Heineken Lager - Heineken Nederland B.V.

    Heineken Lager is the original style of Heineken beers and is brewed in Zoeterwoude, Netherlands by Heineken Nederland B.V.. Brewed since 1873, Heineken Lager is likely one of the most recognizable beer brands in the world. I was extremely surprised to learn that, unlike our American macro-breweries, Heineken continues to brew without the use of adjuncts in their lager! That gives Heineken a step up in my mind over other macro-breweries for sure.

    Heineken pours the familiar straw-yellow of a Lager. Almost as many bubbles appear in the beer as when you pour a clear soda into a glass. A surprisingly thick 1/2 inch head of white foam caps the beer.

    The beer's aroma is very light, and consists mainly of grain scents without much else going on. There isn't really any perceptible hops scent in the nose.

Heineken from a Heiny-can.

    The Lager is very light bodied and almost watery. I'm surprised to find that there is a very light level of carbonation in the beer, especially after seeing all the bubbles upon pouring. I guess that initial rush of bubbles was all the carbonation escaping their aluminum prison. Heineken has a sessionable alcohol content of 5% ABV.

    Heineken Lager's flavor is mainly that of the light grains perceptible in the beer's aroma. The malts are actually quite sweet, however, and almost syrupy to the point of being highly unpleasant if you're drinking this after any hoppier beers. On its own, it's pretty drinkable and light. I'm thankful for the lack of sour corn adjunct flavors thanks to Heineken's philosophy of quality and just using pure barley malts. As the beer warms, a sort of skunky flavor begins to form, so drink it while it's cold!

    When I was little, the world was a different place. The cigarette smoking camel, two-pack-a-day manly cowboy, and many other mascots for adult items were free to advertise in media that kids were exposed to on a regular basis. As such, I saw a lot of beer commercials growing up, and I specifically remember Heineken as a brand that was advertised. Of course, as a youngster I had no previous experience with Dutch names and made the best of the name with words common in my own vocabulary. This is why I spent the majority of my childhood thinking that there was a beer called Heiny-kin. I had no idea why someone would advertise their product using a posterior, it seemed counter-productive. Obviously I hadn't learned that sex sells at that point either...

    While I'm super glad that Heineken avoids using adjuncts in their Lager, it's still just a plain, average Lager. While easy drinking, it's also somewhat boring drinking. You might choose this over your other macro-brews though, thanks to its faithful adherence to keeping barley the only grain in beer.

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