Heineken

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I wasn't a fan in my younger drinking days. I generally enjoy it now, but it is insanely expensive here, so I rarely drink one. It does have that unique almost skunked flavor. I also find Grolsch to taste slightly similiar and honestly if something tastes remotely close to Grolsch, Grolsch wins just because of their bottles. Not a fan of Becks.
 
My friends and I have used this analogy for a long time. Becks tastes like what I would expect sweaty German horse nuts to taste like. I don't like Becks at all. I'm not a fan of heineken but if it's free then I'll drink it. I'm certainly not paying for it. Life is too short and there's far too many good beers out there.
 
Heine tastes awful here in the states.

HOWEVER - if you find yourself in Amsterdam (you should at least once), for the love of God/Beer, try a domestic Heineken. One of the most refreshing, crispy, balanced beers you'll every try. Hoppy, amazingly clean and good malt undertones. I think you're good to go as long as the beer is not pasteurized for shipping overseas... any Heineken over the pond that's fresh should be a world of difference.

Same goes for any imported beer... don't judge it once and for all if you try it imported. Gotta try it in its home turf. It's probably imported for a reason; because it's really good in it's hometown.
 
demuzik said:
Heine tastes awful here in the states.

HOWEVER - if you find yourself in Amsterdam (you should at least once), for the love of God/Beer, try a domestic Heineken. One of the most refreshing, crispy, balanced beers you'll every try. Hoppy, amazingly clean and good malt undertones. I think you're good to go as long as the beer is not pasteurized for shipping overseas... any Heineken over the pond that's fresh should be a world of difference.

Same goes for any imported beer... don't judge it once and for all if you try it imported. Gotta try it in its home turf. It's probably imported for a reason; because it's really good in it's hometown.

Agreed. I drank the HELL out of Heineken in the NL and loved every last sip. However, I'd never pay for bottles of it here in the US. Skunked every time.

However, if you can pick up a mini keg of it, those are usually pretty good.

OR, grab a 6 pack of New Holland Brewing's Full Circle which is a darn good Kolsch.
 
Becks is better than heineken to me but still not too great. I also agree with everyone that claims they have not tasted a heineken that wasn't skunked.
 
Heine tastes awful here in the states.

HOWEVER - if you find yourself in Amsterdam (you should at least once), for the love of God/Beer, try a domestic Heineken. One of the most refreshing, crispy, balanced beers you'll every try. Hoppy, amazingly clean and good malt undertones. I think you're good to go as long as the beer is not pasteurized for shipping overseas... any Heineken over the pond that's fresh should be a world of difference.

Same goes for any imported beer... don't judge it once and for all if you try it imported. Gotta try it in its home turf. It's probably imported for a reason; because it's really good in it's hometown.

This.

Heineken in the States is pure piss-water. It's skunky, musty, and generally disagreeable. My mother-in-law, who knows absolutely nothing about beer, bought a case for a party last February. It's still sitting in the garage unopened. I can't give it away. No one at the party touched it.

However, when in Amsterdam a few years ago, I got it fresh on tap. It was actually quite good. Very different than our bottled domestic version.
 
That's because green bottles skunk beer.

Well, technically, it's LIGHT of a particular wavelength that is let in buy a green bottle that skunks beer. If you store green-bottled beer in a dark room it won't stuck.

Having said that, Heineken skunks if you look at it funny.
 
Skunked Heineken in Europe taste better than Heineken of any condition in the US.
 
MOST commercial beers that are sold in clear or green bottles use hop extract instead of real hops. Hop extract does not contain the compounds that cause skunked beer (reaction of UV light with sulfur compounds in the hops to produce mercaptans), so it is impossible to skunk.

That said, Heineken appartently uses BOTH hop extrant and "milled hops/hop powder," so it would be possible to skunk, which makes you wonder why they would serve it in green bottles. Maybe it is SUPPOSED to taste that sh**ty.
 
When I lived in southwest Germany, we would make beer runs to the Netherlands. I loved the brown bottle Heineken.

Heine tastes awful here in the states.

HOWEVER - if you find yourself in Amsterdam (you should at least once), for the love of God/Beer, try a domestic Heineken. One of the most refreshing, crispy, balanced beers you'll every try. Hoppy, amazingly clean and good malt undertones. I think you're good to go as long as the beer is not pasteurized for shipping overseas... any Heineken over the pond that's fresh should be a world of difference.

Same goes for any imported beer... don't judge it once and for all if you try it imported. Gotta try it in its home turf. It's probably imported for a reason; because it's really good in it's hometown.
 
I've had a Heineken or two that wasn't skunky, and even then it wasn't stellar. Don't like Becks or St. Pauli Girl all that much either. I don't mind Stella Artois (again, assuming it's not horribly skunked).

