I finally succumbed to the advertising this week and picked up a few green labelled bottles of the new unfiltered Stella Artois from the supermarket.
First of all a confession: at the risk of shredding my beer credentials, I quite enjoy normal Stella and have drunk it in cans and bottles at parties and while watching sports events on TV and on draught in keg only pubs. Like a few other - mostly German - mass market pils (Becks, Radeberger, Warsteiner) it still has some hoppiness and isn't as sweet or gassy as certain Australian, French and Canadian brands.
Unfiltered Stella isn't actually that different, maybe slightly cloudier, but with no yeast deposit at the bottom of the bottle. Like the normal, filtered Stella, it's brewed under licence here, but at 5% rather than 4.6% abv (still slightly weaker than the 5.2% Belgian brewed beer which I've occasionally seen bottles of in local off licences).
Standard Stella used to be a pretty good beer, but it's been progressively dumbed down at the same time as its strength has been reduced, and I now find it quite forgettable.
ReplyDeleteI tried the unfiltered version, and it wasn't bad, although I felt it had a slightly muddy flavour. It's odd that it has a noticeable haze but doesn't throw a sediment.