Editing Stella Artois

{{Short description|Belgian pilsner beer}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox beverage
| name         = Stella Artois
| image        = Stella Artois chalice filled.jpg
| caption      =
| type         = [[Beer]]
| logo         = Stella Artois logo.svg
| abv          = 4.6–5.2%
| style        = [[Pilsner]]<ref name="ABInDev Stella Artois">{{cite web|url=https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/AQlOEuNJlB/|last=McFarland|first=Ben|title=Stella Artois|work=Craft Beer and Brewing|access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000225.html|last=Jackson |first=Michael|date=30 July 1999|title=Belgium's Great Beers|work=[[Michael Jackson (writer)|Beer Hunter]]|access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref>
| manufacturer = [[Anheuser–Busch InBev]]
| distributor  =
| origin       = Belgium
| region       = [[Leuven]], Belgium
| introduced   = {{start date and age|1926}}
| ingredients  = [[Saaz hops]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Stella Artois|url=https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/stella-artois/590294-83666-83667|website=waitrose.com|access-date=2 February 2018|archive-date=3 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203064113/https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/stella-artois/590294-83666-83667|url-status=dead}}</ref> malted barley, maize, yeast, water
| website      = {{URL|stellaartois.com}}
}}
'''Stella Artois''' ({{IPAc-en|ɑːr|ˈ|t|w|ɑː}} {{respell|ar|TWAH}}, {{IPA|fr|aʁtwɑ|lang}}) is a [[pilsner]] beer,<ref name="ABInDev Stella Artois"/> first brewed in 1926 by Brouwerij Artois in [[Leuven]], Belgium. In its original form, the beer is 5.2 per cent [[Alcohol by volume|ABV]], the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is sold in many EU countries, but also in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, where it has a reduced ABV.<ref name = "strength">{{cite web|url=http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/63232 |title=Inbev expected to launch 4% Stella Artois |work=Morning Advertiser |date=24 June 2008 |access-date=26 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426192932/http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Brands-News/Inbev-expected-to-launch-4-Stella-Artois|archive-date=26 April 2012}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Stella Artois is owned by Interbrew International B.V. which is a subsidiary of the world's largest brewer, [[Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA/NV|Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=8125933 |title=Company Overview of Interbrew International B.V. |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2016 |website=Bloomberg Research |publisher=Bloomberg L.P.access-date=5 February 2017}}</ref>

==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>

==Production==
[[Image:Stella Artois brewery Leuven.jpg|thumb|Stella Artois brewery in [[Leuven]]]]
[[File:StellaGlobalBottle-NoReflection-master-cerveza-bavaria.png|thumb|150px|The global bottle of Stella Artois]]
Stella Artois is brewed in Belgium (in the plants at [[Leuven]] and [[Jupille]]), at [[Samlesbury]] and [[Magor, Monmouthshire|Magor]] in the United Kingdom, as well as in other countries.<ref name="Sun Inbev Ukraine Brands and products">{{cite web|url=http://www.suninterbrew.ua/ukr/stellaartois.php |title=Sun Inbev Ukraine Brands : Stella Artois |access-date=5 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202111615/http://www.suninterbrew.ua/ukr/stellaartois.php |archive-date=2 December 2008 }}</ref> Much of the beer exported from Europe is produced at InBev's brewery in Belgium, and packaged in the [[Beck's Brewery]] in [[Bremen|Bremen, Germany]]. Stella Artois is also brewed for the Australian market by [[Lion (Australasian company)|Lion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lionco.com/2011/12/19/lion-welcomes-stella-artois-and-belgian-specialty-beers-into-its-australian-portfolio/|title=Lion welcomes Stella Artois and Belgian specialty beers into its Australian portfolio|date=19 December 2011|access-date=19 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318135251/http://lionco.com/2011/12/19/lion-welcomes-stella-artois-and-belgian-specialty-beers-into-its-australian-portfolio/|archive-date=18 March 2014}}</ref> In the United States, Stella Artois is brewed and distributed by [[Anheuser-Busch]] at its various brewing facilities in the US, beginning in 2021 and before then it was imported.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.anheuser-busch.com/brandPages/stella.html|title=Anheuser-Busch: Brand List|access-date=11 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019061747/http://anheuser-busch.com/brandPages/stella.html|archive-date=19 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Licata| first = Zoe| title = ‘Imported’ Beer Brands Look to Domestic Production to Meet Consumer Demand| work = BevNET.com| access-date = 2024-11-21| date = 2024-10-08| url = https://www.bevnet.com/magazine/issue/2024/imported-beer-brands-look-to-domestic-production-to-meet-consumer-demand}}</ref> For the Hungarian market, Stella Artois is brewed in [[Bőcs]], Hungary, by [[Borsod Brewery]], under licence from InBev. For the Canadian market is brewed by Labatt Brewery in Ontario, Canada.

Stella Artois is available on draught and in several packaged sizes.

An unfiltered version was introduced to the United Kingdom market in 2022.<ref name="unfiltered">{{cite news |last1=Woolfson |first1=Daniel |title=Budweiser Brewing Group plans unfiltered Stella Artois launch |url=https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/new-product-development/budweiser-brewing-group-plans-unfiltered-stella-artois-launch/660796.article |access-date=22 March 2024 |work=The Grocer |date=14 October 2021}}</ref>

==Advertising==
===United Kingdom===
Initially, brewers Whitbread launched Stella in the UK with advertisements featuring the slogan "Stella's for the fellas who take their lager strong". The images showed a Stella-monogrammed half-pint glass (due to its strength) – in one advertisement with a muscular 'glass arm' for a handle, in the other a glass sitting beside a torn-in-half telephone directory. This was the same creative unit which was involved, at the time, in Whitbread's launch of Trophy Bitter "The pint that thinks it's a quart".

