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Historic Beer Birthday: Leo Van Munching Jr.

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Today is the birthday of Leo Van Munching Jr. (April 7, 1926-February 15, 2016). He was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, but moved with his family after prohibition. His father, Leo van Munching Sr. started importing Heineken beer under the name “Van Munching & Co., and he and his son built it into a powerhouse imported beer brand. Sales Agents UK has an overview of their business strategy in a short piece entitled Leo Van Munching – The Story of the US Heineken Mogul.

This is his obituary from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Leo Van Munching Jr., whose stewardship of the importing company started by his father made the Dutch-brewed beer Heineken and its low-calorie sibling, Amstel Light, familiar brand names in the United States, died on Sunday at his home in Darien. He was 89.

The cause was heart failure, his son Philip said.

Heineken, which was first brewed in the 19th century, was the first European beer to be shipped to this country after the end of Prohibition. It was Mr. Van Munching’s father, Leo van Munching (the father preferred the lowercase v, the son the uppercase V), who recognized the business opportunity, and persuaded Heineken executives to allow him to represent the brand in the United States.

He arrived from the Netherlands with 50 cases of beer and his young family shortly after the repeal in December 1933 of the 18th amendment to the Constitution that had banned the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. Earlier that year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had signed the Beer and Wine Revenue Act that legalized (and taxed) beverages containing no more than 3.2 percent alcohol. “I think this would be a good time for beer,” the president declared.

Exports from the Netherlands were curtailed a few years later during World War II, but in 1946, the elder Mr. van Munching established Van Munching and Company as the lone American distributor of Heineken products.

Spurred by the beer’s popularity among American soldiers, who had enjoyed it in Europe, and by an advertising campaign that underscored its cachet as a foreign beer, sales were brisk. In 1951, The New York Times reported that sales of Heineken in the United States totaled more than 4.6 million bottles, an increase of 49 percent from 1950, a period when beer sales as a whole increased by only 1.2 percent.

That was just about the time that the younger Mr. Van Munching went to work for the company, shortly after graduating from college in 1950. He worked closely with his father for a quarter-century, establishing regional offices and, through advertising and marketing, helping to lift American recognition of the Heineken brand.

The Van Munching name grew in prominence as well, largely because of radio ads for Heineken that closed with an announcer saying: “Imported by Van Munching and Company, New York, New York.” By the mid-1970s, Leo Jr. was running day-to-day operations; he was officially named president in 1980.

By then, Heineken had been the best-selling imported beer in America for eight years, and according to Advertising Age, in 1979, it accounted for a whopping 41 percent of all imported beer sales in the country. Under Mr. Van Munching, the family company introduced other brands to the United States (including Grizzly, a Canadian-brewed beer, whose radio ads featured a not terribly well-known comedian named Jerry Seinfeld).

But perhaps more significantly, he increased Heineken product sales: He persuaded Heineken, which had bought the Amstel brewery, then in Amsterdam, in 1968, to begin producing a low-calorie beer for export; it arrived in the United States as Amstel Light in the early 1980s, initially marketed with women as a target.

Beginning in the mid-1970s, he marketed Heineken with television advertising for the first time, focusing on the beer’s distinctive green bottle and a slogan promoting its documented popularity: “America’s No. 1-selling imported beer.”

By the late 1980s, fending off a challenge from Mexican beers that were being marketed to younger drinkers — by then, the decade had minted (and named) a new demographic, yuppies, who gravitated to trendy imports — Heineken changed its advertising direction, which was focused by a tagline: “When you’re done kidding around, Heineken.”

Mr. Van Munching sold his company to Heineken in the early 1990s (he ran it for them until 1993), and when he left, it was still the leading American import. By 1997, however, Heineken had yielded the top spot to Corona Extra. As of 2015, it had yet to reclaim it.

Mr. Van Munching was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on April 7, 1926. His father had been a ship’s steward for the Holland/America cruise line before he began importing beer. His mother was the former Maria Molt.

