In de supermarkt stond een flesje met een rode driehoek. Die had ik volgens mij nog niet eerder geproefd (of wel? misschien, maar dan had het geen indruk gemaakt)...
Het bier is wat donkerder dan pils. Het bier smaakt koel, licht waterig/bierig. Met een moutige/hopbittere afdronk. In de nasmaak herken ik een beetje een gistige smaak, zoals ik die proefde bij mijn eerste zelf gebrouwen bier (dat verder mislukt was, maar in vergelijking met latere pogingen best geslaagd bleek).
Maar goed even terug naar het bier: Bass & C" Pale Ale:
Bass is de naam van een voormalige brouwerij in het Verenigd Koninkrijk. De naam wordt nu uitsluitend gebruikt als merknaam van verschillende Engelse biersoorten.
De brouwerij Bass was gevestigd in Burton upon Trent. De biermerken worden nog steeds in Burton upon Trent gebrouwen, maar nu door het bedrijf Marston's. Bass wordt vooral geassocieerd met zijn pale ale. Het bijpassende logo (met een rode driehoek) was het eerste handelsmerk dat werd geregistreerd in het Verenigd Koninkrijk (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass).
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Overigens heeft het niet erg gewerkt, want er zijn heel veel bedrijven met een rode driehoek in het logo (https://dianhasan.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/logo-corporate-identity-red-triangles-galore/).
De brouwerij Bass & Co Brewery werd in 1777 opgericht door William Bass en was een van de eerste brouwerijen in Burton upon Trent. Al vanaf het begin van de historie van de brouwerij werd het bier reeds gebotteld geëxporteerd over de gehele wereld. De handel met de landen rond de Oostzee vond plaats vanuit de havenplaats Hull. Groeiende vraag van het bier leidde er toe dat een tweede brouwerij noodzakelijk werd. In 1799 werd deze in bedrijf gesteld door Michael Bass, de zoon van de oprichter. Het water dat in Burton upon Trent opgepompt wordt, is zo goed van samenstelling dat er vanaf midden de 19e eeuw niet minder dan 30 verschillende brouwerijen actief waren in de stad (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass).
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Aan het eind van de 20e eeuw was dit aantal door consolidatie en overnames afgenomen tot twee grote brouwerijgroepen. Bass was er daar één van. Naast de brouwactiviteiten had het concern ook deelnemingen in diverse hotels. Deze activiteit is nu afgestoten aan de InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). De brouwerij nam ook diverse bedrijven over nadat een grootschalig proces van fusies en overnames op gang kwam. Overnames door Bass omvatten onder meer de bedrijven Mitchells and Butlers (1961), Charringtons (1967) en William Stones Ltd (1968). De merknaam Mitchells and Butlers wordt gebruikt voor de retailactiviteiten toen deze in 2003 werden afgesplitst.
De brouwerijtak van het concern Bass werd in juni 2000 gekocht door het Belgische brouwconcern Interbrew, daaropvolgend werden de hotel-en pubactiviteiten ondergebracht in het separate bedrijf Six Continents. Dit bedrijf is later wederom gesplitst, nadat de frisdranktak werd verkocht en nog alleen de hotelactiviteiten werden uitgevoerd. Bij deze gelegenheid werd van Six Continents de naam gewijzigd in IHG.
Nadat de Britse Mededingingsautoriteit (Competition Commission) besloten had dat er een mogelijk monopolie kon ontstaan door de overname van Bass door Interbrew, verkocht de Belgische brouwerijgroep de brouwerij en een aantal merken, zoals Carling en Worthington aan de Amerikaanse brouwerij Coors, maar behield de rechten op de productie van het Bass biermerk.
Aanvankelijk werd de productie van het biermerk onder licentie uitgevoerd door Coors, die de productiefaciliteit had overgenomen. De licentie verliep eind 2005, waarna de licentie werd overgenomen door de brouwerij Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries. De productie van Bass werd verplaatst naar Marston's, de andere brouwerij van Burton. De productie van blikjes met Bass bier, die voornamelijk naar de Verenigde Staten worden geëxporteerd, wordt niet langer uitgevoerd in Burton upon Trent. De import hiervan is in handen van Anheuser-Busch.
