I'm with you all the way Simon. There's just no excuse for the shite these multi-national brewers dump on the British public. Again, I used to love San Miguel before it was brewed in Basildon.
Simon, they water the beer down in Britain because the UK breweries know that Brits are stupid and will accept being ripped-off. What's more amazing is that the UK government allows UK brewers to pass-off watered-down beer as the 'original', continental product. A bit like selling a Ford Festa, advertised as a Ferrari.
Loving the UK brewed comparison videos. Agree with you completely, the UK brewed under license stuff is terrible. I am sure, like has probably been mentioned, it was because the excise duty paid was more when the abv was higher. Things deemed harmful to health by the government are taxed according to weight or volume and alcohol comes into that category. The brewers had to cut the abv in the UK to keep their profits up. Could be the quality of the water and other ingredients too but i think the excise duty started it.
Only reason min pricing introduced is cus a small minority in uk cant moderate consumption - few ruinn it for the many as always in this nanny state of a place
I used to holiday quite extensively in the USA and developed a taste for Sam Adams Boston Lager and was pretty chuffed when they started importing selling it in the UK. About 4-5 years ago I bought a few bottles and upon open opening was shocked at how utterly bland it was. Upon reading the label, the reason became obvious " Brewed in the UK under licence by Shepherd Neame". Needless to say, I haven't bought any more since.
Yep and Brooklyn Lager went the same way. Used to enjoy the imported 355ml bottles, but now brewed by bloody Carlsberg! Went to Boston many years ago and visited the Sam Adams brewery, the beer was fantastic.
Totally agree on Brooklyn, stopped drinking when Carlsberg started producing it. Same with Red Stripe, tastes like Heineken because Heineken make it now uk
San Miguel has got two breweries in Spain, one is in the Northern part of the country and the other is one is in the city of Malaga, in the southern part of the country. The brewery is located right next to the road that leads to the airport. When you ride past it you can smell the aromas that come free from the chimneys of the brewery. So when you just landed on Malaga airport and you’re riding in the car to start your holiday you’ll be greated by the aromas from San Miguel which are being released from the chimneys of the brewery.
No blind test needed the UK San Mig is just crap , I only buy it if im really desperate and no other beers are available then i will sit at a garden party nursing it all day LOL
Yes San Miguel was originally from the Philippines when they were under Spanish rule for around 400 years. I remember being out there in 1998 when a 500ml bottle was the equivalent of 7 pence. A coke was 11 pence
Wow that's cheap! I lived in Spain 1998-9 and the supermarkets used to sell chilled 1 litre screwtop glass bottles of San Miguel for 100 pesetas, which was 40p.
I’m from Canada, wife is from Philippines. Last time we were there San Miguel bottle was around 40 Philippine pesos which is around 1 Canadian dollar. We get ripped off here in Canada and UK probably the USA too. I can buy a 6 pack of San Miguel here for around 16-17 dollars. 6 bottles in the Philippines would cost me around 5-6 dollars.
They also have a beer called Red Horse. It’s 8% ABV goes for 10-20 pesos more than a regular San Miguel. 3-4 of those and the horse starts kicking in lol great stuff. Man I miss the Philippines! I plan on retiring there, life is just different there, no stress etc. drinking a few ice cold beers during a hot sunset there is the way to live.
The worst thing about this is that these big corporate breweries like AB inbev, Marstons etc have no incentives to improve the beers as the everyday consumer will drink any old dross with an alcohol content. I feel it's a British cultural issue, they would not be able to get away with this in Belgium/Germany as they would lose all their consumers. Tragic really when people choose this stuff over quality, less well-known breweries. Consumerism at its finest.
for me the biggest problem with UK brewed beer is the chemical aftertaste from over use of chemicals in the cleaning process. most people don't notice but I can taste it every time. rather than take their time to clean everything naturally they try to speed up the process of pipe cleaning by using aggressive chemicals. I grew up in pubs (my dad was a landlord for years) and there most crucial part of getting a good beer was the cleaning process in-between barrels, get it right and you have a beautiful beer - get it wrong and you get a lot of angry customers!
One reason British San Miguel is 5.0% as opposed to 5.4% is that the brewery can put about 8% more water in the brew; by the tonne, that's a lot of money saved over the year. That also explains why the British brew is lighter, even if they are supposed to be using the same recipe otherwise.
Hi Simon, I'm so glad that you have finally got round to these cheats lagars that are brewed here in the UK! Three years ago I stopped buying Corona because I bought a box thinking it was brewed in Mexico. I opened it, took out a bottle, and swigged it! This big metallic taste hit my tongue and it was vile. I looked on the side of the box and some of the Spanish words had been replaced with "Brewed under licence in the UK ". My wife is Mexican and I visit there regularly, so I know that what I should of tasted was a nettle/ slightly herbal taste, this other stuff had none of that! Over the months I have noticed other brands with "Brewed under licence "popping up everywhere! I think you will sadly be making a part 3,4 5,10 etc videos before something gets done! Keep up the good work and I hope a campaign is brought up to make people more aware of this, as I believe people clearly don't realise! 🍻🍻
@Peter M Hi Peter, it great that you also feel this way in what is a very important and shocking miss Trust of these companies! I hope that Simon reads this and uses his great influence to get the ball rolling! Kind regards, Gaza.
So pleased you doing these comparisons. I’m so lucky to have shop walking distance from my house that sells Spanish San Miguel. Done many side by sides of this and other cheat lagers. Please try and do the one that’s under the radar for most, Heineken. If you go get a 4 pack of 440ml cans, then go to any supermarket and grab a 6 pack of the 330ml cans. The 440ml cans are UK brewed, the 330ml cans are Dutch brewed. I never buy any other Heineken than the 330ml cans. It’s more malt sweetness, and less bitter twang. A much more well balanced beer even though both are 5%. Heineken are now just recently short changing UK consumers with their role out of 4.6% Cruzcampo. Haven’t tried it yet, but just another example of this BS. The worst one by far that I have tried is UK Amstel Vs Dutch. Horrific. Keep ‘em coming!
They had Spanish 5.4% on sale in some uk supermarkets during COVID, I guess excess stock diverted from non existent visitors to Spain. Nice drop in summer, that I took advantage of when i could, enjoying quite a few x24 cases over those strange times 😊
San miguel was on offer in tesco last week. I haven't had it for ages so thought I'd pick up a 10 pack for £8. I thought it tasted absolutely awful. I had 2 cans and then gave the rest away. When it comes to Lager, anything English brewed is terrible. I'll be sticking to Victoria Malaga and Budvar or Pilsner Urquell.
@@heiltd1286 believe me I have tried over the years. We just don't have the quality of water here to brew good lager. And all of our big brewing companies are more bothered about penny pinching than actually producing a decent beer. Czechs and Germans know what they're doing when it comes to Lager
@@MattyHalsall Windsor And Eton do a damned good lager. So does Rebellion. Also Thornbridge Lager I've tried and liked. Sam Smith's Pure Brewed is fine too.
@@heiltd1286 They're probably alright but they don't have the centuries of experience which continental breweries have so it's difficult to know if they're any good. Plus no purity law here.
The average UK punter will drink whatever crap is available in the pub. I struggle to drink in most pubs due to rubbish they serve and when i make comments on how bad these beers are i get called a snob 😂
Hence the popularity if Carlsberg, Carling, Stella and Fosters. All UK brewed foreign beers(barring Carling), all poor imititations of the orignal, which in the case of Fosters and Carlsberg wasn't any good in the first place and 3 of them extremely weak sub 4.0% alc content. It's kind of ironic these beers(and Strongbow) are the staple for the 'lads out on the piss/football fan' crowd when you condsider you have to drink gallons of the stuff to actually get p****ed.
