Posted by Greg Clow in beer, beverages on June 24, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Becks, Carlsberg, Heineken, Grolsch: all brand names that have become synonymous in North America with pale European lagers. What many drinkers don't realize, however, is that each of these names appears on a wide range of beers if their respective home countries, with the lagers that we're familiar with being the flagship products that are sent out into the world - essentially, the Blues and Buds of Europe.
Aside from Light versions of the main lagers, it's rare to see these other beers here in Ontario, which is too bad as some of them are actually surprisingly decent versions of more interesting beer styles. Becks, for example, does what is said to be a respectable Oktoberfest, while Heineken Tarwebok is their version of bokbier, a Dutch variation on the German bock style that is rarely seen outside of the Netherlands. And the most adventurous of the lot is Carlsberg, where they produce dozens of different beers including numerous craft-style products under the Semper Ardens and Jacobsen lines. Aside from a couple of Jacobsen beers that made a brief appearance at the LCBO last Christmas, the only way to try most of these is by visiting Europe.
One brewery that has recently been bucking this trend, however, is Grolsch. Last year, the familiar Grolsch Lager was joined on LCBO shelves by Grolsch Premium Blond, a 4.2% lager that can essentially be considered to be Grolsch Light (well, except that a different beer uses that name in the USA). With less body and flavour than the main Lager, it's not the most inspired brand extension, and being in cans it doesn't even have the cachet of the Lager's iconic swing-top bottle. But it serves the purpose of getting the name out there, which probably keeps the marketing department happy.
Much more interesting is the Grolsch product that showed up as part of the LCBO's current Summer Beer promotion, Grolsch Premium Weizen (LCBO 73734, $2.75/450 ml). I was admittedly sceptical about the idea of a large Dutch brewery owned by multinational SABMiller taking a shot at making a subtle and elegant German hefeweizen, but the result is surprisingly good. It doesn't break any moulds as far as the style goes, but everything you'd expect from a proper hefeweizen is there: cloudy golden-yellow body; snowy white head; aroma and flavour of banana, clove, yeast and lemon; medium body with a soft, creamy finish.
It ain't no Denison's, but compared to the numerous weizens that are available at the LCBO as both year-round and limited releases, it does a very respectable job standing up against the pack. So cheers - or as they say in The Netherlands, "proost!" - to Grolsch for showing Ontarians that they have more to offer than just fizzy yellow beer in the ubiquitous green bottle.
