I was in Holland 20 years ago, too, and I found the Grolsch vastly preferable to Heineken. They have had some good advertising campaigns, though.

I like them both. Heineken has a greater steeliness to the hops for sure and Grolsch has a greater richness from the malt and yeast. A few years ago some pals and I did a side by side of those and other Dutch lagers and it is interesting to see how different they are.

I can't say that I would rush out to try this, or even try it if it was available in the pub; I don't drink "light" beers in general. On top of that, almost every Heineken I've ever tasted in the US was skunked. When will they finally give up the green bottles?

Alan, again, thank you for the link above. Coincidently, after reading this blog for a bit last night, I checked my hotmail, and sure enough, on the right side of the page was a big ad for Heineken Premium Light. So, yeah, it seems like their $50 million is being put to work right away! I'm sure I'll be buying some Premium Light real soon as well!

Hey Knut, what's up with Adnams' latest beer Explorer? Do you like that name? Makes me think of the Ford Explorer SUV. Working at a naming firm, that's the first thing I thought about when I read your post. Anyway, I like your blog, too. It's interesting.

Todd, I agree slightly about Heinekens being skunked. But, what's wrong with the green bottles? I lived in Spain for a bit and they were very popular there. Then again, the color green in Spain is like the color red in the U.S. - it has the association with being sexy and adventurous, which I guess is what Heineken wants to be perceived as.

The other green beer bottle I can think of is Rolling Rock - everyone's favorite piss water!

Alan, keep up the good beer bloggin..and visit our blog at www.namedevelopment.com/blog whenever you get a chance.

Hey, John. I really found the key employee resumes at your firm's website interesting. As a BA in English among other things, it is interesting to see that there is a future for linguistics and language majors.<p>I have really never understood the skunky claim against Heineken. Everyone I have ever had tastes like the one in the coin operated beer dispenser at my Dutch workplace 20 years ago.

Hi Jon,
I don't think I would use the name Explorer for a beer to mass market in the US. For a brewery such as Adnams that has "Beer from the coast" as it's slogan and wants to focus on its maritime connections, I think it is appropriate. Ringnes here in Norway has just launched a beer which plays on our polar exploring heritage as well. It would have been a better idea if the beer was better...

Jon,

The problem with green bottles is that they provide virtually no protection againt the beer getting light-struck, which is what the skunky smell is. Brown bottles provide much better protection.

You can try the experement at home...take a couple of roughly equivelent 6-packs of beer, one in green bottles and one in brown. Take one bottle of each and set them in the sun (1/2 an hour should do). Then compare the taste of the sun exposed bottles to those that were kept in the 'frig. You should be easily able to detect a significant skunk factor from the beer in the green bottle over the one in the brown bottle.

Todd

Then take the light struck out of the light and try it again. It is reversible. That is why I hide all beer in the closet.