Amstel Lager – hot or not?
Posted on 16. Aug, 2010 by Jonathan Cherry in Streetflava
On more than one occasion this weekend – we overheard conversations that went something like this:
Guy 1: ‘Hey man – what beer do you want? Amstel or something else?’
Guy 2: ‘Nah – f*&k Amstel. Since they left us I’ve turned to Marzen Gold / Peroni / Windhoek / Heineken and Amstel tastes like sh*t these days in anycase’
Perhaps if we’d heard the comment once we would have assumed it to be an individual point of view, but in two very separate occasions the feelings against the Amstel brand were strongly negative and made loudly enough to almost have been regarded at a public announcement.
Not being regular Amstel drinkers the taste change of the beverage has gone completely over our heads, but the tangible change in attitude towards a brand that at one time was almost as endearing to the South African public as Mrs Balls and a Toyota Hi lux bakkie is interesting. Personally our feeling towards Amstel Lager is neutral. It seems like a nice enough beverage to drink on occasion. So we were never a candidate for a love / hate kinda feeling towards it now.
Our take on it is - that like cigarettes and rugby teams, your choice in beer brand defines your personal social tribe [obviously taste has a bit to do with it too]. If the brand that formed the glue or social fabric of that tribe turns its back on those people [even for a very short time] – it’s a long hard road back [if ever] to winning them over again. They’ve moved on and had World Cups and braais and Tri-nations disappointments with Mr. Windhoek and Mr. Heineken.
It’s telling how people see brands as friends, while business folk see brands as money – and all too often, friends and money don’t mix to well. It’ll be intriguing to see if the sentiment changes over time.
8 Responses to “Amstel Lager – hot or not?”
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Deems
16. Aug, 2010
As a long time Amstel beer drinker I too can confirm the drastic change in taste of Amstel. I didn’t drink Amstel because of the brand or any social aspects of it but because I liked the taste in comparison to many other beer brands available in South Africa.
But I too have changed my beer brand from Amstel to Hansa Marzen Gold – again not due to the brand positioning or any kind of loyalty to Hansa – I never chose to drink any of their beers before – but because I enjoyed the taste of it, and when Amstel wasn’t available it was the closest taste to how Amstel used to taste.
Just like anything else, I don’t stick to brands just because they’re brands, I stick with them because I either enjoy them or find them better, in quality, than another.
mallix
16. Aug, 2010
“your choice in beer brand defines your personal social tribe” – wtf? That’s marketing jargon that nobody believes in. I reckon people stick with beer brands on taste or how they were introduced to the beer, nothing more. I don’t have a favorite beer, but drink various brands according to availability or what the weather is like, or even with different types of food. For instance, Castle is a light beer that tastes good if it’s a hot day, Windhoek lager is nice for a social drink, Black Label or Marzen Gold goes great with food. I used to drink a lot of Amstel but in the end it’s all the same to me. I def don’t boycott the brand because it “left us,” that’s just stupid.
Jonathan Cherry
16. Aug, 2010
If it were based on taste alone everybody would be drinking Steph Weiss from Brewers & Union.
jedi
16. Aug, 2010
The latest growth stats say this is fast becoming Castle country.
Maybe its because they never left us and we know they never will. Maybe its the taste, maybe its the ‘tribe’.
Either way – to me – it is ‘South Africa Lager’. 2010 means we are all ok with being South African. So people are ok with drinking ‘south african’. Is Castle SA’s most authentically patriotic brand?
beer, boys and braais – always been my favourite.
steve
22. Aug, 2010
Quite funny how you mention that the Amstel boys would have moved onto Windhoek or Heineken, as brandhouse would be ok with whatever of their brands are stealing marketshare from SAB.
I don’t think there’s much in the ‘they dropped us’ argument. Amstel was available almost the whole time(they imported from Nigeria at great expense to keep it on the shelves). The fact is, even though the lable is the same, it has changed formula. Amstel isn’t even a premium brand in europe.
What is more interesting to see how the ‘premium’ brand market has changed, and I think SAB have done extremely well to join in once they weren’t running the show anymore.
And they’re punting Black Label against Amstel anyway
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=107114
mike
23. Nov, 2010
well i have tasted amstel beer and i would say the taste is bad
redfoot
26. Nov, 2010
I had an Amstel Draught at the pub the other night and THAT was flippen delicious! I think they should bring that out in bottle like Windhoek has done. Has anyone tasted the Black Label Draught? How’s that?
Themba Tholo (Moriski)
19. Apr, 2011
I have tasted Amstel Beer before and i reaaly did not feel the need to trade my Windhoek Lager for it… fair trial… after some time, i had a couple of them cause my friend was now working for Amstel… suddenly it seemed like a beer i would make my second choice… my giving Amstel a chance had NOTHING to do wth the brand itself, but more so with availability because my friend was working there. I am now thinking to myself that if my friend was still working there, i probably would have moved to Amstel by now.
My take is, accessibility plays an important part in decisions we make at times – especially with given our unique social settings. I now drink Amstel when Windhoek Lager is not available… The beer is cool.