Stella Artois beer: history, types and taste + how to drink
There are hundreds of Belgian brands of "frothy", but Stella Artois occupies a special place among them.
The light lager, produced for many centuries, is one of the most famous local beers: you can buy it in almost any country.
History of the Stella Artois brand
Today, the Stella Artois brand is part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev product portfolio. However, the drink became famous long before the international company appeared.
The origins of its birth should be sought in the XIV century on the streets of the "most enlightened" Belgian city of Leuven, located in the Flemish Brabant.
In 1366, the Den Hoorn brewery was founded here and developed the first recipe for Stella Artois.
Belgian lager got its memorable name only a few centuries later. At the beginning of the XVIII century, the owner of the old brewery was a master brewer Sebastian Artois, who renamed it "Brasserie Artois".
When using his own surname as the name, the creator of the brand hardly imagined that he would immortalize it.
The "star" prefix (stella in Italian. from English. from the armor. "star") in the name appeared much later. For Christmas 1926, the brewery produced a special batch of beer as a gift for the people of Leuven. In honor of the holiday, the bottles were decorated with an "asterisk".
The new name took root and was used constantly. Soon, Stella Artois beer was sold in Canada, where it quickly gained popularity. By the middle of the XX century, the annual production volume reached 100 million liters, at the beginning of the 21st century it was already a billion bottles.
Today, the drink is brewed not only in Belgium and the UK, but also in other regions: Canada, Brazil, Ukraine, Russia, Australia.
Types of Stella Artois
The drink is available in two main flavors:
Classic light lager "Stella Artois". Filtered, pasteurized. Strength: 4.8%.
Limited Christmas version with a special bottle design. The taste is similar to the classic version. The unique product is poured into dark green opaque 0.75-liter bottles and corked with a cork stopper. Strength: 5%.
Non-alcoholic beer "Stella Artois Non Alcohol". Strength: no more than 0.5%.
All of the brand's beers have a full, fresh and light taste with a pleasant bitterness, malt core and crisp finish. Main notes: citrus fruits, nuts, corn, freshly cut grass.
How to drink Stella Artois
The manufacturer recommends cooling the beer to 3-5 °C before tasting and pouring it into special "Chalice" glasses, after rinsing them with cold water.
Dishes of any cuisine of the world, especially German and Japanese, are suitable as appetizers. Cheeses, white meat, fish will be a good addition.
Update: 09.04.2019
Category: Beer, Cider, Ale