a crap about flavour or quality. We have a different drinking culture to the continent, where they wouldn't touch UK versions of their own beers. Sadly, nothings gonna change. Although paying £5+ for a pint of lager in the pub these days (wtf???) means my drinking out days are definitely over haha. Rather buy some quality to enjoy at home. Pity, as the pubs are dying - no-one has the money for that these days what with prices high and wages not changed since 1980 (grim lol). Only time I really go to the pub is for a meal out with friends these days. Oh well, was fun while it lasted :)

Makes you wonder if we are heading back to the days of the 1980’s when whitbread etc almost killed off real ale with their keg bitters. It’s not just beer, multinationals in various sectors just take the piss in selling inferior products in the UK. They know the Belgians wouldn’t stand for it, but the British… eh they are used to drinking Carling, sell ‘em anything!

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

I would be worried about Carlsberg Marstons as well

I'm Welsh but I now live in Normandy, so your speaking to the converted, I drink Kronenbourg 1664 or Pelforth blonde, Kronenbourg is 5.5 abv over here and like the Stella in the UK it's below 5, in France it's got a floral smell unlike the UK which bears no resemblance, usaualy smells like sweaty socks, dont think you get Pelforth in the UK other than supermarkets. I agree Stella was the go to beer but since they've messed about with it it's had it

@beefsuprem0241

Жыл бұрын

I had some Kronenberg Blanc recently in France and that is 👌 Wish we could get it in the UK

Well said . I’m having a continental Stella now 😊

It's interesting that we have rubbish beers like this pushed into the UK market, while we have some great real ale breweries who put a lot of effort into serving us outstanding beer. I do think HMRC have a lot to answer for as it seems they are forcing breweries to lower abv. Great video.

I remember the British version of Stella coming in, it was crap, I have a feeling that Whitbread might have made it, I liked it previously ! Many years ago( 74-5) our brewery suppliers put a lot of effort into getting us to take tinned Kronenbourg . Eventually we gave in on the understanding that they gave us a fair few cases to try it out on our deserving public ! Wonderful ! excellent! the stuff flew out ! Obviously we ordered more…. About 95% of it came back over the bar along with a lot of caustic remarks. Then we investigate, made in UK !! talk to brewery guy, says, “I didn’t know!!?”. Sacked Brewery on the spot, lying bastards !

@OscarOSullivan

Жыл бұрын

Shitbread