Het brouwerijmuseum dat vlak bij de oude Bassbrouwerij is gevestigd, is een van de grootste trekpleisters van Burton upon Trent (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass).
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Bass ale remained in the line-up, the company – which became Bass Charrington in 1967 – pushed Worthington ‘E’ as its major keg bitter (Martyn Cornell https://zythophile.wordpress.com/
2012/10/26/worthington-e-is-not-a-burton-ale/).
It’s the fault of the marketers at Allied Breweries in 1976. They were feeling under pressure (pun intended) from the five-year-old Campaign for Real Ale, who were persuading beer drinkers across Britain that the sort of bland, fizzy beers big brewers such as Allied produced were nowhere near as tasty and enjoyable as the traditional brews from smaller companies. So Allied took its Ind Coope Double Diamond, an India Pale Ale with roots in the 19th century that had been a best-selling nationally distributed bottled beer, and then a best-selling nationally distributed keg beer, and decided to launch it as a handpumped cask ale. Except they couldn’t call it Double Diamond Cask, because Camra had been repeatedly and extremely rude about Double Diamond keg....So as marketers do, they riffled through their old brands for inspiration, and found Ind Coope Burton Ale, which was still going in the 1950s (when it was described by the beer writer Andrew Campbell as “rather light” for a Burton Ale and, unlike most other beers in the Burton Ale style, “not sweet at all”) but seems to have vanished as a brand soon after Campbell wrote about it in 1956. This, the marketers decided, was the name for their rebadged cask-conditioned draught Double Diamond IPA, and they even copied the typeface and general style of the Edwardian Ind Coope Burton Ale bottle labels for the pumpclips of this “not a Burton Ale” Burton Ale. Since most drinkers had forgotten about, or never heard of, Burton Ale the beer style by the mid-1970s, there were very few protests, though my father was one who objected. Burton Ale, he insisted, being a London traditionalist when it came to beer, had to be dark, and this new “Burton Ale” was far too pale. Which, being an IPA in Burton Ale clothing, it was (https://zythophile.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/argh-no-otley-and-protz-in-burton-ale-fail/).
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Dit gelezen hebbende bedenk ik me: je hebt een legendarisch bier bij een brouwerij die wordt overgenomen en waarbij vervolgens de brouwerij wordt verkocht, maar het merk wordt behouden....
The initials BPA do not, in fact, stand for Best Pale Ale, as writers from Michael Jackson to Roger Protz have been misled by the brewery into saying. They stand for Burton Pale Ale – and if you read the recipe for BPA, which included dark sugars and crystal malt, this makes perfect sense.
The trouble is that nobody today can remember what Burton Pale Ale used to be, and everybody now thinks it’s a synonym for India Pale Ale. It isn’t, at all – they are two totally different beers, in colour and flavour, and united only in being associated with the same brewing town.
Burton Pale Ale, also known as Burton Ale is the original dark, rather sweet beer the brewers of Burton upon Trent made and exported to Russia before they started brewing even paler, bitterer India Pale Ales in the 1820s (https://zythophile.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/come-back-for-the-burtons/).
Sixty years ago nobody would have had any difficulty recognising the style. In 1948 one book on British beer described Burton as one of the four main types of British draught beer, alongside pale ale, mild and stout (https://zythophile.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/come-back-for-the-burtons/).
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Het bier is wat donkerder dan pils. Het bier smaakt koel, licht waterig/bierig. Met een moutige/hopbittere afdronk. In de nasmaak herken ik een beetje een gistige smaak, zoals ik die proefde bij mijn eerste zelf gebrouwen bier (dat verder mislukt was, maar in vergelijking met latere pogingen best geslaagd bleek).
Maar goed even terug naar het bier: Bass & C" Pale Ale:
Bass is de naam van een voormalige brouwerij in het Verenigd Koninkrijk. De naam wordt nu uitsluitend gebruikt als merknaam van verschillende Engelse biersoorten.
De brouwerij Bass was gevestigd in Burton upon Trent. De biermerken worden nog steeds in Burton upon Trent gebrouwen, maar nu door het bedrijf Marston's. Bass wordt vooral geassocieerd met zijn pale ale. Het bijpassende logo (met een rode driehoek) was het eerste handelsmerk dat werd geregistreerd in het Verenigd Koninkrijk (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass).
