Stella Artois /ˈstɛlə ɑrˈtwɑː/, informally called Stella, is a pilsner beer of between
4.8 and 5.2% ABV.
It has been brewed in Leuven, Belgium, since 1926, although it is brewed in other locations
as well.
A lower alcohol content version is also sold in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Canada and
New Zealand.
Stella Artois is one of the prominent brands of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest
brewer.
History Tax records exist from 1366 for the Leuven-located
brewery Den Horen.
In 1708, Sebastien Artois became the master brewer at Den Horen, and gave his name to
the brewery in 1717.
In 1926, Stella Artois was launched as a festive beer, named after the Christmas star.
First sold in Canada, it eventually became available all year round, and, apart from
the duration of the Second World War, has been produced ever since.
The first Stella Artois beer was exported to the European market in 1930.
By 1960, about 100 million litres of Stella Artois were being produced annually.
Whitbread began to brew it under contract in the United Kingdom from 1976.
InBev, the merger of Belgian Interbrew and Brazilian AmBev, opened a new, fully automated
brewery in Leuven in 1993, and by 2006, total annual production volume exceeded a billion
litres.
David Taylor, founder of Taylorbrands, created the current package design, bottle design,
and shape in 1988.
The original 1926 bottle label inspired the current design, which replaced a 1960s design.
The design incorporates the horn symbol of the Den Horen brewery and the date 1366.
The label also shows medals for excellence awarded to the brewery at a number of trade
exhibitions in Belgium in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The name Stella Artois is held within a "cartouche" which was influenced by the style of Belgian
architecture in Leuven.
In 2008 a lower-alcohol version, named Stella Artois 4%, was launched in the UK.
As of 2011, a new spin-off cider product has been produced, named "Stella Artois Cidre".
In 2012, AB InBev, the makers of Stella Artois, Becks and Budweiser, announced that, for the
UK market, they were reducing the alcohol content across their range of beers, from
5% to 4.8%.
The original strength of the lager was 5.2%.
Production
Stella Artois is brewed in Belgium and the United Kingdom, as well as in other countries,
including Australia, Brazil and Ukraine.
Much of the beer exported from Europe is produced at InBev's brewery in Belgium, and packaged
in the Beck's Brewery in Bremen, Germany.
Stella Artois is also brewed for the Australian market by Lion.
In the United States, Stella Artois is imported and distributed by Anheuser-Busch.
For the Hungarian market, Stella Artois is also brewed in Bőcs, Hungary, by Borsod Brewery,
under license from InBev.
Stella Artois is available on draught and in several packaged sizes: 250-ml bottle,
275-ml bottle, 284-ml bottle, 330-ml bottle, 330-ml can, 440-ml can, 500-ml can, 660-ml
bottle, 700-ml bottle, 985-ml bottle, 1-litre bottle, and pint-sized can known as "La Grande
Bière".
Advertising
United Kingdom For some time, Stella Artois' advertising
slogan in the United Kingdom was "Reassuringly Expensive".
The UK television advertising campaigns became known for their distinctive style of imitating
European cinema and their leitmotiv inspired by Giuseppe Verdi's La forza del destino.
The campaigns began with a series of advertisements based on the 1986 French film Jean de Florette,
directed by the British duo Anthea Benton and Vaughan Arnell, moving on to other genres,
including war films, silent comedy and even surrealism.
They have used notable film directors such as Jonathan Glazer, and their aim was to portray
the drink in a context of clever words in the European culture.
Furthermore, the brand makes extensive use of the French language in its advertising
campaigns, even though the beer brand originates from the monolingual Dutch-speaking city of
Leuven.
An example of this can be seen in the advertising campaign for Stella Artois Cidre, in which
the tag-line "C'est cidre, not cider" is used, although this cider is produced in Zonhoven,
which also lies in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in Belgium.
Stella Artois is advertised as containing "only 4 ingredients: Hops, Malted Barley,
Maize and Water".
Yeast is also an ingredient used in the fermentation process, but almost all of it is removed before
packaging.
Since 2009, Stella Artois has been suitable for vegetarians, as isinglass is no longer
used to remove trace amounts of yeast.
Stella Artois has been nicknamed "Wife Beater" in the United Kingdom, due to a perception
that excessive consumption causes violent behaviour.
AB InBev lobbyists, Portland Communications, tried to remove all "wife beater" references
from the Stella Artois Wikipedia entry.
United States An advertisement for Stella Artois featuring
actor Adrien Brody aired during Super Bowl XLV in February 2011.
Although Anheuser-Busch InBev is a regular advertiser during the Super Bowl, this was
the first time Stella Artois had been featured in a Super Bowl advertisement.
The commercial was heavily criticized in the Belgian media for giving the impression that
the beer is French.
Sponsorship Stella Artois has been associated with film
in the UK since 1994, organizing events, sponsoring television, and hosting a website.
Stella Artois has been or is a primary sponsor of the Cannes, Melbourne, and Sundance film
festivals, the Independent Spirit Awards, and the Little Rock Film Festival.
See also
Beer and breweries by region Artois Bock
Eiken Artois Peeterman Artois
References
External links Official website
Studio Artois: official film website Brasserie Artois: Artois Family of Beers
Rating on RateBeer.com Photos from the now-defunct Stella brewery
in Leuven