Originally Posted by Gabatta
I always thought Amstel was essentially Heineken Light. Oh well, chalk this one up to the wonderful marketing folks who brought us "Sunday" jerseys for Baseball teams.
Anyway, my GF ordered one the other week. The taste reminded me of Lowenbrau. Now if only they came in the 7oz stubby bottles like Lowenbrau did...
While I don't think it's always been true, Amstel and Heineken are currently made by the same company; however, from a marketing standpoint, I suspect there's a prestige advantage to the Heineken brand name.
One of my colleagues at
Brewing News, Hank Stewart, did a column and did a number on "Heineken Premium Light" (it's full and official name) in our April issue. He calls it "the newest entry in the bland, boring, emphasis-on-the-label world." However, Hank does add, "But I'll admit the label is pretty cool".
Hank says the folks at Heineken are spending "between $40 and $50 million (depending on who you believe --
ADWEEK or
The New York Times) to introduce HPL."
I haven't tried HPL yet, either, but at this time of year I think I'd rather have a nice fresh Maibock. (I was at a tapping party for the release of their seasonal Maibock at a nearby Gordon Biersch brewpub last night -- very tasty. If there's a GB in your neighborhood, try it before they run out.)