Grolsch returning to the UK

[MonkeyMick]

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/0...ver-seen-the-legs-half-the-people-i-work-with

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I bet no one saw that coming.

 

[pms67]

I’m not sure Ive seen the legs of half the people I drink with
Come to think of it, I don’t want to

 

[phildo79]

Was it always a pilsner? I don't mind the swing tops but the crown cap bottles are BUL and taste totally different.

 

[MickDundee]

Was it always a pilsner? I don't mind the swing tops but the crown cap bottles are BUL and taste totally different.

The “proper” Grolsch is marketed as Grolsch Premium Pilsner I believe, and is 5% ABV.

It looks like this one is another “brewed under licence” job and, at 4%, is more likely to be like the Grolsch Premium Blonde than the original.

 

[Milesey]

The “proper” Grolsch is marketed as Grolsch Premium Pilsner I believe, and is 5% ABV.

It looks like this one is another “brewed under licence” job and, at 4%, is more likely to be like the Grolsch Premium Blonde than the original.

Yuk

be crap like the 4% Stella and becks

nasty stuff

 

[phildo79]

Do UK breweries even try to replicate the water profiles of beers they are brewing under licence? Stella, Becks, Grolsch etc. taste nothing like the original beers. In fact, I have bought Stella and Becks from Lidl recently and would struggle to tell them apart.

 

[Milesey]

Do UK breweries even try to replicate the water profiles of beers they are brewing under licence? Stella, Becks, Grolsch etc. taste nothing like the original beers. In fact, I have bought Stella and Becks from Lidl recently and would struggle to tell them apart.

Becks in bottles
Is just awful pi$$

I’ve not seen around for a while but becks on the all green can which is still brewed in Bremen is fking lovely drink

however there’s another can but it’s half green half white , got a feeling it’s made under licence here by one of the big ****** breweries

this ones great

this ones shyte

 

[terrym]

Do UK breweries even try to replicate the water profiles of beers they are brewing under licence? Stella, Becks, Grolsch etc. taste nothing like the original beers. In fact, I have bought Stella and Becks from Lidl recently and would struggle to tell them apart.

I think you are probably doing a disservice to the brewers themselves, who are probably given a cost point by their sales and marketing people as well as service the palate of the typical UK lager drinker who in spite of all the flavoursome beers on offer in pubs and supermarkets still drink the same flavourless watery stuff they have been conditioned to drink over the years since mass produced lager became widely available in the UK over 50 years ago.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Do UK breweries even try to replicate the water profiles of beers they are brewing under licence? Stella, Becks, Grolsch etc. taste nothing like the original beers.

Yes they usually pay pretty close attention to that kind of stuff - partly because it's "easy" and partly because water for most of the classic lagers is typically very soft, it's not like Burton where the huge amount of sulphates is one of the defining characteristics of the finished beer.

But there's a lot more to the taste of beer than just water - a key thing is how the yeast responds to different fermenters. When Bass expanded Staropramen in the late 90s, they were very careful to keep the fermenters the same, despite the Czechs wanting to move to conicals - partly because the Bass guys had seen what had happened to their own product when they moved to conicals. Different hydrostatic pressure, different fermenter shapes, all that kind of thing affects ester production by the yeast - and as they reduce the hopping rates the effect of yeast becomes more obvious.

In fact, I have bought Stella and Becks from Lidl recently and would struggle to tell them apart.

Well they're both owned by ABI these days so perhaps no surprise. But also it's possible that they're getting equally bad treatment in the logistic chain that takes them to Lidl - all this hot weather is not ideal for moving any kind of beer, let alone lager.

 

[phildo79]

Yeah, I know that fermenter shape (and all the ingredients) can alter the flavour but surely if you are, in essence, cloning a beer, you are trying to make it as close to the original as possible. They taste NOTHING like the originals. I don't understand why the original brewery would actually be ok with this (other than making money). Their product is perceived to be something that it is not.

 

[jMac]

I don't understand why the original brewery would actually be ok with this (other than making money).

All the original breweries are likely owned by one of the big multi-national conglomerates, if they even still physically exist, so I doubt they get a say. It’s all about selling the most hop flavoured fizzy malt water.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Yeah, I know that fermenter shape (and all the ingredients) can alter the flavour but surely if you are, in essence, cloning a beer, you are trying to make it as close to the original as possible.

No - you are trying to make money.

Yes, you can tweak stuff like water easily, but changing fermenters gets expensive.

And it's fairly rare these days for beers to be brewed locally by a different company, in most cases (like Beck's and Stella) they are just being brewed by different arms of the same international. To make money - or at least to save money, by not having to truck 1000's of tonnes of water and glass/aluminium around the world in the form of finished beer. At least it's not as bad as poor old Newky Brown, which Heineken now brew in NL for European markets and then brew a completely different recipe at Lagunitas with Centennial and Chinook in it for the US market.

One interesting case has happened between two arms of the Coors empire, where the Carling brewery in Burton is now brewing the Staropramen 10° recipe but selling it as Pravha. It's probably a good call, as it would be a bit much to have to explain the whole concept of Plato to British lager drinkers, but fair play to Coors for not passing it off as Staropramen 4 or whatever.

 

[GerritT]

Grolsch: mediocre at best.

 

[chopps]

Has anyone actually seen any of this ‘new’ Grolsch in the shops yet? I’m not a big fan but I’d drink a few for the bottles.

 

[johnlodge47]

They're in Waitrose round my way - Worcester Park, SW London.

 

[Nidger]

Was never that keen on it.
Looks like Sainsbury's stock it.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/single-bottles/grolsch-premium-pilsner-beer-x24-330ml
330ml bottles,
No swing tops,
Gnats pìss,
I'm out.

 

[chopps]

I’d only buy it for the bottles so no swing top, no deal.

 

[Ned Jough]

At the moment, it’s only Waitrose around my way selling the swing tops. £2.25 for a 450ml bottle! If I run short of bottles I just buy a 24 case of any Hacker Pschorr Bier in 500ml swing tops. Works out same price as Grolsch, is delivered to my door and is a superior beer. I enjoy emptying them and The HP bottles are absolutely top quality for home brew.

 

[chopps]

I can’t bring myself to pay UK prices for German beer. Until this Covid situation I was in Munich every other week where it’s basically free. Bring on the ***! I need to get back to normal.