I've also read (I forget where) that some Euro brewers intentionally let them get skunky when exporting over here, because the American masses have grown to expect it and would think something was wrong if it wasn't skunked.
 
Heineken is one of the big supporters of those 5L mini kegs. There's no reason those would be skunked, but they seem to taste the same as the bottles to me!
 
Agreed on Heineken tasting much better in Amsterdam. Could've been the dry mouth but it did taste better than it does here in the states regardless of the reason.
 
cclloyd said:
Agreed on Heineken tasting much better in Amsterdam. Could've been the dry mouth but it did taste better than it does here in the states regardless of the reason.

Nice. Amsterdam dry mouth would make a lot of beers drinkable.
 
Just curious Guys: What is the general homebrewing community's opinion of Heineken.

Thanks,
D

Same question for Beck's

Not great but OK in a pinch. Old guys like me remember when Heineken was one of the few beers you could find other than American macro lager. The big problem is the green bottles and stupid retailers who always seem to expose them to fluorescent light. Couple this with the average, ignorant American consumer who thinks the skunked aroma is actually supposed to be there. Both beers are basically mass market, mega brewed Euro lagers with a bit more flavor and hops than the American BMC stuff. It's not a beer I'm going to seek out or buy but I can choke a couple down at a friend's cookout. Fresh and on tap the beer is far superior to the green bottled product and can be an out if you get stuck in a joint without any craft beer.
 
call me crazy, but i think a quality company that has been brewing for over a hundred years knows a little bit more than the home brewing community. i highly doubt the risks of using green bottles have simply slipped the minds of all the Heinekin brewers, researchers, and zymurgists only for the beer snob to put up his nose and dismiss a company that knows much, much, much more about beer, its production, and its proper handling. i also highly doubt that Heinekin--the 3rd largest beer producer in the world--allows its product (that they have put millions of dollars into producing) to be neglected in the shipping process.

Heinekin uses isomerized hops just like Corona and several other clear beer companies. these hops are not "skunked" by UV light.

Heinekin is a pilsner with pilsner malt being its base grain. pilsner malt is known to collect/produce copious amounts of sulfur. the quantity of sulfur in a Heinekin is what makes beer drinkers misperceive the beer as "skunky". those who say they can tell the difference between a bottled Heinekin and a kegged Heinekin, this is not because one is skunked and the other is not.

if you really want to know what a truly skunked beer tastes like, bottle one of your home-brews in a clear bottle and leave it in the sun for a day. i think you will then be able to notice a clear distinction between a truly skunked beer and a Heinekin.
 
call me crazy, but i think a quality company that has been brewing for over a hundred years knows a little bit more than the home brewing community. i highly doubt the risks of using green bottles have simply slipped the minds of all the Heinekin brewers, researchers, and zymurgists only for the beer snob to put up his nose and dismiss a company that knows much, much, much more about beer, its production, and its proper handling. i also highly doubt that Heinekin--the 3rd largest beer producer in the world--allows its product (that they have put millions of dollars into producing) to be neglected in the shipping process.

Heinekin uses isomerized hops just like Corona and several other clear beer companies. these hops are not "skunked" by UV light.

Heinekin is a pilsner with pilsner malt being its base grain. pilsner malt is known to collect/produce copious amounts of sulfur. the quantity of sulfur in a Heinekin is what makes beer drinkers misperceive the beer as "skunky". those who say they can tell the difference between a bottled Heinekin and a kegged Heinekin, this is not because one is skunked and the other is not.

if you really want to know what a truly skunked beer tastes like, bottle one of your home-brews in a clear bottle and leave it in the sun for a day. i think you will then be able to notice a clear distinction between a truly skunked beer and a Heinekin.

Yes, yes... all of that is lovely prose... but how then do you explain the fact that Heineken almost always smells like a wet shaggy dog?

Woof.
 
Heineken, the official beer of the London Olympic Games. Bet there is a lot upset British over this.
 
Yes, yes... all of that is lovely prose... but how then do you explain the fact that Heineken almost always smells like a wet shaggy dog?

Woof.

the same reason BMC drinkers describe all dark beers as Guinness-like and compare all hoppy beers to triple-hopped Miller Lite: ignorance.
 
...which makes you wonder why they would serve it in green bottles...

Marketing. Green bottles = imported > domestic, according to the masses.

I've also read (I forget where) that some Euro brewers intentionally let them get skunky...

I refuse to believe that. If they get skunky at all, it's due to handling during shipping and storage.
 
Heineken is all one of my neighbors will drink, after tasting some of my homebrews, he can,t even give them away to the other neighbors. I do my best to pass on them even if they are free, or I have to walk a block back to my place.
 
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