Style: Pale Lager
Brewing location: Leuven, Belgium
Originating country: Belgium
Alcohol by Volume: 4.8% to 5.2%
Ingredients: Water, barley malt, hops, non-malted grains and Stella Artois’ unique yeast strain
Format tested: 12 oz bottle purchased in Los Angeles, CA
Beeradvocate rating: 71/100
Ratebeer rating: 14/100
Test kit: E-Z Gluten
Miscellaneous
- Stella Artois’ roots trace back to the Den Hoorn (literally meaning "the horn" in Dutch/Flemish) brewing enterprise in 1366, in the Belgian city of Leuven.
- It was originally brewed as a special holiday beer and christened Stella, which is Latin for “star.”
- The Stella Artois chalice is designed to ensure that the head foams perfectly and the aroma is preserved.
- It's nickname in the UK is 'wife-beater'.
- 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%. It was explained away by AB InBev's PR as "evolving UK category trends"; at the time "strong continental lagers" were being blamed for tipping an already-alcoholic country over the edge. In reality it saved AB InBev at least £10 million a year in tax, plus multiples more by watering down their lagers.
Test result photo
Test result
Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.
Very High Positive at 20 parts per million (ppm), meaning it is more than 20 ppm. Though standards vary from country to country, according to the FDA, "In order to use the term 'gluten free' on its label a food must meet all the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 ppm gluten." It is said that products with a gluten content below 20 ppm are suitable for people with celiac disease.
My experience drinking Stella Artois
It's what Heineken was in the 80s. An OK tasting lager with an enormous marketing and advertising budget. Stella Artois is bent on world domination and with InBev's acquisition of Anheuser Busch it's on course to do so. But I guess if it manages to convert some Bud drinkers along the way then it's got to be a good thing, right? Stella had great UK TV commercials in the 90s - with the tagline "Stella Artois - reassuringly expensive." These days I am more educated about beer and the best compliment I can pay Stella is that it is one of those beers that I am pleased if it's the worst choice in a bar or restaurant. Tasting notes: it has a rather musty sweaty taste to it and always leaves me feeling bloated. I am not sure where I fall in the gluten tolerance spectrum; I am gluten intolerant but not celiac. I definitely know what it feels like to be “glutened” i.e. gluten exposure, but I have not deliberately pushed my gluten consumption limits with any food or beer. I consumed this 12 oz. bottle in 30 minutes feeling no gluten effects.
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ReplyDeleteMaybe you feel bloated BECAUSE of the gluten
ReplyDeleteSo below 20ppm is considered OK and above is very high positive. Does anyone know the exact ppm of Stella Artois? I'm gluten intolerant but seem to be able to get away with one or sometime two pints of Stella, can't do that with a standard pint of bitter made from wheat. So how does the gluten content of a barley beer compare to a wheat beer? seems too simplistic to say 19ppm is good but 21ppm is cause issues..
ReplyDeleteI am gluten sensitive and as much as I wish it was truly gluten free, I do feel terrible after drinking it. Not as bad as after drinking wheat beer, which I absolutely can't do anymore, but still feel awful. My guess is it's too risky, too much of an effect if you want to heal your immune system and head off full blown celiac.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to test Stella tonight
ReplyDeleteWife beater...that's hmmm no.
ReplyDeleteI am either gluten intolerant or I have celiac disease, when I drink normal lagers my skin will burn and itch all over I would get really bad stomach pain, the next day I would feel fatigued dehydrated etc. So I thought I'd try this gluten free stella and was feeling very optimistic as when I was consuming these I didnt suffer any allergy whilst drinking these. But the next day my face had swollen up and was getting worse over the next few days, bad enough that I went to the hospital twice which they had no idea what the cause was, until a couple of days later I seen my doctor and he asked what I had consumed the day before, I hadn't ate and only drank these so he pointed the finger at these, this is 1 reaction I had never had before, so for me I wont try these again and wouldnt recommend anyone drinking them as they do contain gluten and probably more than they state
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