Belgium's Stella Artois

You will never hear me dispute anyone who argues Stella Artois to be one of the best beers in the world. It is at least one of the better beers I've tasted. No surprise that it is one beer that the Belgians are quite proud of.

It took me at least a couple of trips to Subic to get over its feminine name, though. But after coughing up 1.75usd for a couple of 330mL bottles at DFS, and eventually deciding to consume a bottle, I realized very quickly that this has got to be at least a biker chick's beer, if not a man's beer. It literally took only seconds for the 5.2 percent alcohol to kick in. I'm not a fan of mean labels people put on others. But if I had to use a label just to describe who this beer is not for, this is definitely not for sissies.

One pet peeve though - They could use better paper material for the labels on their bottle. The label on this one was literally peeling off after a couple of weeks in the chiller section of our refrigerator at home. I mean, the folks over at Stella Artois must have realized eons ago that drinkers are going to want this product really cold, and then wet, when taken out of cold storage. The green bottle was quite conservative. No surprises here, given that this product is over 600 years old.

Be that as it may, I liked this beer for what's inside the bottle. The taste was crisp and the alcohol level was just right enough to make sure that any ageing(read: pushing 40) beer drinker stays within moderate drinking guidelines before heading home for a good night's sleep. I did drink this at home though, so knocking off early was practically a cinch after gulping down a couple of bottles. Anyone who cares to try this brand ought to, for it is one of those beers any beer-lover worth his salt has to try at least once in his life.

Until then, Op uw gezondheid! if you're Flemish; or A votre sante! if you happen to be Walloon.