The UK has a nation of pub drinkers who will accept ANYTHING as long as its cheap enough. Lets face it, look at the utter bilge and totally devoid of flavours we find in 99% of uk pubs. Fosters 3.4% abv ? John Smiths smooth 3.6% Coors lite should not even be called a beer, fizzy water around 3.4% Bud lite oh dear lord, 3.5%? And many more industrial tasteless fizz. This reason is why so many of our drinkers can drink all day long until around 10pm when they suddenly become drunk, then when they go abroad they are pissed by 2pm because they are drinking far superior beers at their original ABV, Stella UK 4.6% Belgium Stella far far superior at 5.2% but our drinkers do not care the fact of quality that becomes affected by the lower abv, less malt base, cheaper malts, cheaper hops and less of them etc. It is the Temperance mindset of British politicians who think that putting extra tax on beers over 5% abv will discourage drinkers, it only discourages the ones who don't care for quality. Germany, Belgium, Chec republic all celebrate and cherish their brewers and beers, protect them, proud of them. What our politicians should have done is target the park bench beers that are ridiculously strong but nasty like the Polish mass produced beers or White lightening Cider (that has never seen a single apple).
Very well put, although in Scotland and Wales they do hammer the park bench beverages and rightly so. A 2.5 litre bottle of Frosty Jacks is about £11 compared to England where its only £4.50 in Iceland, pure poison in a bottle.
I get your general point about continental lagers being weakened in UK, but I actually find San Miguel to be one of the better ones - bready, with a very slight hint of liquorice; very well balanced too. At 5% it's still a strong lager.
Yeah - it isn't anywhere near as good as the Spanish brewed San Miguel, but it is definitely the best of a bad lot in my opinion, when it comes to lagers I can get chilled from the fridge from my local Tesco Express.
I think you're right about the water. I don't think UK water is necessarily inferior, but different types of water are better for certain styles of beer. Even with modern water treatment I think this still holds true. The lower ABV is almost certainly a cost cutting measure. They either use a lower original gravity in the wort or simply dilute the beer with water...
Always remember seeing San Miguel travelling from Malaga to my destination at 10 years old. Would of loved to have seen Stella unfiltered included in the previous video.
I agree 100% its so effin' frustrating. And its been going on for years because the British public accept it. It will never change until we say no more. We want the same quality beer as our continental cousins. And not even abroad. Look how the big conglomerates has virtually destroyed the quality of Newcastle Brown ale. Its just beyond me???
I can highly recommend Munich - lived there for a year and a bit - didn't speak German when I arrived and lived off Milka chocolate and tins of Lowenbrau. Got into it quite quickly. You need to visit three times, at least, though. Once for the spring festival, once in the summer - beer in the English garden, and on a cold snowy weekend - walk in to the Augustiner keller and order a dunkel beer. Divine. Great food too. Ah, can't sing its praises enough. Oktoberfest is fun too, but not sure what it's like now (this was end of the 1980s, it was all rotisserie chickens and bulls on spits - great fun - and singing in the tents - oh, ok, that's a fourth visit.)
When anyone in the UK gets a contract to produce anything not homed in the UK. The first thing they do is cut the cost of making it, then excuse this as adjusting the product for UK palates.
Simon the water quality in Scotland is incredible, And I think that shows with Innis and Gunn. And another one of my favourites, Arran blonde beer. I don't know if you've tried Arran Blonde. You should try it.
A few years ago, I went on holiday to Barcelona and drank several little cans of San Miguel because I loved the novelty of buying it from a vending machine. To my amazement, it was delicious. And when I arrived home, I ordered a lovely pint of draught San Miguel. 😢
When in Munich you should definitely try the Augustiner in a beer garden draught from a huge wooden barrel. It will blow your mind. E. g. Hirschgarten (they serve Helles) or Augustiner Keller (they have Edelstoff). The Augustiner on tap in the Stammhaus in the centre is also from wooden barrels. Go to the self-service area, there you can eat your own food as well, or buy the beer garden specialities. My personal favourite is the Bavarian grease bread, or Schmalzbrot, it's the best foundation to the beer :) The oak cask adds to the flavour. No bottled beer is anywhere near. Also, the atmosphere in the beer garden, the smell of the fish on a stick or the Bratwurst and theat of the chestnut trees add to the beer aroma, which makes it an unforgattable experience.
San Miguel was founded in 1890 by a Spaniard, Enrique Maria Baretto, through the grant of a Spanish Royal Charter when the Philippines were a Spanish colony, so its origins are colonial Spanish. Never really went for this one as the Spanish version, though tasty, is too strong for me and the UK version is well, meh! I prefer the less strong Spanish export lagers like Estrella Damm (4.6%) and Estrella Galicia (4.7%) which are still Spanish brewed. Good to drink at this time of year. So glad you are doing this - we need to highlight how British drinkers are being treated like fools through fake "foreign" beers brewed here which are nothing like the original in the home country. Main reason is our huge duty on strong beer making multinational brewers brew a weaker version for the UK market and skimp on quality through fast and cheap brewing methods.
Brilliant review . Agree with every word . I’m stuck too as my daughter doing GCSEs this year . Why is everything dumbed down , it’s so frustrating…. Need to get out and experience a sunnier life with better beer 🍺
I had a pint of Stella in California some years ago 3% reply was when I asked if someone had pissed in the barrel The surprised reply was gee thats a strong beer sir. So much for Uncle Sam.
Ha! Great rant, thank you. I'm lucky enough to live in Devon so can go shopping in France easier than most Britons. I get real lagers there and in between I get what few European lagers there are here that are not UK brewed. You can't just move to Germany any more though since "that which dare not be mentioned"! (I might well be in France now otherwise.) This time I got La Goudale 250ml bottles for about 50p each, great stuff. I think only Morrisons sell it here, and it's the real thing but over £2 for the same. Worth a try if you're stuck in Blighty. I also brought back Kronenbourg 500ml cans at 5.5%, 7.2% and 9% abv. Cheap as well. Yeah!!!
Many UK brewed continental lagers are terrible, and Stella is probably the worst. But that just isn't true of San Miguel which is perfectly good quality.
Thanks to you Simon i will no longer drink British brewed lager beers, Aldi Steinhauser, Krombacker, Estrella Galicia, always exported stuff, And i find i do not get those beer headaches i used to get drinking British brewed pub crap
I was posted to Borneo as a soldier, San Mig was the drink in Hong Kong and certain parts of Malaysia which had a Filipino population like Labuan in Borneo, a tax free island inhabited by oil workers and ladies of the night. San Mig pale pilsen cost about 20p a bottle in places and was good. I told a couple of RAF throbbers that it was from the Philippines, but they didn’t believe me, that was back in 2007!
because its all about price point for Brits, they'll drink anything if its cheap - quality doesn't come into it. Not all Brits mind you, but the majority I reckon
This is particularly interesting to me as I grew up in British-controlled Hong Kong, and San Miguel was brewed in Hong Kong under licence from the Philippines. And yet whilst Filipino San Mig, which we could get in some bars and supermarkets, was great, the Hong Kong brewed San Mig (or "Sun Lik" as the locals called it, hence the name of that beer you occasionally find in Chinese restaurants here) was dire. Truly awful. Not as bad as Budweiser, obviously, but still awful. So we drank locally brewed Carlsberg and Lowenbrau instead.
