Thursday, August 14, 2008

Crimes Against Beer: St. Pauli Girl


Fun-loving beer my ass.

I'll be blunt, St. Pauli Girl Lager sucks as far as German beers are concerned. Sure, it can hang with the worst of the American macro lagers. I might even take it over an Old Milwaukee, if I was desperate for a drink.

The marketing folks at St. Pauli Girl, an InBev (those Belgians that bought Anheuser-Busch) brand, sure do like to make things up:
If you like a Girl that has a deep golden color, distinctive full-bodied taste and "hoppy" aroma, then the Lager is for you. This Girl has been a Gold Medal winner for the American Tasting Institute Best Full Calorie German Lager.

No, not so much.

St. Pauli Girl Lager
InBev
German Pilsener

D+ / 2.3
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | drink: 2.5

Why did I order this beer? Well I wasn't paying for it and I'd never tried it - win/win, right?

I though once the light-struck skunky flavor (thanks to the green bottle) cleared out of the aroma and taste, there might be something worth writing about, but I was mistaken. What was left after the most offensive, yet richest flavor vacated was a nasty sour fruit tang and only a hint of actual German lager flavor. Yes, it was there hiding in the back, light bready malts with a bit of sweetness. But for the most part I just tasted the big off-flavor that I assume St. Pauli Girl considers their trademark taste. Move along, nothing to drink here. Pass.

10 comments:

Frank said...

Funny that they call it a german beer. Its not sold over here in germany.

Anonymous said...

The Brand itself is one big cheezy joke:
- St. Pauli is a district in Hamburg, but the Beer is from Bremen
- The "St. Pauli Girl" wears a traditional bavarian Beermaid Outfit, but Bavaria is about 300 miles away from Bremen, Hamburg and St. Pauli.
- The big glasses that the bavarian beer maid holds are what the bavarians call a "Maß" which is a 1 litres pint of Bavarian Beer. Lager is typically served in 0,33l or 05l (similair to 40oz) glasses.
- Rumors are spread that it is actually sold in Germany as well but not under the same riddiculous brand - they sell it as a fan beer for a local soccer club.

I think a few years down the road our german InBev beers will be the same shit "miller lite" has ben for years.

Anonymous said...

- It's called St Pauli Girl after the nearby St Paul monastery in Bremen.

- It's brewed in the Becks Brewery there.

- It's not sold in Germany, but it's made here, like any other beer, according to the purity law.

- The label design is pretty old (early 1800s). The girls wear Dirndls because they're distinctively German, and that's what beer garden waitresses wore at the time.

- Making beer for export-only is not only a German thing. The Aussies do it too. The English do the opposite i.e. make export beers themselves, only with a lower alcohol content. e.g. Stella Artois, Kronenbourg 1664 etc.

Anonymous said...

I have been enjoying St. Pauli Girl for many years. Today I was very disappointed when I went to buy a twelve pack and found that it was made in the USA. Fortunately the package was different and I looked at it closely so I did not purchase the domestic product. When Becks started brewing in St. Louis Missouri I found out the hard way when I drank the domestically produced product and found the taste unacceptable. Only then did I look closely at the packaging and found that the beer was not from Germany. The packaging is deceptive and I find that insulting. Same thing happened with Guinness and Fosters. The big corporations are messing with my favorite beers and I don't like it. Fortunately there are still lots of excellent alternatives available. These days you have to look closely at the labels to avoid disappointment when you taste the beer.

Carlo said...

I just realized today that I’d been tricked into buying this “beer”. I bought some St. Pauli girl thinking it was the same beer I used to enjoy years ago. However, after drinking the beer I realized it’s not the same. I looked at the label and realized it’s now brewed in the USA and taste like the typical crappy American beer. I want my money back.

Anonymous said...

Time to start brewing my own beer. they've destroyed Beck's,they've destroyed St.Pauli girl,they've destroyed Newcastle brown ale and countless other imports, pretty soon you won't be able to get an imported beer in the USA! I say screw you! Giant beer conglomerates.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, just bought some St Pauli Girl after quite a while since the last time and noticed a
distinctly crappy taste right away. Just like Becks, AnheiserBusch bought it and moved it to be produced in St Louis. They must use Mississippi River water because both Becks and SP Girl now have a soapy after taste and it's much more like crappy American beers than German
beers. I now realize that AB had been producing St Pauli Girl in Europe for quite a few years, but the taste when it was imported from Germany(Europe) was much better than now. I
don't know how they brew here in USA, but they obviously don't adhere to the German purity laws like they claim. So many beers becoming USA swill garbage. Eeew, Jimmy Fallon !!!

TM

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Europe and started drinking Girls in the 70's.
Just bought a 12 pack, and want to cry. I calculated I have had close to 30,000 in 45 years, but no more. Tastes like Slitz, if you know what I mean

Anonymous said...

Amen now the beer is shit!!

Anonymous said...

same happened to me what a disappointment