The family lived in Weehawken, N.J., where Mr. Van Munching attended high school. He joined the Navy, serving in Hawaii at the end of World War II. Afterward, he studied business and management at the University of Maryland on the G.I. Bill of Rights.

In later years, among his many philanthropic donations were gifts totaling $11 million to his alma mater, where Van Munching Hall is the home of the Robert H. Smith School of Business.

And this obituary is from his hometown paper of Darien, Connecticut, the Darien Times:

Leo Van Munching, Jr., who guided Heineken’s decades-long dominance in the US imported beer market, died February 14th after a long illness. The Darien resident was 89.

Born in 1926 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Leo and his family immigrated to the United States upon the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. His late father, Leo, Sr., came as a representative of the Heineken brewery and eventually established the independent Van Munching & Company as the sole US importer of Heineken brands.

Leo served as a ‘Seabee’ in the 35th Special Naval Construction Battalion on Oahu, Hawaii from 1944 to 1946. Upon discharge from the Navy, he enrolled in the University of Maryland on the G.I. Bill, earning a degree from the College of Business and Management in 1950.

He then went to work for Van Munching & Company, establishing regional offices in major markets around the country and developing both the brand imagery and the distribution network that led to Heineken’s preeminence in the expanding imported beer segment. He married Margaret (Peggy) Pratt in 1953, and moved his quickly growing family to Chicago and Los Angeles before settling in Connecticut, where he took over as president of Van Munching & Company. He remained in that role until his retirement in 1993.

During his time with Van Munching & Company, no other brand approached Heineken’s position as the largest-selling imported beer. After cajoling the Heineken Brewery to create a low-calorie version of its Amstel brand, Leo guided Amstel Light to the top sales spot in the imported light beer segment.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions and personal dedication to US-Netherlands trade relations, and his promotion of goodwill for the Netherlands in the United States, the Dutch government honored him with The Order of Orange-Nassau in 1982. Six years later, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in the US also recognized his role in the expansion of trade between the two countries, presenting him with the George Washington Vanderbilt Award.

Leo’s efforts as a philanthropist – often anonymous – were substantial and far-reaching. Many of his contributions were made out of appreciation for the opportunities he and his family enjoyed in America. He became involved in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in honor of his mother, Mia, who he said was greatly affected by seeing the statue as an arriving immigrant.

He donated Van Munching Hall, home of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, in part to thank the university for its kind treatment of the veterans of World War II. In addition to building the home for the University of Maryland’s business school, Leo was a member of the school’s Dean’s Advisory Council, an honorary trustee of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board, and in 2012, was given the Tyser Gottwals Award in honor of his outstanding service to the university.

Leo’s fervent commitment to supporting education led him to a long-standing relationship with Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport. His support of that school, both as a benefactor and member of the Advisory Board, prompted the Diocese of Bridgeport to honor him with the Order of St. Augustine Medal of Service in 2012. He and Peggy were also strong supporters of the St. Margaret Mary School in the Bronx.

Closer to home, Leo and Peggy established the Van Munching Rehabilitation Unit at Stamford Hospital, which helps people with chronic or disabling illnesses or injuries restore their mobility and independence. The excellent care he received at the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center prompted Leo to make a founding donation to the Margaret M. Dyson Vision Research Institute. Leo was also a leadership donor to the construction of the new Darien Library, which opened in 2009. He was an active supporter of several Darien-based charities, and a member of the Wee Burn Country Club.

This plaque hangs at the University of Maryland, Van Munching’s alma mater, which he attended after World War 2.

Historic Beer Birthday: Henry Pierre Heineken

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Today is the birthday of Henry Pierre Heineken (April 3, 1886-May 3, 1971). He was born in Amsterdam, the son of Gerard Adriaan Heineken (although there is mention that he was not a biological son, but without explanation). He became the second director of the Heineken brewery. Heineken studied chemistry beginning in 1905 at the University of Amsterdam, where he also obtained his doctorate in 1914. After the sudden death of his father, Gerard Adriaan Heineken, in 1893 the company was run by a board led by his mother, Mary Tindal. From October 1, 1914, he was on the board of the Heineken Brewery Society, and in 1917 he became president.