GF put me onto you Sir. FAAAAAR superior judgement and I concur and clapped so many times during your vids. I'm old skool, worked at many gigs in the 90s trade fair. Spotting San and Stella when I've said it for years makes me feel so much better. I shall becaome an avid watcher. Peace and love big yin. x
Tax is just a poor excuse. They dropped it to lower brewing time and save money. They dropped Stella to 4.8%, no one complained, so not being completely stupid, they dropped it to 4.6%. I expect it'll be 3.8% in a couple of years. It our fault for being stupid. It's simple to correct, just don't by any British beer, they're having a laugh.
Love the channel. Have to ask why does everything look warm :). I always like my beer looking like Ice Cold in Alex. I do think chasing the water sports in the sun and great beer is the goal.
I've had a bottle in the the fridge for so long (it was a gift and I couldn't be arsed to drink it) it had gone out of date. It's a nice day today so I thought I should open it and try it. Sadly it doesn't get better with age.
it is mainly indeed due to the water quality. Jupiler once produced in an other location in Belgium with local water, and it tasted completely different than the normal Jupiler
I don’t think the U.K. variant of San Miguel is too bad to be honest. I absolutely don’t doubt that the Spanish-brewed ‘original’ is better, but this certainly - in my opinion, anyway - the equivalent of Belgian v.s. U.K. Stella Artois
I’m glad you are doing this as I have been saying this for years. It should be illegal to even imply that British brewed foreign beers are connected or akin to there real counter parts. Its a discrace and dodgy. I have been searching out real overseas beer in the UK for over forty years and it becomes harder and harder.
It's not just UK copies of foreign beers being disappointing, here in Australia the copies are also disappointing. Peroni, Heineken, Stella Artois and Carlsberg are sometimes listed as "imported beers" even when they are brewed in Australia and there is a noticeable difference in taste - that's the reason that I found this video. Even a beer that was brewed for years in my city was finally brewed in another city when our brewery closed down and immediately tasted different. Surely with current technology we could duplicate a beer? I think the brewers aren't trying hard enough, relying on the name to sell their copies. As a mate told me once, there are no bad beers, but some are better than others.
So true Simon. I come to Spain to enjoy the beers - their Sanmiguel has a better taste and mouth feel - it is a different product. The only similarity is the marketed bottle label !!
I have to say I believe it is partly due to the water, what you have to remember is these foreign beers were developed with local water and made to work with that, the British version is made with water it was not ever designed to use hence the taste difference to a degree, that and the altering of the ABV which is likely cost related and so uses inferior ingredients etc, and would suspect the same would happen in reverse were they to try to brew some of the British beers in these countries, these things were developed in the original areas as they suited what they have available and so do not usually work when brewed elsewhere, the big breweries have ruined plenty of Brit beers by moving them to another location within the UK so obviously location and water alone has a huge impact on taste
Strength differences are probably down to excise duty rates , also brewers gave assurances to government to reduce alcohol strength hence Stella is now down to 4.5% where it was 5.2 % back in the 80s
Correct me if I’m wrong. But it’s the norm for brewers to adjust water ph and mineral content for the beer they are brewing. I’d assume with such a macro beer they would adjust the water to be practically the same wherever they brew. Otherwise the scope for difference would be much more noticeable surely.
You’re saying something has to change and I agree with you. I love proper Belgian and German brewed beer but most people I know just want cheap. That’s what it comes down to. Sorry to say
The ABV variation from the Continental versions is just plain weird. The differences in Alcohol strangth will make nearly bugger all difference to the cost as no major thresholds are affected (and even they do not make that much difference to beer costs, just to VERY strong, over 8.4% Ciders)
Uk brewed beer pretending to be imported REALLY winds me up and has for decades. Thing is, I think we can brew decent lagers in the UK… there are smaller breweries that manage to do it well, so can it really just be water? I am not convinced… I think it is more to do with cost / perceived consumer preferences. The microbrew revolution has shown that “we” don’t want the tasteless bitters of the 70’s / 80’s. I hope there is a similar change for lager as proper lager is amazing I am always scouring the labels for any “brewed under licence in the UK” and will avoid at all costs, just grim. I am glad you can get Budvar and Pilsner Urquell relatively easily these days around here.
San Miguel has developed from a brewery to a giant conglomerate in the Philippines with numerous businesses from food and beverage to power generation. It set up a brewery in Hong Kong in the 1950s. I was lucky to receive a San Miguel scholarship to support my university education. They invited me to visit their brewery and have lunch there, of course with beer. The beer I drunk in the brewery was unpasteurized draught beer. The taste is so wonderful (creamy, full of malt sweetness and hop fragrance) that I still remember clearly now (despite 38 years later!) and use it as a benchmark for evaluating other lager beers. Sadly, the quality of San Miguel in HK has declined after relocation of its brewery to mainland China. It has become just another industrial lager beer, though it is still much better than the cheap Chinese beers in HK market (except Tsingtao beer, to be fair).
20 years ago my regular drink was Holsten pils in a bottle. Was always great at 5.2%. One day I noticed it tasted off, after looking at the bottle the ABV was 5.0% and brewed in the UK. Never drank it again, it was ruined. In pubs I drink Guinness and polish beer at home, never UK made rubbish
They get away with it because, unlike Belgium where each beer has its own individual glass and a wide variety of tastes, a large majority of British drinkers are merely interested in necking as much as possible in as short a time as possible, to the point where they would happily drink cold piss out of a bucket as long as it got them fighting drunk!
I love the UK brewed San Miguel...provided if it is from a bottle. The can version is no where near as good. I have also had the Filipino version. Also very nice. Not tried the Spannish version.
They’ve been reducing the ABV for years. I remember the piss water stuff that Heineken used to sell, launched the proper stuff as ‘premium’ but the damage has already been done to my tastebuds! Try and avoid the mass produced stuff if possible although I did have a half decent pint of Fosters but that’s only because it was really cold and a hot day!
Poretti is another one, initially imported from Italy , now brewed at Charles Wells brewery. It's the water that makes it great. I maybe a bit biased as my father in law worked there !!
Another example of a once great imported beer being ruined beyond all recognition is Becks which is now brewed In the UK, 4% tasteless yellow water, although if you hunt around you can still get the 5% real deal in some corner shops or online.
I *think* one of the reasons the ABV is lower on UK brewed beers is the general attitude towards “higher” ABV beers. If you’re a general beer drinker and not into craft, anything above 5% is seen as a really high percentage, and you’re more likely to get really drunk/have a hangover. The amount of times I’ve seen people see a 6% IPA and say something along the lines of “oh that’s a strong beer, I’d be on the floor later”. To people who drink craft beer, the higher ABV doesn’t really bother us. The difference between 5% and 6% isn’t that much. Most beer drinkers would rather stick to their 4-5% ABV beers.
I used to buy this in one litre bottles,in Tesco years ago. Was that Spanish brewed? The current UK version is not the same as those big bottles and I suspect they were imported.
I would love someone to mass produce a proper lager here in the UK, a new brand brewed to the same standards as say a German lager. Find the best quality water supply in the UK, set up a large brewery near the source and produce a proper beer Brits can be proud to drink.
I think Camden Hells is the closest we have to that. I don’t actually like the beer when poured into a glass, but drinking straight from a 330ml bottle is tastes like a proper German beer. Strange.