Overigens heeft het niet erg gewerkt, want er zijn heel veel bedrijven met een rode driehoek in het logo (https://dianhasan.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/logo-corporate-identity-red-triangles-galore/).
De brouwerij Bass & Co Brewery werd in 1777 opgericht door William Bass en was een van de eerste brouwerijen in Burton upon Trent. Al vanaf het begin van de historie van de brouwerij werd het bier reeds gebotteld geëxporteerd over de gehele wereld. De handel met de landen rond de Oostzee vond plaats vanuit de havenplaats Hull. Groeiende vraag van het bier leidde er toe dat een tweede brouwerij noodzakelijk werd. In 1799 werd deze in bedrijf gesteld door Michael Bass, de zoon van de oprichter. Het water dat in Burton upon Trent opgepompt wordt, is zo goed van samenstelling dat er vanaf midden de 19e eeuw niet minder dan 30 verschillende brouwerijen actief waren in de stad (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass).
Aan het eind van de 20e eeuw was dit aantal door consolidatie en overnames afgenomen tot twee grote brouwerijgroepen. Bass was er daar één van. Naast de brouwactiviteiten had het concern ook deelnemingen in diverse hotels. Deze activiteit is nu afgestoten aan de InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). De brouwerij nam ook diverse bedrijven over nadat een grootschalig proces van fusies en overnames op gang kwam. Overnames door Bass omvatten onder meer de bedrijven Mitchells and Butlers (1961), Charringtons (1967) en William Stones Ltd (1968). De merknaam Mitchells and Butlers wordt gebruikt voor de retailactiviteiten toen deze in 2003 werden afgesplitst.
De brouwerijtak van het concern Bass werd in juni 2000 gekocht door het Belgische brouwconcern Interbrew, daaropvolgend werden de hotel-en pubactiviteiten ondergebracht in het separate bedrijf Six Continents. Dit bedrijf is later wederom gesplitst, nadat de frisdranktak werd verkocht en nog alleen de hotelactiviteiten werden uitgevoerd. Bij deze gelegenheid werd van Six Continents de naam gewijzigd in IHG.
Nadat de Britse Mededingingsautoriteit (Competition Commission) besloten had dat er een mogelijk monopolie kon ontstaan door de overname van Bass door Interbrew, verkocht de Belgische brouwerijgroep de brouwerij en een aantal merken, zoals Carling en Worthington aan de Amerikaanse brouwerij Coors, maar behield de rechten op de productie van het Bass biermerk.
Aanvankelijk werd de productie van het biermerk onder licentie uitgevoerd door Coors, die de productiefaciliteit had overgenomen. De licentie verliep eind 2005, waarna de licentie werd overgenomen door de brouwerij Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries. De productie van Bass werd verplaatst naar Marston's, de andere brouwerij van Burton. De productie van blikjes met Bass bier, die voornamelijk naar de Verenigde Staten worden geëxporteerd, wordt niet langer uitgevoerd in Burton upon Trent. De import hiervan is in handen van Anheuser-Busch.
Het brouwerijmuseum dat vlak bij de oude Bassbrouwerij is gevestigd, is een van de grootste trekpleisters van Burton upon Trent (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass).
Bass is a full-flavored ale that is still brewed according to its original recipe. Select malts, aromatic hops and water rich in essential salts and minerals combine to give Bass its slight burnt roast aroma and high-quality, full-bodied flavor.
Ingredients/Brewing: Bass is brewed with two strains of traditional ale yeast to produce a complex, nutty, malty taste with subtle hop undertones and a beautiful chestnut hue. Bass is 5.1 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) (www.anheuser-busch.com/s/uploads/Bass-Fact-Sheet.pdf).
Its brand name and the iconic “red triangle” logo were registered as a trademark under the British Trade Mark Registration Act 1875 on 1 January 1876, just when the act was freshly implemented. After successfully becoming the first registered trademark in England, Bass Ale was filed as trademark no.1 (http://famouslogos.net/bass-ale-logo-one-of-the-worlds-oldest-logos/).
Founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, their trademark is even visible on the bottles in Edouard Monet’s 1882 painting “A Bar at the FoliesBergère”, in addition to an artwork by Pablo Picasso (http://famouslogos.net/bass-ale-logo-one-of-the-worlds-oldest-logos/).
Interesting Facts: The original English Pale Ale and England’s first trademark, Bass has been embraced by trail-blazers since 1777. The brand has been painted by Manet, fought over by Napoleon and was served on the Titanic (www.anheuser-busch.com/s/uploads/Bass-Fact-Sheet.pdf).
It is a well-known fact that even the RMS Titanic was carrying 12,000 bottles of Bass Ale when it sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912! (http://famouslogos.net/bass-ale-logo-one-of-the-worlds-oldest-logos/).
DocHoliday Mar 5, 2012 03:30 PMDiscussion:
I picked up a 12-pack of Bass Ale this weekend after a having gone quite a while without buying any for whatever reason and I was astonished as to how bad it tasted. NOTHING like the Bass Ale I remembered. Inspection of the bottle turned up some disturbing statements like "originally brewed in Burton-on-Trent" etc. and close inspection of the carton (on the bottom) revealed it is now brewed in Baldwinsville, NY. What a shame, InterBev is determined to kill this brand in the US I guess - not sure if they tried to "Americanize" the taste or just cutting corners but I won't be buying any more (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/837300).
JessKidden Mar 6, 2012 03:06 AM±
Bass Ale was ruined by Bass, PLC decades ago, long before 2000 when they sold out to Interbrew, which then had to sell the brewery itself to Coors to satisfy UK anti-trust regulators.
US labels used to say Luton, UK- but that's merely A-B-InBev's UK headquarters. The cask Bass Ale sold in the UK is still brewed in Burton by Marstons, but the bottles and kegs send to the US has long been a different beer, and after the Interbrew/Coors contract deal ran out, brewed at an AB-I brewery in Samlesbury, UK.
Bass Pale Ale, however, while it came from Burton-on-Trent, was never a "Burton Ale"- which is a much different (and, today, relatively rare) style of beer.
While AB-I should at least be congratulated for a rather prominent label proclaiming the bottled beer's new origins (not every brand brewed elsewhere is so transparent), the draft beer buyer has no such notice. I still see Bass tap handles that say "Imported" on them, menus that list "UK" for the beer and assume it is sold for the same price (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/837300).
Bass ale remained in the line-up, the company – which became Bass Charrington in 1967 – pushed Worthington ‘E’ as its major keg bitter (Martyn Cornell https://zythophile.wordpress.com/
2012/10/26/worthington-e-is-not-a-burton-ale/).
It’s the fault of the marketers at Allied Breweries in 1976. They were feeling under pressure (pun intended) from the five-year-old Campaign for Real Ale, who were persuading beer drinkers across Britain that the sort of bland, fizzy beers big brewers such as Allied produced were nowhere near as tasty and enjoyable as the traditional brews from smaller companies. So Allied took its Ind Coope Double Diamond, an India Pale Ale with roots in the 19th century that had been a best-selling nationally distributed bottled beer, and then a best-selling nationally distributed keg beer, and decided to launch it as a handpumped cask ale. Except they couldn’t call it Double Diamond Cask, because Camra had been repeatedly and extremely rude about Double Diamond keg....So as marketers do, they riffled through their old brands for inspiration, and found Ind Coope Burton Ale, which was still going in the 1950s (when it was described by the beer writer Andrew Campbell as “rather light” for a Burton Ale and, unlike most other beers in the Burton Ale style, “not sweet at all”) but seems to have vanished as a brand soon after Campbell wrote about it in 1956. This, the marketers decided, was the name for their rebadged cask-conditioned draught Double Diamond IPA, and they even copied the typeface and general style of the Edwardian Ind Coope Burton Ale bottle labels for the pumpclips of this “not a Burton Ale” Burton Ale. Since most drinkers had forgotten about, or never heard of, Burton Ale the beer style by the mid-1970s, there were very few protests, though my father was one who objected. Burton Ale, he insisted, being a London traditionalist when it came to beer, had to be dark, and this new “Burton Ale” was far too pale. Which, being an IPA in Burton Ale clothing, it was (https://zythophile.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/argh-no-otley-and-protz-in-burton-ale-fail/).