According to Dutch Wikipedia:

Henry Pierre continued his father’s success and guided the company through the economic crisis of the 1930s. He took care of the purchase of a brewery in Brussels in 1927 for expansion outside Netherlands. One of the most important contributions made by Henry Pierre was to increase production while maintaining quality. In addition, he became known for his progressive social policy.

He continued to be involved in the company until 1951, although his son Freddy Heineken had already taken over the management in 1941. H.P. Heineken also served as chairman of the Board of Directors of NV Het Concertgebouw.

Henry Pierre as a young man.

Another curious tidbit I discovered about him is that “[i]n addition to product quality, his name is associated in particular with the progressive social policy he pursued, a policy that earned him his nickname, the ‘red brewer.'”

The Heineken Brewery around 1899.

And here’s some of his accomplishments from a Van Der Meer online history of the brewery.

Heineken was President Director of HEINEKEN from 1917 until 1940. Under his leadership, HEINEKEN became  the first company that had pension regulations (1923). From 1940 to 1951 he was delegated commissioner.  in 1938 he became knight in order of the Dutch Lion, and in France he got “Legion d’Honneur”. His name is attached to the “H.P. Heineken price” that is given every 3 years to the person who did an exeptional performance.  He established breweries in Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, the Belgian Congo and Egypt.

Heineken’s first beer truck, in 1900.

Historic Beer Birthday: Alfred Heineken

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heineken-white
Today is the birthday of Alfred “Freddy” Heineken (November 4, 1923-January 3, 2002). “He was the grandson of Gerard Adriaan Heineken, who was the founder of the brewery Heineken” in 1864. Under his management, it became a global company and today one of the largest breweries in the world.

a-heineken

He entered the service of the Heineken company – which by then was no longer owned by the family – on June 1, 1941 and bought back stock several years later, to ensure the family controlled the company again. He created the Heineken Holding that owned 50.005% of Heineken International; he personally held a majority stake in Heineken Holding. By the time of his resignation as chairman of the board in 1989 he had transformed Heineken from a brand that was known chiefly in the Netherlands to a brand that is currently famous worldwide.

Freddy-Heineken-holding-a-beer

Heineken married Lucille Cummins, an American from a Kentucky family of bourbon whiskey distillers. Heineken died unexpectedly from pneumonia on January 3, 2002 at the age of seventy-eight in his home in Noordwijk. The businessman died around 6pm in the presence of his immediate family, including his daughter Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken. Heineken struggled for some time with deteriorating health, in 1999 he suffered a mild stroke but recovered. Shortly before his death he broke his arm in a fall. Heineken was buried at the General Cemetery in Noordwijk. Heineken’s daughter, Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, inherited his fortune. Heineken was a member of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

One dark period of life occurred when he was kidnapped and held for ransom in 1983.

Freddy Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer were kidnapped in 1983 and released on a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders (about 16 million Euros). The kidnappers Cor van Hout, Willem Holleeder, Jan Boelaard, Frans Meijer, and Martin Erkamps, were eventually caught and served prison terms. Before being extradited, Van Hout and Holleeder stayed for more than three years in France, first on the run, then in prison, and then, awaiting a change of the extradition treaty, under house arrest, and finally in prison again. Meijer escaped and lived in Paraguay for years, until he was discovered by Peter R. de Vries and imprisoned there. In 2003, Meijer halted resisting his extradition to the Netherlands, and was transferred to a Dutch prison to serve the last part of his term.

There have been two films about the incident, one in the Netherlands starring Rutger Hauer, and a more recent one starring Anthony Hopkins, entitled “Kidnapping Mr. Heineken , released in 2015.

FreddyHeineken

Here’s his obituary from the New York Times:

Alfred Henry Heineken, who built an Amsterdam brewer into one of the world’s biggest beer companies, died on Thursday at his home in the Dutch coastal town of Noordwijk. He was 78 and died of pneumonia.

