Heineken master brewer Willem van Waesberghe
By Mike Gerrard
Drinkers in a few pubs in London and Brighton might soon be puzzled if they order a Heineken and the barman replies: “Which one?”
Heineken has been Heineken has been Heineken in British pubs for as long as anyone alive can remember, but soon six pubs will be offering an alternative, H41.
Most British drinkers would be unaware that there’s anything other than the regular Pilsner-style lager beer that is Heineken, sold in 192 countries around the world. The taste remains reliably (some would say boringly) the same, whether you buy it in Adelaide or Zanzibar, but the company does experiment with different brews, although none of them has, until now, made it to the UK.
H41 has been available for some time in the Netherlands, where the company is based, but prior to that it was actually launched in Italy. Italy was chosen because of pizza dough. In Italy, everyone has their own yeast in the cupboard for making pizza dough, the Heineken master brewer, Willem van Waesberghe, told me recently at the company’s base in Amsterdam. And, of course, everyone’s is the best. So they know the different tastes that you can get from different yeasts, making it natural to market H41 there first.
This matters because yeast is the only difference between H41 and the Heineken that has been around for more than 150 years. The recipe for H41 is identical, except for there being a little less water to make the drink stronger (5.3% ABV compared to Heineken’s 5%). All that differs is the yeast. It is being produced in a limited edition and is the first in what the company is calling its Wild Yeast Lager Collection.
The yeast in H41 was found in a beech forest in the Cerro Fitz Roy mountains in southern Patagonia, Argentina. “It grows like a fungus,” Willem said. “It’ss called Cittaria and can be anything from the size of a golf ball to a basketball. They eat it like a fungus, they also ferment it and make a drink out of it. A scientist who was doing a survey of the local habitat found the fungus, knocked it to the ground and kicked it, and thought it smelt alcoholic. He wrote about it in a scientific paper, which came to our attention.”
The master brewer said that he was always experimenting with different yeasts and tastes, but about 80% of the experiments are never sold commercially. Of the rest, most are only sold in the Netherlands, and usually for a limited period.
He said: “This is our biggest departure in terms of flavour profile. It smells a bit spicier, like cloves, and a little like a weissbier. It’s got a very rich taste.”
As I become one of the first few Brits to be flown to Amsterdam and allowed to taste H41 before its UK launch, I have to admit it surprises me. It looks darker, has a more complex smell of spices, nuttiness and citrus, and tastes like a beer any craft brewer would be proud to produce. It’s Heineken, but not as we know it.
Willem said: “And the only difference is the yeast. It is the Game of Yeast!”
Outlets offering H41 within the Laine Pub Company will include:
• Four Thieves, Battersea, London: fourthieves.pub
• The Old Nun’s Head, Peckham, London: theoldnunshead.co.uk
• People’s Park Tavern, Victoria Park, East London: peoplesparktavern.pub
• Great Exhibition, East Dulwich, London: greatexhibition.pub
• North Laine Brewhouse, Brighton: brewedinbrighton.co.uk
• The Hope & Ruin, Brighton: www.hope.pub
Mike Gerrard (pictured above) is an award-winning British travel and drinks writer, an editorial staff writer on the American drinks magazine, Chilled, and a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers — read his profile here
