I can't taste it! Well, Ok, maybe I can taste it. But just barely. And that’s pretty sad, when you think about it. After all, Heineken Lager is one of the world’s top-selling beers, and very likely the world’s foremost “premium” brand of lager beer. They sell tons of the stuff, and those ubiquitous green bottles with the distinctive red star can be found discarded in parking lots and back alleys around the world.

Many years ago, I had a friend who was a dedicated Molson drinker, although he was known to grab a Heinie every now and then. He became very dismayed when Heineken had the temerity to roll out its beer in cans. I’ll never forget his expression or exclamation the first time he spied them in a liquor store when we were buying beer one day.

“Heineken in cans?” he shouted, his features contorted into a look of absolute shock and horror. “What’s the world coming to?” I can’t truly do justice to his emphasis on the word cans, but you can imagine it was as condescending as he could possibly make it. Well Keith, if you ever read this, I hope you don’t ever see Heineken Premium Light at your local packy.

If you do, here’s hoping you don’t drink it. But I will, in the interest of the science of beer.

Heineken Premium Light pours to a very faint golden color with a light and spritzy head formation that is rather short lived. The nose hints lightly at fresh malt flavor with a bit of skunky hop aroma tossed in. When will they learn about those green glass bottles? The introduction to this beer did not bode well for the remainder of the drinking experience.

The palate doesn’t get any better. In fact, it gets worse. My first sip revealed a very thin and watery body with just a faint hint of biscuity malt character. Just a hint mind you. In reality, the beer tastes just like seltzer water, with maybe a little less flavor. In the finish, there’s a light grassy hop flavor with a bit more skunk aroma to boot, but the finish is about as watery as the body.

And that’s about all there is to say about Heineken Premium Light. I expected a lot more from it, but when you get right down to it, it’s just another player in the low calorie, low carb beer market. At 99 calories and just under 7 carbs per 12 ounce serving, this may appeal to the calorie conscious and diet trendy crowd. But it’s certainly lower in alcohol, too, than a normal beer.

A bit more hops might have added a little more flavor. Just ask Boston Beer. Their Sam Adams Light has a lot more flavor, though to be fair it has about 20 more calories per bottle too. But what’s the point of having a beer if you can’t taste it? And that may be the most damning critique of all on Heineken Premium Light. Heck, even a Miller Lite has more flavor than this.

And here’s hoping they don’t can this stuff. That might put poor old Keith over the deep end for good.

 

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler

 



Home