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Stella Artois advertising slogan in the United Kingdom was "[[Reassuringly Expensive]]". The UK television advertising campaigns became known for their distinctive style of imitating European cinema and their [[leitmotiv]] inspired by [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s ''[[La forza del destino]]''. The campaigns began with a series of advertisements based on the 1986 French film ''[[Jean de Florette]]'', directed by the British duo [[Anthea Benton]] and Vaughan Arnell, moving on to other genres, including [[war film]]s, silent [[comedy]] and [[surrealism]]. They have used notable film directors such as [[Jonathan Glazer]]. Furthermore, the brand makes extensive use of the French language in its advertising campaigns, even though the beer brand originates from the monolingual Dutch-speaking city of [[Leuven]]. An example of this can be seen in the advertising campaign for Stella Artois Cidre, in which the tag-line "C'est cidre, not cider" is used, although this cider is produced in [[Zonhoven]], which also lies in the Dutch-speaking [[Flemish Region]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://trends.knack.be/economie/nieuws/bedrijven/konings-maakt-stella-artois-cidre/article-1194981416540.htm |title=Konings maakt Stella Artois Cidre |date= 30 March 2011 |access-date=10 September 2012}}</ref>

Stella Artois is advertised as containing "only 4 ingredients: hops, malted barley, maize and water".  Yeast is also an ingredient used in the fermentation process, but almost all of it is removed before packaging. Since 2009, Stella Artois has been suitable for [[vegans]], as [[isinglass]] (fish bladder) is no longer used to remove trace amounts of yeast.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Brand image==
At least since the early 21st century, Stella Artois has carried the nickname of the "wife beater" in the United Kingdom, due to a perceived connection between [[binge drinking]] involving the brand and [[domestic violence|domestic violence against women]]. In January 2012, the online activities of [[AB InBev]] lobbyists, [[Portland Communications]], were exposed in the United Kingdom when [[Tom Watson (Labour politician)|Tom Watson]], a member of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour opposition party]] said that the company (then owned by [[Tim Allan]], a former advisor to ex-Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]]) was trying to [[Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia#Portland Communications|remove references to Stella Artois]] from Wikipedia's [[Wife-beater (disambiguation)|"wife beater" disambiguation page]] and the phrase "wife beater" from this article.<ref>{{cite news |first=Oliver |last=Wright |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lobbying-company-tried-to-wipe-out-wife-beater-beer-references-6284622.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lobbying-company-tried-to-wipe-out-wife-beater-beer-references-6284622.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Lobbying company tried to wipe out 'wife beater' beer references |work=[[The Independent]] |date=4 January 2012 |access-date=14 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/8990671/Portland-brews-up-row-over-wife-beater-Stella.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/8990671/Portland-brews-up-row-over-wife-beater-Stella.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Portland brews up row over 'wife-beater' Stella |first=Anna |last=White |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London |date= 4 January 2012 |access-date=14 March 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Marketing==
Stella Artois has been associated with film in the UK since 1994, organising events, sponsoring television, and hosting a website. Stella Artois has been or is a primary sponsor of the [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]], [[Melbourne International Film Festival|Melbourne]], and [[Sundance Film Festival|Sundance]] film festivals, the [[Independent Spirit Awards]], the [[Dallas International Film Festival]], and the [[Little Rock Film Festival]].

Stella Artois has broadcast several [[Super Bowl ads]], as part of Anheuser–Busch InBev's overall ad buys during the game. The brand made its debut during [[Super Bowl XLV]] in 2011, in an ad starring [[Adrien Brody]]. The commercial was heavily criticised in the [[Belgium|Belgian]] media for giving the impression that the beer is [[French beer|French]].<ref>{{cite web |author=HLN.be |url=https://www.hln.be/hln/nl/929/TV-Gids/article/detail/1219360/2011/02/08/Chique-Franse-Stella-spot-gaat-de-mist-in-op-Super-Bowl.dhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610063332/https://www.hln.be/hln/nl/929/TV-Gids/article/detail/1219360/2011/02/08/Chique-Franse-Stella-spot-gaat-de-mist-in-op-Super-Bowl.dhtml |archive-date=10 June 2016 |title=Chique 'Franse' Stella-spot gaat de mist in op Super Bowl |publisher=De Persgroep Digital |date=8 February 2011 |access-date=10 June 2012 |url-status=bot: unknown  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=De Standaard|url=http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20110208_065 |title=Stella Artois maakt weinig indruk op publiek Super Bow |newspaper=De Standaard |date= 8 February 2011|access-date=10 June 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Beer|Drink|Belgium}}
* [[Artois Bock]]
* [[Beer and breweries by region]]
* [[Peeterman Artois]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070108133538/http://www.studioartois.co.uk/ Studio Artois]: official film website
* [http://www.brasserieartois.com Brasserie Artois: Artois Family of Beers]
* [http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Beer/Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=1478 Rating on RateBeer.com]

{{Anheuser–Busch InBev}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:AB InBev brands]]
[[Category:Belgian beer brands]]
[[Category:Beer in Belgium]]
[[Category:Belgian brands]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1926]]
[[Category:Food and drink introduced in 1926]]