After dropping Bock Artois, InBev UK has revealed the beer which will replace it. It will be "Eiken Artois". The 4.6% lager will be made from "an original continental recipe." While that load of marketing nonsense subtly hints at heritage and dusting off some ancient and revered recipe from the past, all it really means is that it will be made from a recipe no-one has yet used. That's the real meaning of "original" in this case.
Apparently it will utilise a " new oak-aged maturation technique to produce a “distinctively different style of lager”, with subtle floral notes and hints of vanilla." Enough of the sales bollocks. Here's the nub of this beer. Steve Kitching, from InBev UK, said Eiken (Flemish for “from oak”) is a “less challenging brand” than other premium styles, such as speciality beer.
So there you have it from the company itself. It will be bland. That my friends is what less challenging means in market speak. Another dumbed down load of rubbish.Eiken Artois is God help us, the first in a “rolling cycle” of premium beers from the recently invented "Artois family" .
7 comments:
Hmm - can't see who or what they're aiming at here. If by some twist of fate it actually picks up a distinctive flavour from the oak, then it might be considered too 'challenging'. If it doesn't, then it's just a weaker alternative to Stella. No doubt it'll be reassuringly expensive though...
Would you be pissed off if someone said they'd never read your blog but it was a dumbed down load of rubbish?
I think you need to get out and try a pint of this before decrying it. Your reading public demands it.
Yes we demand detailed tasting notes! I for one want to see how many ways you can define bland or piss poor.
I'd contend there are some things you can tell are not going to be any good, maybe including my beer blog, without experiencing them.
If I come across it, I might just have a half on the assumption they are not inflicting it on you in Ireland.. (Says he grudgingly)
Oh. Better thought. E can have a half and I'll just taste hers!
Only two words needed for lager reviews: piss & horse. Not always in that order
Personally, I welcome this product. You never know - it might be a "gateway" beer for some people, in the same way that Sam Adams Boston Lager opened up the world of craft brewing to legions of our lamentably uncurious American cousins. I'm genuinely eager to see what it's like, and refuse to be cynical about it.
But what I am happy to be cynical about is InBev's continual discovery of "original" recipes. That's just nonsense.
I hope you are right Zak, but I frea not. We'll have to wait and see. I am assuming this beer is brewed in Belgium, though InBev are ominously silent about that.
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