Heineken Premium Light
By now you’ve probably read Donavan’s review. I’m going to tell you that this will be a review of a different color! Before I start I’ll give you an idea of where I’m coming from in regards to beer. I’m not a big beer drinker. I hate to admit that living in the heart of one of the epicenters of the microbeer revolution, but it’s true.
I drink beer at three primary times: if I’ve participated in a sporting event of some sort, softball, flag football, hiking or back in college just plain drinking beer when that was a sporting event in itself; watching baseball games - I believe it is sacrilegious to drink any other alcoholic beverage at a baseball game unless you happen to be in Phoenix for Spring Training and then all bets are off; or if I’m lying on a beach in Mexico, Jamaica or (insert name of any other tropical country here).
If you look closely you may notice a common theme. I drink beer when I’m thirsty and want something refreshing. Okay, I know! Alcoholic beverages don’t actually quench thirst! But it sure feels like it sometimes, doesn’t it? Anyway, that’s enough. Now you know where I’m coming from.
Having read all of Donavan’s past tasting notes, I thought I’d try to approach this a bit more like he does. I poured my bottle of Heineken Premium Light (HPL) into a chilled glass. I let a head form, although I think I let a little too much form, but I corrected that as I finished the pour.
I don’t know what individual ingredients in beer smell like, so all I can tell you is that this beer smelled pretty much like all lagers smell to me, a bit sharp, I guess, and a little barnyardy. The head was very white, while the beer itself was a pale, golden straw color.
I took a sip and was surprised at how mild the flavor was! Much milder than expected, even for a light beer. But it felt very clean and crisp - very little aftertaste and none of that fuzzy feeling (in your mouth, not from the alcohol!) you sometimes get after having a beer. After a few more sips it seemed I was picking up something almost fruity, but not sweet. Interesting.
Since I always do a food test with wines I thought I’d do one for this, too. I decided to try this beer with some slices of soprasotta, the closest thing to a hotdog or sausage in the house, and with some mixed nuts, something I’m inclined to snack on with nearly any beverage.
I liked it with the soprasotta! The clean taste was great with the spicy, rich salami. Nice. I did not like it at all with the nuts and that surprised me. The nuts brought out some funky undertaste in the beer. No thank you!
In summary, I’d probably drink this beer again, especially if it was offered at one of the above mentioned events. It was refreshing, rather clean tasting and didn’t leave me full. I guess what bothers me just a little is that it almost didn’t seem like beer. For me and the many like me, that’s kind of good but I’m not sure an aficionado would care for it. I guess I’ll have to check Donavan’s post to see what he thought!
