Editing Stella Artois (section)

==History==
The Den Hoorn brewery in Leuven opened in 1366, when it was a tavern brewing its own beer for sale under the sign of a hunting horn. In 1708, Sébastien Artois became head brewer; then, in 1717, purchased the brewery, renaming it Brouwerij Artois.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biernet.nl/bier/brouwerijen/belgie/vlaams-brabant/leuven/artois|title=Artois Brouwerij|work=biernet.nl}}</ref>

In 1926, Brouwerij Artois launched Stella as a Christmas beer,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vinepair.com/articles/stella-artois/|last=Wolinski |first=Cat|date=29 March 2019|title=11 Things You Should Know About Stella Artois|work=Vine Pair|access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref> named after the [[Star of Bethlehem|Christmas star]].<ref name="Fisk2009">{{cite book|last=Fisk|first=Peter|title=Marketing Genius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUeWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT316|date=20 August 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-907293-40-5|page=316}}</ref> First sold in the winter season, it eventually became available year-round, with exports into the broad [[European market]] commencing in 1930, though it did not reach the entire market until 1964.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scarsella |first=Jameson |date=2023-10-12 |title=Stella Artois Emerges As A Modern-Day Icon |url=https://thebusinessdownload.com/stella-artois-emerges-as-a-modern-day-icon/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=The Business Download |language=en-US}}</ref> Production was halted for a period when operations were suspended during [[World War II]]. By 1960, about {{convert|100|e6USgal|e6L|order=flip|round=50|abbr=off}} of Stella Artois were being produced annually. [[Whitbread]] secured a licence to brew Stella Artois under contract in the United Kingdom in 1976.<ref>[http://www.ab-inbev.com/go/media/global_press_releases/press_release.cfm?theID=278&theLang=EN Interbrew acquires brewing activities of Whitbread] Retrieved 1 November 2012. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223220225/http://www.ab-inbev.com/go/media/global_press_releases/press_release.cfm?theID=278&theLang=EN |date=23 December 2010 }}</ref>

In 1988, Brouwerij Artois was a founding member in the merger creating [[Interbrew]]. That year, Taylorbrands founder David Taylor created a new package design, bottle design, and shape. The original 1926 bottle label inspired the design, which replaced a 1960s design. The design incorporates the horn symbol and the 1366 date of the original Den Hoorn brewery. The label also shows medals for excellence awarded to Brouwerij Artois at a number of [[trade show|trade exhibitions]] in Belgium in the 19th and 20th centuries. The name Stella Artois is held within a [[cartouche (design)|cartouche]] which was influenced by the style of [[Belgian architecture]] in Leuven.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

In 1993, Interbrew moved production of Stella Artois into a new, fully automated brewery in Leuven. In 2004, Interbrew was part of the merger creating [[InBev]], and by 2006, total annual production volume of Stella Artois exceeded one billion litres.

In 2008, InBev was part of the merger creating the [[Anheuser-Busch InBev]] (AB InBev) brewery company.  That same year, a lower-alcohol version, Stella Artois 4%, was introduced in the UK market.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/902888/Watch-new-Stella-Artois-4-commercial/|title=Watch the new Stella Artois 4% commercial|work=marketingmagazine.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=218076|work=[[The Grocer]]|title=No smooth outcome as Stella 4% sales fall|date=16 May 2011|access-date=4 January 2012}}</ref> In 2011, a [[cider]], Stella Artois Cidre, was launched.

In 2020, AB InBev reduced the alcohol content of their beers for the UK market, from 4.8% to 4.6%. The original UK strength of Stella Artois was 5.2% and 4.8% from 2008 until 2020.<ref name = "strength" /> According to Freddy Delvaux, former head of the in-house laboratory, the Belgian version was 33&nbsp;[[International Bittering Unit|IBU]] when he joined the lab in 1973, compared to just 20&nbsp;IBU in 2014.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/284.html | title=Professor Delvaux | first=Lars | last=Garshol | date=19 May 2014}}</ref>