Beer review: Stella Artois (5.0% Belgium: InBev Belgium)

The Stella Artois is a lager, more specifically a Pale lager. It's brewed by InBev Belgium, a brewery that is today part of the world's largest beer corporation Anheuser-Busch InBev. The beer has been brewed in Leuven, Belgium since 1926. Since it's one of the most popular beers in the world, one can't really expect a detailed, mature taste. Then again, there has to be something appealing in it since so many people choose to drink it.

Taste: The Stella Artois is a light/medium-bodied lager with a light, refreshing fruity sweet malt body. The beer finishes with a citric, herbal hoppiness.

Overall, the Stella Artois is very easy to drink. It's a nice refreshing beer that isn't demanding in any way, and I guess this goes a long way to explain its popularity. I'm guessing it doesn't really appeal to anyone, but neither does it turn any of its drinkers away from it. The beer is quite light and refreshing, yet isn't really watery because of the heavy carbonation and the sweet maltiness. I can easily imagine myself drinking this on a sunny day, and apparently so can millions of others. There are definitely many better pale lagers available but the Stella Artois succeeds in being a decent beer despite the fact that it's produced in serious bulk quantities.

65 Above average

Beer review: Leffe Brune (6.5% Belgium: InBev Belgium)

Leffe Brune is an ale, more specifically a dubbel ale, brewed by InBev Belgium. Although it is a monastery beer, receiving its name from a monastery, it is quite obvious that the bulk quantity of Leffe production means that the monastery is present only in the beer's name. The company which produces Leffe is part of the Anheuser-Busch corporation, the largest beer corporation in the world. Leffe is brewed under a license from the monastery and it receives royalties from the product. However, being part of a big corporation, being produced in a factory, yet selling under the name of a 'monastery beer' is a bit dubious, at least in my books. Let's not let that affect the review of the taste of Leffe Brune.

Taste: Leffe Brune is a very sweet ale. It is medium-bodied, soft and a bit fruity, although less so than the Blonde version of Leffe. The taste of sweet bready malt is quite dominant, and a faint aroma of smoke is present as well. Leffe Brune finishes with a sweet sugary and almost creamy malt flavor with a tiny hint of hops.

Overall, Leffe Brune is a very likable beer and is easily available. In my opinion, it's one of the best beers in wide distribution in Europe. It doesn't provide any mind-blowing taste experiences, and personally I prefer the Blonde version. However, they're both good bulk beers and I'm jealous of mid-Europeans for having this stuff in their supermarkets. + I guess it's a good thing that some of the profit goes to the monastery.

70 Good

Beer review: Leffe Blonde (6.6% Belgium: InBev Belgium)

Leffe Blonde is an ale, more specifically a Belgian style ale, brewed by InBev Belgium. Although it is a monastery beer, receiving its name from a monastery, it is quite obvious that the bulk quantity of Leffe production means that the monastery is present only in the beer's name. The company which produces Leffe is part of the Anheuser-Busch corporation, the largest beer corporation in the world. Leffe is brewed under a license from the monastery and it receives royalties from the product. However, being part of a big corporation, being produced in a factory, yet selling under the name of a 'monastery beer' is a bit dubious, at least in my books. Let's not let that affect the review of the taste of Leffe Blonde.

Taste: Leffe Blonde is a very sweet ale. It is medium-bodied, very soft and fruity. The taste of malt is quite mild and sweet, and the Leffe Blonde finishes with a sweet sugary and almost creamy flavor.

Overall, Leffe Blonde is a very likable beer and is easily available. It doesn't provide any mind-blowing taste experiences, but it is certainly a nice change from your typical lager beer. I guess it's a good thing that some of the profit goes to the monastery. In my opinion, one of the best beers in wide distribution.

75 Good