Franck Evers - Heineken Master Pourer

I recently received an invite to a lesson in the "perfectly poured Heineken", given by Franck Evers, their Global ambassador.

Unable to attend the sessions, which sounded like good fun, I took the opportunity to "interview" Mr Evers by email instead, via the PR company responsible for his visit.

I offered four questions, to which he responsed as follows:

AussieBeerBlog: Heineken is available in many formats: draught, DraughtKeg, bottle, cans. Do you vary the pouring approach depending on serving format?

Franck Evers: The Five Star Pour is a draught beer program, so the approach is applied mainly to draught beer in the on premise environment. However, well-served and presented beer is important no matter what format the beer comes in.

ABB: I have used the DraughtKeg for Heineken and Sagres beers. I believe it is a significant advancement on other 5L keg systems. What other beers in Heineken’s portfolio can I expect to see in the Draughtkeg, particularly in Australia ?

FE: The Heineken DraughtKeg technology differs significantly from that of other small ‘kegs’ you will see in the market. It is a fully pressurised draught system that ensures the beer stays fresh and carbonated for 30 days after opening. The Heineken DraughtKeg is a permanent [stock-keeping unit] in Australia and we recently trialled a short run of Sagres through our Dan Murphy’s stores, which sold very well. There are no immediate plans to import other brands from the Heineken portfolio at this stage, but we will continue to investigate opportunities.

ABB: The “Brewed under License” methodology has many advantages, such as freshness and the reduction in transport costs. However, it is a popular opinion in Australia that they are not to the same standard as the original. This is not just for Heineken, but other brands that are brewed under license in Australia. Does the local Heineken recipe undergo “continual improvement” to try and attain an identical match to the original, or has the recipe been locked down ?

FE: Heineken’s recipe is unchanged since 1973 and there is no variation on this, regardless of brewing location. The ingredients used and the brewing process is exactly the same as that in Holland and a Master Brewer is employed at the local brewery full time to ensure each brew meets Heineken’s taste specifications. In addition, samples are sent on a regular basis for testing by our Dutch Master Brewer Panel, who have confirmed every month for the six years we have been locally brewing that they do not detect any difference in taste between Holland-brewed and locally-brewed Heineken. Any difference in taste detected by drinkers is likely because imported Heineken is generally older than locally-brewed product, because it takes 12 weeks to arrive by ship from Holland.

ABB: What has been the market response to the new Heineken bottle ?

FE: Our new K2 bottle has been filtering into the Australian market only since late April this year, but feedback from trade and consumers alike has been overwhelmingly positive. The tactility and grip of the bottle embossing as well as the slimmer body reaffirm Heineken’s quality and give the brand a more contemporary look.

Thanks to Franck for his replies, and to Rory O'Connor at Hill and Knowlton for coordinating this.

Heineken bottle to change

Although surprised to see the Portuguese offering on the doorstep, was doubly so when I received another package.

Courtesy of Heineken again, I received a perspex box, displaying a single bottle of Heineken lager, plus, wait for it, an iPod Touch (8GB version 4.2.1). I thought someone must have accidentally dropped theirs in the package, but no, turns out it's a gift. The public relations consultants Hill and Knowlton are responsible for this drive, as too the Sagres DraughtKeg campaign.  I was approached by one of their Account Executives for my details, as they wished to "send some product" my way. I had no idea what this entailed, and expected a couple of sample bottles and maybe some cheap merchandise.

So, in the last week,  from the Heineken group I have been the recipient of 5.33 litres of beer, a nice wooden box, a nice perspex box, an iPod Touch , and a couple of polite emails.

I feel somewhat obliged to pass some fair comment about the new bottle.  It's a sleek design, with clear plastic labelling as opposed to the traditional paper. It has embossed glass at the rear, making it arguably easier to hold on those slippery nights. Mind you, this is not ground-breaking: Cascade has been doing this for years.

Of interest is the commentary on the back stating The "A-YEAST" ensures every brew of Heineken has a consistent clean crisp taste, and is so precious it's been stored under guard in Holland since 1886. As others have commented (including BrewsNews), there must be some leniency here, as this yeast strain seems to have made its way to Australia. Yep, it's still a brewed-under-licence offering.

It's sleek, it's modern, it's trendy and fashionable. The short movie clip and pictures that came preloaded on the iPod are very trendy too. It says a lot about big brewing marketing strategy..... target the image-conscious young adult.

And what about the bottle content ? I'm leaving mine unopened as a bar curio, but have previously rated Heineken as  C+ / 3.15.  This is generous, as the overall average on the BeerAdvocate website for Heineken is C (from 1,189 reviews); my review is 11.7% above the average.

Uma cerveja por favor

As an unexpected but appreciated side-effect of beer blogging is the occasional approach from beer marketers.

Upon return from holidays, was surprised to find at the front door a small wooden crate, with "Product of Portugal" emblazened on the side. Thinking that I may have acquired a dozen of the world's best vintage ports, I eagerly opened the crate.

I was somewhat taken aback by its contents, followed quickly by an out-loud laugh.  You see, the holiday from which we returned took us to Hervey Bay in Queensland, where the best bottleshop to be found is a Dan Murphy. Among other items, I picked up a 5 litre DraughtKeg of Sagres Lager.

Australian Brews News has some pictures, and a similar story, here. It was the same item that sat amongst my new collection of crate straw.

Sagres is the dominant beer of Portugal. It is owned by Heineken and suits the warm climate quite well. It's a fairly non-descript Euro lager, but when Libby and I visited Portugal in 2001, it was my go-to thirst quencher and palate cleanser, and well enjoyed from the Algarve in the south, to Bragança in the north.

Heineken has been offering its ubiquitous Euro lager in the DraughtKeg system for a couple of years now. Evidently successful, other beers in the Heineken stable are making their way into the format. This system keeps the container air-tight, giving the beer some longevity after opening. "30 days" says the Sagres promo material, at a constant pressure of one bar.

The same cannot be said for other beers that are appearing in the 5 litre keg.  When at Dan Murphy, I had a choice of Heineken and Sagres in the DraughtKeg, or Franziskaner in the normal, pop-the-plug-in-and-go keg. Although the wheat beer would have been my preferred drink, there's no way I was going to go through 5 litres of hefe in a sitting, and didn't relish the thought of drinking flat, air-exposed beer the following day.

With Heineken having brewing interests all over the world, I hope the DraughtKeg system is used for more of their products. It's a good thing to have in fridge, allowing a couple of glasses a night for a week or so, or something to take to a party to share around.

As with other kegs, it is important that the DraughtKeg is well and truly chilled before opening; the blurb recommends 5 degress of less. Else the CO2 will escape too quickly, causing much froth & bubble.

As for my Portuguese abilities, all I could ever bring myself to ask was "one beer please".

A list of the stuff I have received free from brewers and marketers can be found by clicking the Disclaimers tab.