Heineken is a Dutch 5% ABV pale lager, made by Heineken International since 1873. It is the flagship product of the company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. The beer is force carbonated. This product is a sponsor of UEFA Champions League, the Heineken Cup and the Australian Open.

BREWING of Heineken

Heineken is made of water, barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H. Elion finished the development of the Heineken A-yeast. This is the yeast that is still used for the beer.

The brewing process is conducted as follows: First the water is purified in water tanks; then, the barley is malted in the barley tank. After one and a half days the germination starts by soaking the barley. Seven or eight days later, the malted barley is dried in a mill and seed roots are removed. The malt and the water are mixed and boiled in the mash copper and become wort. The wort is then filtered in the filtering copper. The hops are added to the wort in the wort copper and the wort is boiled again. The hops give the beer the bitter taste. All solid particles are removed from the wort in the whirlpool. The wort is then cooled and the yeast is added in the fermentation tank. The yeast converts sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide by fermentation. After seven days the wort has become green beer, which is 4.5% alcohol by volume. The green beer matures in lagering tanks for four to six weeks, reaching 5% alcohol by volume. It is then force carbonated. The yeast is removed in the filter tank with the natural silicon kieselguhr. The beer is bottled and pasteurized to kill the microorganisms.

DIETARY Information

Heineken state that no animal products are used as ingredients or as part of the filtration process. Genetically modified ingredients are not used either and Heineken also qualifies as gluten free by conforming to the World Health Organization’s guideline that “gluten free” products should contain less than 0.02% gluten. Heineken state that its beer actually contains less than 0.0005% but still recommend that Coeliac patients seek advice from their doctor prior to consumption. There are 141kcal and 11.6g of carbohydrates in a 330ml bottle. Heineken is suitable for vegans.

PRODUCTION of Heineken

Heineken beer is brewed by 40 breweries in 39 countries around the world. 25.8 million hectolitres of Heineken beer were produced in 2006 and the consolidated beer production was 111.9 million hectolitres. Since 1975, most Heineken beer is brewed in the Heineken brewery in Zoeterwoude in the Netherlands^.