Dit gelezen hebbende bedenk ik me: je hebt een legendarisch bier bij een brouwerij die wordt overgenomen en waarbij vervolgens de brouwerij wordt verkocht, maar het merk wordt behouden....
The initials BPA do not, in fact, stand for Best Pale Ale, as writers from Michael Jackson to Roger Protz have been misled by the brewery into saying. They stand for Burton Pale Ale – and if you read the recipe for BPA, which included dark sugars and crystal malt, this makes perfect sense.
The trouble is that nobody today can remember what Burton Pale Ale used to be, and everybody now thinks it’s a synonym for India Pale Ale. It isn’t, at all – they are two totally different beers, in colour and flavour, and united only in being associated with the same brewing town.
Burton Pale Ale, also known as Burton Ale is the original dark, rather sweet beer the brewers of Burton upon Trent made and exported to Russia before they started brewing even paler, bitterer India Pale Ales in the 1820s (https://zythophile.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/come-back-for-the-burtons/).
Sixty years ago nobody would have had any difficulty recognising the style. In 1948 one book on British beer described Burton as one of the four main types of British draught beer, alongside pale ale, mild and stout (https://zythophile.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/come-back-for-the-burtons/).
Zou Bass daar ook onder vallen? Het is donkerder dan een IPA. Het bier heeft een pilserige bierafdronk. Doet zoet aan. De kleur is donkeroranje. De geur is zoet. Ik had een soort epische pils verwacht, maar dit is een soort halve IPA. Wel is het een echt bier. Al zal het brouwen min of meer gebeuren als een marketingtruuk.
Al was het afstoten van de brouwerij op last van de Britse mededingingsautoriteit....
Prior to establishing a brewery, William Bass transported ale for brewer Benjamin Printon. Bass sold this carrier business to the Pickford family, using the funds to establish Bass & Co Brewery in 1777 as one of the first breweries in Burton upon Trent...
Bass was a pioneer in international Brand marketing. The Bass Red Triangle was the first trademark to be registered under the UK's Trade Mark Registration Act 1875. The Act came into effect on 1 January 1876 and that New Year's Eve a Bass employee queued overnight outside the registrar's office in order to be the first in line to register a trademark the next morning. As a result, Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Limited received the first two registrations, the Bass Red Triangle for their pale ale and the Bass Red Diamond next for their strong ale. The trademarks are now owned by Brandbrew SA, an Interbrew subsidiary based in Luxembourg.
Bass took control of a number of other large breweries in the early 20th century, and in the 1960s merged with Charrington United Breweries to become the largest UK brewing company, Bass Charrington. The brewing operations of the company were bought by Interbrew (now Anheuser-Busch InBev) in 2000, while the retail side (hotel and pub holdings) were renamed Six Continents plc. The UK government's Competition Commission was concerned about the monopoly implications arising from the deal, and instructed Interbrew to dispose of the brewery and certain brands (Carling and Worthington ) to Coors (now Molson Coors Brewing Company), but allowed Interbrew to retain the rights to the Bass Pale Ale brand.[6] In 2010, it was widely reported that AB-InBev are attempting to sell the rights to the Bass brand in the UK for around £10-15 million.
...
After the Competition Commission raised potential monopoly concerns, Interbrew disposed of Bass Brewers Limited's Carling and Worthington brands to Coors (now Molson Coors Brewing Company), but retained rights to Bass beer production.
The beer was produced under licence by Coors, which retained the Bass brewing capacity. Bass Brewers Limited was renamed Coors Brewers Limited. When the licence to brew draught Bass came to an end in 2005, it was taken up by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries PLC, which started production at Burton's Marston's Brewery. Bottled and keg Bass formerly exported to the USA with a higher alcohol content are now produced there domestically by Anheuser-Busch at a Baldwinsville, New York facility.
Sited next to the brewery, the Bass Museum of Brewing (renamed the Coors Visitor Centre & The Museum of Brewing), was Burton upon Trent's largest tourist attraction until closed by Coors in June 2008. A steering group was established to investigate re-opening, and the museum was relaunched in May 2010 as the National Brewery Centre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Brewery).