It's all the shit our privatised water companies are dumping into our water. You can't clean it completely. The shareholders do not drink British drinks. As for water, I expect they drink Perrier. I blame the nanny state Conservative Party for the alcohol tax and privatising the water companies in the first place. I also blame the brewers for being too freakin' greedy. Say NO to British beer.
Don't think the majority of the UK population that drink UK brewed continental lagers realise that they are actually inferior. I didn't even know until watching you. I'm not a Stella lover and I can just about drink San Miguel and now I'd love to try the real brewed stuff.
We do the same with all brands in the UK....Orangeboom, Red Stripe, Becks even some of the Polish brands....we are only interested in trends....get them hooked on a trendy premium, then lower the quality and cash in....then move on...look at sports brands....very few are owned by the original companies
Ah one major item with spanish and lating america plus brazil . they have family size bottles . sitting around in a cantina , dinner table or patio and poor from a 2 liter bottle.
I think its because this beer is made on a spreadsheet, they know if they spend X amount on advertising, pumping it out in a 2 for £9 deal, spending Y amount on actually making the beer, they'll make more money than if they were to either, A import the genuine article, or B make a decent lager in the first place. I really loathe these kind of beers, that make you think you're buying a continental lager, when it's largely all brewed at carlsberg UK in northhampton.
One of the reasons we put up with it, is because there is almost nothing left on the supermarket shelves to buy. Its all the same slop. Even Staropramen, a fine czech beer, is brewed in a big vat somewhere in Englan by Carlsberg. I spent some time the other day trying to find a single decent lager in Sainsburys. They stopped doing Urquell and Budvar. Not a single foreign lager available that was brewed where it claimed to come from. I now have to make 12 mile round triips to asda to buy Urquell, as there are no other options. Back to the Perfect draft machine tbh.
Staropramen is a classic example. One of my favourite lager pilseners when it was first introduced to the UK, then within a year or two it was replaced with the UK brewed equivalent. It's not always the case but in this instance I instantly realised it was a different beer i was now drinking and one look at the label confirmed it. Never bothered with the stuff again.
Correct me if im wrong, but isn't the main reason we have the problem here with inferior beer and ABV lowered is purely because of tax reasons for the breweries? I can remember the stella of the 90s 5.2% and the golden standard for lager was usually 5% that is now lowered in most. The other day ive read that Carlsberg Pilsner is now being lowered to 3.4%, even at its original 3.8% that's not pilsner strength or taste
This is brilliant. I have been thinking this for years. The UK brewed beers are much inferior for reasons we can only guess: poorer quality control, cheaper hops / base ingredients, looking to increase profit margin further etc etc. Please also check Heinekin. Heinekin bottles in the supermarket used to always be dutch. Now they've become 'brewed in the UK and Netherlands' which essentially means 'we brew Heineken in the UK and we also brew it in Netherlands'. No information about that bottle's exact origin. It would be great if you could get one of these bottles from tesco and try it against a dutch Heinekin. The difference is night and day
I don't really know why they're different but guessing Tax reasons and for what ever reasons more expensive in the Uk market. It's always better drinking abroad you go into bars and they are more liberal with their shots etc seems in the UK we are always ripped off. Then again without being horrible they know the average consumer of San Miguel is just going to neck it and not care. When you think cans of Carling can still be sold in the UK it makes sense lol.
Hi, just letting you know that Morrisons and I believe Sainsbury's sell Dutch brewed Heineken 330ml x 6 cans. Just in case you wanted to do a UK Heineken vs Netherlands Heineken beer battle in the future?
Spanish 5.4% San Miguel was available in Tesco in boxes of 330ml cans for a brief period when UK pubs were closed in 2020 or 2021. Very nice indeed, way better than UK brewed. Then again as an ale drinker even UK brewed San Miguel is an ok lager if there is nothing else on in the pub.
Inferior lager is sadly one of the least depressing things about the UK in 2023. & I speak as an occasional lager enthusiast 🤦🏼♀️ I suggest a visit to a decent Polish shop
Another great video, I worked in Germany and France for many years, when I came home for family visits I always had a sour stomach after drinking UK equivellents. Yes you need to go to Munich great beers, also try Bremen for the Becks another completely different beer there, in Dusseldorph I developed a great fondness for the Alt, people don't realise the Continent is not only Pilsners.....
I'm with you all the way Simon. There's just no excuse for the shite these multi-national brewers dump on the British public. Again, I used to love San Miguel before it was brewed in Basildon.
Basildon tells you all you need to no the water quality down there is shocking l remember having cups of tea in London it always had a scum on it.
Simon, they water the beer down in Britain because the UK breweries know that Brits are stupid and will accept being ripped-off. What's more amazing is that the UK government allows UK brewers to pass-off watered-down beer as the 'original', continental product. A bit like selling a Ford Festa, advertised as a Ferrari.
Loving the UK brewed comparison videos. Agree with you completely, the UK brewed under license stuff is terrible. I am sure, like has probably been mentioned, it was because the excise duty paid was more when the abv was higher. Things deemed harmful to health by the government are taxed according to weight or volume and alcohol comes into that category. The brewers had to cut the abv in the UK to keep their profits up. Could be the quality of the water and other ingredients too but i think the excise duty started it.
canada has done the same, bought the brewing rights for some euro beers. i guess tradition and heritage can be bought
I was thinking along these lines but because of the tax on sugar. It’s the same with whiskey the standards are so bad right now.
Pilsner Urquell has 4.4% ABV and is excellent beer. There's really no excuse for brewing weaker versions and have them taste horrible.
Only reason min pricing introduced is cus a small minority in uk cant moderate consumption - few ruinn it for the many as always in this nanny state of a place
It's not just the strength though. The under license stuff in the UK just tastes awful at any strength. It's a lower quality product all round.
I used to holiday quite extensively in the USA and developed a taste for Sam Adams Boston Lager and was pretty chuffed when they started importing selling it in the UK.
About 4-5 years ago I bought a few bottles and upon open opening was shocked at how utterly bland it was. Upon reading the label, the reason became obvious " Brewed in the UK under licence by Shepherd Neame".
Needless to say, I haven't bought any more since.
Yep and Brooklyn Lager went the same way. Used to enjoy the imported 355ml bottles, but now brewed by bloody Carlsberg!
Went to Boston many years ago and visited the Sam Adams brewery, the beer was fantastic.
Totally agree on Brooklyn, stopped drinking when Carlsberg started producing it.
Same with Red Stripe, tastes like Heineken because Heineken make it now uk
San Miguel has got two breweries in Spain, one is in the Northern part of the country and the other is one is in the city of Malaga, in the southern part of the country. The brewery is located right next to the road that leads to the airport. When you ride past it you can smell the aromas that come free from the chimneys of the brewery. So when you just landed on Malaga airport and you’re riding in the car to start your holiday you’ll be greated by the aromas from San Miguel which are being released from the chimneys of the brewery.
I wonder if the North and South brews are different?
@@johnhebenton1525 Me too, I honestly don’t know that.
That is what the smell at Malaga airport was
@@OscarOSullivan Yes, that’s it.
@@Jannes-pj4cd Haven’t been there since I was 11
You need to do a blind test so that any bias is eliminated. 👍🏻
100%
The blind taste test sounds like a good idea. New series incoming
No blind test needed the UK San Mig is just crap , I only buy it if im really desperate and no other beers are available then i will sit at a garden party nursing it all day LOL
@@Cayres9 then surely a blind test should be a piece of cake?
