The Bowsing Ken

1322 : Stella Artois

  A bottom-fermented blond pilsner.  How many of you remember the Great Heineken Invasion of the early 1980s? This was back when drinking Heineken - a Greenie - was seen stylish and quite international. Those green bottles were seen everywhere. Then, as it always happens with anything in the vogue, Heineken sort of went out of style. Heck, Pabst Blue Ribbon all but disappeared but oddly is hot with the hipsters today. And, by the way, I too drank my share of Heineken - loved it then and love it now.
  I think that Stella Artois sort of went through the same evolution, becoming immensely popular, but perhaps hitting its peak a couple of years ago. It is a pity that many beer geeks consider Stella Artois as just another mass produced, fizzy but otherwise featureless beer (ok, yes it is from the stable of AB InBev) and bypass it for something else. Personally, I love Stella Artois, having drank it both in Belgium and in the United States - and it was darn good in both places. I always have some in my garage pub fridge, and I think I'll go have one now.
  So, a bit of history...Stella Artois can trace it heritage back over 600 years, to the Den Hoorn brewery, in the city of Leuven, Belgium. A reference to this brewery can be seen on the Stella Artois label. A man by the name of Sebastian Artois began his career in brewing in 1708, when he was inducted as a Brew Master into the Leuven Brewers Guild. Nine years later he bought the Den Hoorn brewery. Of course, this is the origin of the "Artois" in Stella Artois, but where does the "Stella" come from?
  Soon after buying the brewery, Sebastian Artois commissioned a special batch of beer, to be presented to the people of Leuven as a Christmas gift. The batch of beer was called "Stella," meaning "star" in Latin, and was a commemoration of the holiday. Thus - Stella Artois. Thanks Sebastian.