Maar over marketing gesproken....
Bass Pale Ale to be re-branded as Bass Trademark No.1 in United Kingdom (Posted on June 30, 2013 at 6:15 pm) Bass Pale Ale today announced it will change its name to ‘Bass Trademark No.1.’, celebrating the brand’s place in history as the first registered trademark in the UK. Bass Trademark No.1 is a timeless and iconic ale which is steeped in history. Bass Trademark No.1 is a 4.4% premium pale ale. It is richly fragrant with a hoppy bouquet and has a complex nutty, malty taste and a bright chestnut hue (http://beerpulse.com/2013/06/bass-pale-ale-to-be-re-branded-as-bass-trademark-no-1-in-united-kingdom-737/). This name acknowledges that Bass was the first Trademark procured in the UK and it celebrates the history of the beer & brand (http://mybeerbuzz.blogspot.nl/2013/06/anheuser-busch-to-rebrand-bass-in-us-as.html).
Posted on June 28, 2013 by Martyn Cornell:
There are stupid marketeers, and there’s AB-InBev. The Belgo-Brazilians have decided to rename one of the oldest beer brands in Britain, Bass pale ale, a literally iconic IPA, as “Bass Trademark Number One”. It’s a move so clueless, so lacking in understanding of how beer drinkers relate to the beers they drink, I have no doubt it will be held up to MBA students in five years’ time as a classic example of How To Royally Screw Up Your Brand.
The move is predicated upon the red triangle that is found on every bottle of Bass pale ale, and on every pumpclip of the draught version, being the first registered trademark in Britain. The generally accepted story is that after the passing of the Trade Mark Registration Act of 1875, when applications to apply for trademark registration opened on January 1, 1876, a Bass employee was sent to wait overnight outside the registrar’s office the day before in order to be the first in line to file to register a trademark the next morning, and that is why the company has trade mark number one. There is no evidence for this story: but it is certainly true that a label with the triangle on it, and the words “Bass & Co’s Pale Ale” is indeed the UK’s Trade Mark 1, having been the first to be registered on New Year’s Day 1876.....All bottles of Bass pale ale, however, carried only the red triangle, on a label originally designed by George Curzon, a clerk at the company’s London agency, in February 1855.
So why now rename a beer that has been around since the 1820s [?]
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And now the marketeers are about to stuff this formerly famous beer completely by giving it an atrociously nonsensical name, instead of promoting it on its true heritage as THE example of a British India Pale Ale. “Why are you drinking that beer?” “Well, it was the first registered trademark in the UK, you know.” “Tremendous – I must have a pint of it myself straight away.” I’m not sure which is more contemptible: the stupidity of AB-InBev’s marketing department, or the AB-InBev marketing department’s own believe in the stupidity of the people it wants to drink its beers
ithinkaboutbeer on June 29, 2013 at 7:44 pm said:
Frankly, the Ambev merger may have been one of the worst things for the beer industry. They’re interested in nothing but skinning the most profit out of their assets.
ithinkaboutbeer on June 29, 2013 at 7:44 pm said:
SAB Miller/Coors, on the other hand, seems to be a much more responsible steward of their heritage brands. Pilsner Urquel’s quality has continued to increase since they were acquired. Now PU is cold and express shipped to the US. It’s amazing how fresh and wonderful it tastes. They’ve also put a huge effort into promoting their new English brands, Worthington and specifically tout the classic heritage of this brand (https://zythophile.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/the-bass-red-triangle-things-ab-inbev-wont-tell-you/).
VictorWisc Aug 8, 2013:
Just thought of one because the English post reminded me. Bass! InBev took over just before the AB merger and they've been running it into the ground. First, they had to cede the original brewery to Coors for competition (anti-trust) reasons. Then they started brewing it in US and changed labels. On top of that, they decide to promote it as "Trademark 1" which is about as salient a selling point as a car promoting the number of ball-bearing in it. Of course, all of this would be minor quibbles if the beer was still any good. It isn't! The US version is not even a tame version of its pale self--it's AAAL all the way. Flavor is gone. Color is gone. It's like GM buying Saab for its prestige value, then running it into the ground. And then they wonder why sales are dropping like a rock.