@@Cayres9 👍🏻
Yes San Miguel was originally from the Philippines when they were under Spanish rule for around 400 years. I remember being out there in 1998 when a 500ml bottle was the equivalent of 7 pence. A coke was 11 pence
Wow that's cheap! I lived in Spain 1998-9 and the supermarkets used to sell chilled 1 litre screwtop glass bottles of San Miguel for 100 pesetas, which was 40p.
I’m from Canada, wife is from Philippines. Last time we were there San Miguel bottle was around 40 Philippine pesos which is around 1 Canadian dollar. We get ripped off here in Canada and UK probably the USA too. I can buy a 6 pack of San Miguel here for around 16-17 dollars. 6 bottles in the Philippines would cost me around 5-6 dollars.
They also have a beer called Red Horse. It’s 8% ABV goes for 10-20 pesos more than a regular San Miguel. 3-4 of those and the horse starts kicking in lol great stuff. Man I miss the Philippines! I plan on retiring there, life is just different there, no stress etc. drinking a few ice cold beers during a hot sunset there is the way to live.
@@brdphl Tax.
The worst thing about this is that these big corporate breweries like AB inbev, Marstons etc have no incentives to improve the beers as the everyday consumer will drink any old dross with an alcohol content. I feel it's a British cultural issue, they would not be able to get away with this in Belgium/Germany as they would lose all their consumers. Tragic really when people choose this stuff over quality, less well-known breweries. Consumerism at its finest.
Anglo sphere cultural issue Ireland included around food and drink
Have you heard about Ringwood and Jenning’s
for me the biggest problem with UK brewed beer is the chemical aftertaste from over use of chemicals in the cleaning process. most people don't notice but I can taste it every time. rather than take their time to clean everything naturally they try to speed up the process of pipe cleaning by using aggressive chemicals. I grew up in pubs (my dad was a landlord for years) and there most crucial part of getting a good beer was the cleaning process in-between barrels, get it right and you have a beautiful beer - get it wrong and you get a lot of angry customers!
Thanks some breweries don’t allow publicans or pub managers to clean the lines anymore Guinness is one such example at least in Ireland
@@OscarOSullivan I can see why they would do that - badly maintained lines will damage the reputation of the brewery!
@@grahamhanks906 It means more consistency at the expensive of great pubs for pints vs terrible ones
One reason British San Miguel is 5.0% as opposed to 5.4% is that the brewery can put about 8% more water in the brew; by the tonne, that's a lot of money saved over the year.
That also explains why the British brew is lighter, even if they are supposed to be using the same recipe otherwise.
Hi Simon, I'm so glad that you have finally got round to these cheats lagars that are brewed here in the UK! Three years ago I stopped buying Corona because I bought a box thinking it was brewed in Mexico. I opened it, took out a bottle, and swigged it! This big metallic taste hit my tongue and it was vile. I looked on the side of the box and some of the Spanish words had been replaced with "Brewed under licence in the UK ". My wife is Mexican and I visit there regularly, so I know that what I should of tasted was a nettle/ slightly herbal taste, this other stuff had none of that! Over the months I have noticed other brands with "Brewed under licence "popping up everywhere! I think you will sadly be making a part 3,4 5,10 etc videos before something gets done! Keep up the good work and I hope a campaign is brought up to make people more aware of this, as I believe people clearly don't realise! 🍻🍻
Hi Gaza, looks like we need a Campaign for Real Imported Lager! You can see from my comment that I feel the same as you and Simon.
@Peter M Hi Peter, it great that you also feel this way in what is a very important and shocking miss Trust of these companies! I hope that Simon reads this and uses his great influence to get the ball rolling! Kind regards, Gaza.
@@drumz9 Thanks mate!
'......... What I should OF tasted'. How about 'Should'VE tasted'. Your English is as abysmal as your taste in beers!
So pleased you doing these comparisons. I’m so lucky to have shop walking distance from my house that sells Spanish San Miguel. Done many side by sides of this and other cheat lagers.
Please try and do the one that’s under the radar for most, Heineken.
If you go get a 4 pack of 440ml cans, then go to any supermarket and grab a 6 pack of the 330ml cans.
The 440ml cans are UK brewed, the 330ml cans are Dutch brewed.
I never buy any other Heineken than the 330ml cans. It’s more malt sweetness, and less bitter twang. A much more well balanced beer even though both are 5%.
Heineken are now just recently short changing UK consumers with their role out of 4.6% Cruzcampo. Haven’t tried it yet, but just another example of this BS.
The worst one by far that I have tried is UK Amstel Vs Dutch. Horrific.
Keep ‘em coming!
Totally agree on the UK brewed Amstel, that stuff is absolutely dreadful! Far better over in the Netherlands
Can’t agree more completely different drink😮
They had Spanish 5.4% on sale in some uk supermarkets during COVID, I guess excess stock diverted from non existent visitors to Spain. Nice drop in summer, that I took advantage of when i could, enjoying quite a few x24 cases over those strange times 😊
Beamish in Irish Wetherspoons is weaker at 4 percent abv to the regular 4.3 percent it is awful
San miguel was on offer in tesco last week. I haven't had it for ages so thought I'd pick up a 10 pack for £8. I thought it tasted absolutely awful. I had 2 cans and then gave the rest away. When it comes to Lager, anything English brewed is terrible. I'll be sticking to Victoria Malaga and Budvar or Pilsner Urquell.
great choices of lager , I go for the same
That statement is based on ignorance and unwillingness to seek out some great English ( Welsh and Scottish too) lagers.
@@heiltd1286 believe me I have tried over the years. We just don't have the quality of water here to brew good lager. And all of our big brewing companies are more bothered about penny pinching than actually producing a decent beer. Czechs and Germans know what they're doing when it comes to Lager
@@MattyHalsall Windsor And Eton do a damned good lager. So does Rebellion. Also Thornbridge Lager I've tried and liked. Sam Smith's Pure Brewed is fine too.
@@heiltd1286 They're probably alright but they don't have the centuries of experience which continental breweries have so it's difficult to know if they're any good. Plus no purity law here.
The average UK punter will drink whatever crap is available in the pub. I struggle to drink in most pubs due to rubbish they serve and when i make comments on how bad these beers are i get called a snob 😂
Same here! Heaven forbid we should want to drink something that actually tastes good!
Hence the popularity if Carlsberg, Carling, Stella and Fosters.
All UK brewed foreign beers(barring Carling), all poor imititations of the orignal, which in the case of Fosters and Carlsberg wasn't any good in the first place and 3 of them extremely weak sub 4.0% alc content.
It's kind of ironic these beers(and Strongbow) are the staple for the 'lads out on the piss/football fan' crowd when you condsider you have to drink gallons of the stuff to actually get p****ed.
@@Coxy-b34 Actually Carling is brewed in South Africa too, I think it's 5.5%. It's not bad but not as good as Windhoek from Namibia, or Castle.
The UK has a nation of pub drinkers who will accept ANYTHING as long as its cheap enough. Lets face it, look at the utter bilge and totally devoid of flavours we find in 99% of uk pubs. Fosters 3.4% abv ? John Smiths smooth 3.6% Coors lite should not even be called a beer, fizzy water around 3.4% Bud lite oh dear lord, 3.5%? And many more industrial tasteless fizz. This reason is why so many of our drinkers can drink all day long until around 10pm when they suddenly become drunk, then when they go abroad they are pissed by 2pm because they are drinking far superior beers at their original ABV, Stella UK 4.6% Belgium Stella far far superior at 5.2% but our drinkers do not care the fact of quality that becomes affected by the lower abv, less malt base, cheaper malts, cheaper hops and less of them etc. It is the Temperance mindset of British politicians who think that putting extra tax on beers over 5% abv will discourage drinkers, it only discourages the ones who don't care for quality. Germany, Belgium, Chec republic all celebrate and cherish their brewers and beers, protect them, proud of them. What our politicians should have done is target the park bench beers that are ridiculously strong but nasty like the Polish mass produced beers or White lightening Cider (that has never seen a single apple).
Very well put, although in Scotland and Wales they do hammer the park bench beverages and rightly so.
A 2.5 litre bottle of Frosty Jacks is about £11 compared to England where its only £4.50 in Iceland, pure poison in a bottle.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Bud Light. 🏳🌈
Nowt reyt with it either.
It's like making love in a boat. Effing next to water!
So its the state regulation?
Simon this is your best rant yet! so many people used to doing what they're told and to not complain
I get your general point about continental lagers being weakened in UK, but I actually find San Miguel to be one of the better ones - bready, with a very slight hint of liquorice; very well balanced too. At 5% it's still a strong lager.
It's by far the best of the supermarket lagers
Yeah - it isn't anywhere near as good as the Spanish brewed San Miguel, but it is definitely the best of a bad lot in my opinion, when it comes to lagers I can get chilled from the fridge from my local Tesco Express.
It's crap from the U.K. find an importer, pay more.
@@elvingtonred Nah, as far as supermarket lagers go, it's tip-top. I like it 👌
What about the Polish lagers we get Polish lager in Ireland
I think you're right about the water. I don't think UK water is necessarily inferior, but different types of water are better for certain styles of beer. Even with modern water treatment I think this still holds true. The lower ABV is almost certainly a cost cutting measure. They either use a lower original gravity in the wort or simply dilute the beer with water...
It's not just the water. It's inferior ingredients and brewing methods as well.
@@TeamCGS2005 For sure. But it would make a difference if they sourced good soft mountain water to brew these inferior copies.
Always remember seeing San Miguel travelling from Malaga to my destination at 10 years old. Would of loved to have seen Stella unfiltered included in the previous video.
I agree 100% its so effin' frustrating. And its been going on for years because the British public accept it. It will never change until we say no more. We want the same quality beer as our continental cousins. And not even abroad. Look how the big conglomerates has virtually destroyed the quality of Newcastle Brown ale. Its just beyond me???
I can highly recommend Munich - lived there for a year and a bit - didn't speak German when I arrived and lived off Milka chocolate and tins of Lowenbrau. Got into it quite quickly. You need to visit three times, at least, though. Once for the spring festival, once in the summer - beer in the English garden, and on a cold snowy weekend - walk in to the Augustiner keller and order a dunkel beer. Divine. Great food too. Ah, can't sing its praises enough. Oktoberfest is fun too, but not sure what it's like now (this was end of the 1980s, it was all rotisserie chickens and bulls on spits - great fun - and singing in the tents - oh, ok, that's a fourth visit.)
When anyone in the UK gets a contract to produce anything not homed in the UK. The first thing they do is cut the cost of making it, then excuse this as adjusting the product for UK palates.
Simon the water quality in Scotland is incredible, And I think that shows with Innis and Gunn. And another one of my favourites, Arran blonde beer.
I don't know if you've tried Arran Blonde. You should try it.
A few years ago, I went on holiday to Barcelona and drank several little cans of San Miguel because I loved the novelty of buying it from a vending machine. To my amazement, it was delicious. And when I arrived home, I ordered a lovely pint of draught San Miguel.
😢
When in Munich you should definitely try the Augustiner in a beer garden draught from a huge wooden barrel. It will blow your mind.
E. g. Hirschgarten (they serve Helles) or Augustiner Keller (they have Edelstoff).
The Augustiner on tap in the Stammhaus in the centre is also from wooden barrels. Go to the self-service area, there you can eat your own food as well, or buy the beer garden specialities. My personal favourite is the Bavarian grease bread, or Schmalzbrot, it's the best foundation to the beer :)
The oak cask adds to the flavour. No bottled beer is anywhere near. Also, the atmosphere in the beer garden, the smell of the fish on a stick or the Bratwurst and theat of the chestnut trees add to the beer aroma, which makes it an unforgattable experience.
I always stick too Pilsner Urquell as it’s the only imported beer I can find in the supermarkets, great beer!
You referred to the 25cl bottle as a 25ml bottle and did the same in the Stella review lol. That would be a couple of table spoons worth of beer 😅🤣
San Miguel was founded in 1890 by a Spaniard, Enrique Maria Baretto, through the grant of a Spanish Royal Charter when the Philippines were a Spanish colony, so its origins are colonial Spanish. Never really went for this one as the Spanish version, though tasty, is too strong for me and the UK version is well, meh! I prefer the less strong Spanish export lagers like Estrella Damm (4.6%) and Estrella Galicia (4.7%) which are still Spanish brewed. Good to drink at this time of year. So glad you are doing this - we need to highlight how British drinkers are being treated like fools through fake "foreign" beers brewed here which are nothing like the original in the home country. Main reason is our huge duty on strong beer making multinational brewers brew a weaker version for the UK market and skimp on quality through fast and cheap brewing methods.
Thank god for Google eh
@@ste9430 yep the source of all wisdom and knowledge! 😂
@@peterm7548 👍😂😂😂
Brilliant review . Agree with every word . I’m stuck too as my daughter doing GCSEs this year . Why is everything dumbed down , it’s so frustrating…. Need to get out and experience a sunnier life with better beer 🍺
I had a pint of Stella in California some years ago 3% reply was when I asked if someone had pissed in the barrel The surprised reply was gee thats a strong beer sir. So much for Uncle Sam.
I agree, it's the water quality. San Miguel Manila brewery uses dam water vs San Miguel in the province using spring water, what a difference.
Ha! Great rant, thank you. I'm lucky enough to live in Devon so can go shopping in France easier than most Britons. I get real lagers there and in between I get what few European lagers there are here that are not UK brewed. You can't just move to Germany any more though since "that which dare not be mentioned"! (I might well be in France now otherwise.) This time I got La Goudale 250ml bottles for about 50p each, great stuff. I think only Morrisons sell it here, and it's the real thing but over £2 for the same. Worth a try if you're stuck in Blighty. I also brought back Kronenbourg 500ml cans at 5.5%, 7.2% and 9% abv. Cheap as well. Yeah!!!
Many UK brewed continental lagers are terrible, and Stella is probably the worst. But that just isn't true of San Miguel which is perfectly good quality.
Thanks to you Simon i will no longer drink British brewed lager beers, Aldi Steinhauser, Krombacker, Estrella Galicia, always exported stuff, And i find i do not get those beer headaches i used to get drinking British brewed pub crap
I was posted to Borneo as a soldier, San Mig was the drink in Hong Kong and certain parts of Malaysia which had a Filipino population like Labuan in Borneo, a tax free island inhabited by oil workers and ladies of the night. San Mig pale pilsen cost about 20p a bottle in places and was good. I told a couple of RAF throbbers that it was from the Philippines, but they didn’t believe me, that was back in 2007!
Great review Simon, just proves quality is just a taste away, people need to try the real thing
because its all about price point for Brits, they'll drink anything if its cheap - quality doesn't come into it. Not all Brits mind you, but the majority I reckon
But San Miguel in Spain is cheaper than any of the mass brewed UK lagers
@@JuiceTerry87 one word. Tax
This is particularly interesting to me as I grew up in British-controlled Hong Kong, and San Miguel was brewed in Hong Kong under licence from the Philippines. And yet whilst Filipino San Mig, which we could get in some bars and supermarkets, was great, the Hong Kong brewed San Mig (or "Sun Lik" as the locals called it, hence the name of that beer you occasionally find in Chinese restaurants here) was dire. Truly awful. Not as bad as Budweiser, obviously, but still awful. So we drank locally brewed Carlsberg and Lowenbrau instead.
GF put me onto you Sir. FAAAAAR superior judgement and I concur and clapped so many times during your vids. I'm old skool, worked at many gigs in the 90s trade fair. Spotting San and Stella when I've said it for years makes me feel so much better. I shall becaome an avid watcher. Peace and love big yin. x
Isn't it 5% as beers above that in the UK attract a higher tax??
Tax is just a poor excuse. They dropped it to lower brewing time and save money. They dropped Stella to 4.8%, no one complained, so not being completely stupid, they dropped it to 4.6%. I expect it'll be 3.8% in a couple of years. It our fault for being stupid. It's simple to correct, just don't by any British beer, they're having a laugh.
@@Doupyourflies Hurray, somebody else gets it.
Hi. The thresholds are at 3.5% and 8.5% , So the variations that occur in the ABV as in this video will make very little effect on the price.
Love the channel. Have to ask why does everything look warm :). I always like my beer looking like Ice Cold in Alex. I do think chasing the water sports in the sun and great beer is the goal.
I've had a bottle in the the fridge for so long (it was a gift and I couldn't be arsed to drink it) it had gone out of date. It's a nice day today so I thought I should open it and try it. Sadly it doesn't get better with age.
it is mainly indeed due to the water quality. Jupiler once produced in an other location in Belgium with local water, and it tasted completely different than the normal Jupiler
I don’t think the U.K. variant of San Miguel is too bad to be honest. I absolutely don’t doubt that the Spanish-brewed ‘original’ is better, but this certainly - in my opinion, anyway - the equivalent of Belgian v.s. U.K. Stella Artois
Loving this series mate. Thanks again.
I’m glad you are doing this as I have been saying this for years. It should be illegal to even imply that British brewed foreign beers are connected or akin to there real counter parts. Its a discrace and dodgy. I have been searching out real overseas beer in the UK for over forty years and it becomes harder and harder.
Given how Lucas electrics was able to keep going on the way they did I am not surprised this is happening
It's not just UK copies of foreign beers being disappointing, here in Australia the copies are also disappointing. Peroni, Heineken, Stella Artois and Carlsberg are sometimes listed as "imported beers" even when they are brewed in Australia and there is a noticeable difference in taste - that's the reason that I found this video.
Even a beer that was brewed for years in my city was finally brewed in another city when our brewery closed down and immediately tasted different. Surely with current technology we could duplicate a beer? I think the brewers aren't trying hard enough, relying on the name to sell their copies. As a mate told me once, there are no bad beers, but some are better than others.
When I tried euro Stella in 2001 I realised what crap is brewed for the UK market and our supposed "taste preferences." It's complete horsehockey.
So true Simon. I come to Spain to enjoy the beers - their Sanmiguel has a better taste and mouth feel - it is a different product. The only similarity is the marketed bottle label !!
I have to say I believe it is partly due to the water, what you have to remember is these foreign beers were developed with local water and made to work with that, the British version is made with water it was not ever designed to use hence the taste difference to a degree, that and the altering of the ABV which is likely cost related and so uses inferior ingredients etc, and would suspect the same would happen in reverse were they to try to brew some of the British beers in these countries, these things were developed in the original areas as they suited what they have available and so do not usually work when brewed elsewhere, the big breweries have ruined plenty of Brit beers by moving them to another location within the UK so obviously location and water alone has a huge impact on taste
I drink ordinary bitters saves all the pretence, and I have found I prefer beer that does not have to be drunk cold to kill the taste !
Strength differences are probably down to excise duty rates , also brewers gave assurances to government to reduce alcohol strength hence Stella is now down to 4.5% where it was 5.2 % back in the 80s
Correct me if I’m wrong. But it’s the norm for brewers to adjust water ph and mineral content for the beer they are brewing. I’d assume with such a macro beer they would adjust the water to be practically the same wherever they brew. Otherwise the scope for difference would be much more noticeable surely.
You’re saying something has to change and I agree with you. I love proper Belgian and German brewed beer but most people I know just want cheap. That’s what it comes down to. Sorry to say
Just watched a couple of your videos brilliant 👍🏻 are you from Wrexham by any chance?
The ABV variation from the Continental versions is just plain weird. The differences in Alcohol strangth will make nearly bugger all difference to the cost as no major thresholds are affected (and even they do not make that much difference to beer costs, just to VERY strong, over 8.4% Ciders)
Uk brewed beer pretending to be imported REALLY winds me up and has for decades.
Thing is, I think we can brew decent lagers in the UK… there are smaller breweries that manage to do it well, so can it really just be water? I am not convinced… I think it is more to do with cost / perceived consumer preferences.
The microbrew revolution has shown that “we” don’t want the tasteless bitters of the 70’s / 80’s. I hope there is a similar change for lager as proper lager is amazing
I am always scouring the labels for any “brewed under licence in the UK” and will avoid at all costs, just grim.
I am glad you can get Budvar and Pilsner Urquell relatively easily these days around here.
Totally agree. We Brits have been bent over and stuffed with shite the mega breweries have told us we should drink. surely this is a crime?
I had a San Miguel and a Coffee, waiter service in Gran Canaria last year both excellent quality and under 6 euros.
San Miguel has developed from a brewery to a giant conglomerate in the Philippines with numerous businesses from food and beverage to power generation. It set up a brewery in Hong Kong in the 1950s. I was lucky to receive a San Miguel scholarship to support my university education. They invited me to visit their brewery and have lunch there, of course with beer. The beer I drunk in the brewery was unpasteurized draught beer. The taste is so wonderful (creamy, full of malt sweetness and hop fragrance) that I still remember clearly now (despite 38 years later!) and use it as a benchmark for evaluating other lager beers. Sadly, the quality of San Miguel in HK has declined after relocation of its brewery to mainland China. It has become just another industrial lager beer, though it is still much better than the cheap Chinese beers in HK market (except Tsingtao beer, to be fair).
20 years ago my regular drink was Holsten pils in a bottle. Was always great at 5.2%. One day I noticed it tasted off, after looking at the bottle the ABV was 5.0% and brewed in the UK. Never drank it again, it was ruined. In pubs I drink Guinness and polish beer at home, never UK made rubbish
They get away with it because, unlike Belgium where each beer has its own individual glass and a wide variety of tastes, a large majority of British drinkers are merely interested in necking as much as possible in as short a time as possible, to the point where they would happily drink cold piss out of a bucket as long as it got them fighting drunk!
I love the UK brewed San Miguel...provided if it is from a bottle. The can version is no where near as good.
I have also had the Filipino version. Also very nice.
Not tried the Spannish version.
They’ve been reducing the ABV for years. I remember the piss water stuff that Heineken used to sell, launched the proper stuff as ‘premium’ but the damage has already been done to my tastebuds!
Try and avoid the mass produced stuff if possible although I did have a half decent pint of Fosters but that’s only because it was really cold and a hot day!
Poretti is another one, initially imported from Italy , now brewed at Charles Wells brewery. It's the water that makes it great. I maybe a bit biased as my father in law worked there !!
I totally agree. However,if you don't know the difference, you don'tknow what you are missing.
Part 2, Why Is UK Brewed Continental Lager So Bad? UK Brew Craft Beer Reviews Vs Spanish Brewed San Miguel louis shirley
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Another example of a once great imported beer being ruined beyond all recognition is Becks which is now brewed In the UK, 4% tasteless yellow water, although if you hunt around you can still get the 5% real deal in some corner shops or online.
I *think* one of the reasons the ABV is lower on UK brewed beers is the general attitude towards “higher” ABV beers. If you’re a general beer drinker and not into craft, anything above 5% is seen as a really high percentage, and you’re more likely to get really drunk/have a hangover. The amount of times I’ve seen people see a 6% IPA and say something along the lines of “oh that’s a strong beer, I’d be on the floor later”.
To people who drink craft beer, the higher ABV doesn’t really bother us. The difference between 5% and 6% isn’t that much.
Most beer drinkers would rather stick to their 4-5% ABV beers.
It’s to do with how alcohol content is taxed but English drinking culture probably comes into their popularity! Can’t drink 10 pints of a 6% beer
They water the beer down in Britain because it lowers costs. Water is cheaper than barley, malt and hops, get it?
@@nigelwatson2750 I said one of the reasons. Not the only reason.
I used to buy this in one litre bottles,in Tesco years ago. Was that Spanish brewed? The current UK version is not the same as those big bottles and I suspect they were imported.
Guinness bottles sold in Spain, are brewed in Belgium.
Heineken in Spain is brewed in Saville.
I would love someone to mass produce a proper lager here in the UK, a new brand brewed to the same standards as say a German lager. Find the best quality water supply in the UK, set up a large brewery near the source and produce a proper beer Brits can be proud to drink.
Brewdog do this with Lost Lager. Some other British lagers like Camden Helles and Innis & Gunn are good too.
I think Camden Hells is the closest we have to that.
I don’t actually like the beer when poured into a glass, but drinking straight from a 330ml bottle is tastes like a proper German beer. Strange.
It's all the shit our privatised water companies are dumping into our water. You can't clean it completely. The shareholders do not drink British drinks. As for water, I expect they drink Perrier. I blame the nanny state Conservative Party for the alcohol tax and privatising the water companies in the first place. I also blame the brewers for being too freakin' greedy. Say NO to British beer.
How does the UK Stella compare to the UK San Miguel?
Spot on Simon! Folk there go on about brewdog beer but the u.s. brewed stuff is vile. great review 👍
Don't think the majority of the UK population that drink UK brewed continental lagers realise that they are actually inferior. I didn't even know until watching you. I'm not a Stella lover and I can just about drink San Miguel and now I'd love to try the real brewed stuff.
Previsely how they get away with it
We do the same with all brands in the UK....Orangeboom, Red Stripe, Becks even some of the Polish brands....we are only interested in trends....get them hooked on a trendy premium, then lower the quality and cash in....then move on...look at sports brands....very few are owned by the original companies
Ah one major item with spanish and lating america plus brazil . they have family size bottles . sitting around in a cantina , dinner table or patio and poor from a 2 liter bottle.
We had the 330ml Spanish brewed 5.4 (or 5.6) cans in local to me the year before last, they were lovely.
I think its because this beer is made on a spreadsheet, they know if they spend X amount on advertising, pumping it out in a 2 for £9 deal, spending Y amount on actually making the beer, they'll make more money than if they were to either, A import the genuine article, or B make a decent lager in the first place.
I really loathe these kind of beers, that make you think you're buying a continental lager, when it's largely all brewed at carlsberg UK in northhampton.
It's the same in Ireland, except It's €3.50-5 for one of them bomber bottles in an off license. Ridiculous. We're being robbed
One of the reasons we put up with it, is because there is almost nothing left on the supermarket shelves to buy. Its all the same slop. Even Staropramen, a fine czech beer, is brewed in a big vat somewhere in Englan by Carlsberg. I spent some time the other day trying to find a single decent lager in Sainsburys. They stopped doing Urquell and Budvar. Not a single foreign lager available that was brewed where it claimed to come from. I now have to make 12 mile round triips to asda to buy Urquell, as there are no other options. Back to the Perfect draft machine tbh.
Staropramen is a classic example.
One of my favourite lager pilseners when it was first introduced to the UK, then within a year or two it was replaced with the UK brewed equivalent.
It's not always the case but in this instance I instantly realised it was a different beer i was now drinking and one look at the label confirmed it.
Never bothered with the stuff again.
I only bought UK brewed Staropramen once, never again. Pish.
Correct me if im wrong, but isn't the main reason we have the problem here with inferior beer and ABV lowered is purely because of tax reasons for the breweries? I can remember the stella of the 90s 5.2% and the golden standard for lager was usually 5% that is now lowered in most. The other day ive read that Carlsberg Pilsner is now being lowered to 3.4%, even at its original 3.8% that's not pilsner strength or taste
Once you're awake you can not go back to sleep.
This is brilliant. I have been thinking this for years. The UK brewed beers are much inferior for reasons we can only guess: poorer quality control, cheaper hops / base ingredients, looking to increase profit margin further etc etc. Please also check Heinekin. Heinekin bottles in the supermarket used to always be dutch. Now they've become 'brewed in the UK and Netherlands' which essentially means 'we brew Heineken in the UK and we also brew it in Netherlands'. No information about that bottle's exact origin. It would be great if you could get one of these bottles from tesco and try it against a dutch Heinekin. The difference is night and day
Apparently keeping the abv between 5% and lower in the uk is for tax reasons 👍🏻
I don't really know why they're different but guessing Tax reasons and for what ever reasons more expensive in the Uk market. It's always better drinking abroad you go into bars and they are more liberal with their shots etc seems in the UK we are always ripped off. Then again without being horrible they know the average consumer of San Miguel is just going to neck it and not care. When you think cans of Carling can still be sold in the UK it makes sense lol.
What temperature were they served at?
I've drunk French lagers and they do seem better. eg kronenbourg but not the british versions of those lagers
Hi, just letting you know that Morrisons and I believe Sainsbury's sell Dutch brewed Heineken 330ml x 6 cans. Just in case you wanted to do a UK Heineken vs Netherlands Heineken beer battle in the future?
San Mig light with a lemon in the top in Philippines, lovely refreshing brew
Spanish 5.4% San Miguel was available in Tesco in boxes of 330ml cans for a brief period when UK pubs were closed in 2020 or 2021. Very nice indeed, way better than UK brewed. Then again as an ale drinker even UK brewed San Miguel is an ok lager if there is nothing else on in the pub.
Inferior lager is sadly one of the least depressing things about the UK in 2023.
& I speak as an occasional lager enthusiast 🤦🏼♀️
I suggest a visit to a decent Polish shop
That's a good idea about the Polish shop. I can get decent bread and ham too, something else we can't do properly in the UK.
I believe its brewed at the Carlsberg plant in Northampton.
Why are they allowed to put authentic flavour on the bottom of the label ? Surely that's covered by trade description act !!!
What is the best British-brewed lager?
Another great video, I worked in Germany and France for many years, when I came home for family visits I always had a sour stomach after drinking UK equivellents.
Yes you need to go to Munich great beers, also try Bremen for the Becks another completely different beer there, in Dusseldorph I developed a great fondness for the Alt, people don't realise the Continent is not only Pilsners.....
the main reason why they drop ABV is that you buy and drink less beer when he is stronger. It's marketing.
So they push the public to buy more of the weaker larger, more money and more tax generated
ABV in the uk it can be up to %5.4 before it needs to be shown over 5% on the label.