Mr. Heineken, who was known as Freddy, created the green bottle that helped Heineken become synonymous with imported beer in the United States. Aided by the company’s marketing, Heineken was the best-selling import in the United States for many years before it was dethroned by Corona of Mexico in 1998.

Born in Amsterdam in 1923, Mr. Heineken began working for his family’s brewing company at the age of 18, during World War II. The company was started in 1863 by his grandfather Gerard Heineken, who persuaded his mother to back him financially by arguing that there would be fewer displays of drunken behavior on the streets if the Dutch were able to drink a good beer instead of gin.

His grandson Freddy would prove himself equally gifted in the art of persuasion, directing Heineken’s advertising and marketing efforts. ”Had I not been a beer brewer I would have become an advertising man,” he once said.

Shortly after the war, he went to New York and walked the streets of Manhattan presenting samples of Heineken to bartenders. His two years in New York changed Mr. Heineken’s life. Not only did he learn about the export market that would make the company one of the three global giants in beer — behind Anheuser-Busch of the United States and neck-to-neck with Interbrew of Belgium — he also found the partner of his life. In 1948, he married Lucille Cummins, the daughter of a whiskey-making family in Kentucky.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Heineken is survived by his daughter, Charlene, and five grandchildren. Family members continue to control Heineken Holding, which owns 50.1 percent of the brewing company, Heineken N.V.

Freddy Heineken began working at the company’s headquarters in Amsterdam in 1951, and set up its advertising department. He made Heineken’s brand color a bright green and oversaw the bottle’s distinctive design, with the red star logo and a black banner bearing the Heineken name. ”I don’t sell beer, I sell warmth” was his motto.

His talents were not limited to sales and marketing. In 1954, he succeeded in regaining the family’s controlling interest in the brewing company, which his father had sold in 1942.

From 1971 to 1989, Mr. Heineken served as chairman of Heineken, setting the company’s long-term strategy nearly single-handedly. Under his leadership, Heineken grew into a global powerhouse.

Heineken, which says it was the first brewer to export to the United States after Prohibition, had particularly strong growth in the American market. In 1960, the company sold a million cases of beer in the United States; 40 years later, the company sold more than 53 million cases, according to Impact, a beverage industry publication.

The company acquired a Dutch rival, Amstel, in 1968, and Murphy’s of Cork, Ireland, a brewer of stout, in 1970. Today, Heineken has 110 breweries in more than 50 countries. Its beer can be found in more than 170 countries.

Mr. Heineken became one of the wealthiest men in Europe and enjoyed near royalty status in the Netherlands.

But his life was turned upside down in November 1983, when he and his chauffeur were kidnapped. The two men were chained to neighboring concrete cells for three weeks before the Dutch police raided a warehouse in Amsterdam and freed them. The rescue came after a ransom, said to be more than $10 million, was paid.

Afterward, Mr. Heineken limited his public appearances and became very protective of his family’s private life. In 1989, he relinquished his control of the brewing company but he continued to play a role in its running right up to his death.

In November, he resigned as chairman of the holding company that owns a majority stake in Heineken N.V. His daughter, Charlene, was supposed to take over some of Mr. Heineken’s responsibilities at a shareholders meeting in April, but will now do so immediately, the company said. His family will retain its majority ownership of the company.

Outside of brewing, Mr. Heineken played an active role in promoting science and the arts. In 1964, in honor of his father, he founded the Dr. H. P. Heineken Foundation, which awards cash prizes for pioneering work in biochemistry and biophysics. In the 1980’s, Mr. Heineken started a second foundation in his own name that awards cash prizes to the sciences and the arts.

commissaris-heineken

Historic Beer Birthday: Gerard Adriaan Heineken

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Today is the birthday of Gerard Adriaan Heineken (September 28, 1841-March 18, 1893). In 1864, he founded the Heineken brewing dynasty that’s still family-owned today.

This is part of the Wikipedia page for Heineken:

On 15 February 1864, Gerard Adriaan Heineken (1841–1893) convinced his wealthy mother to buy De Hooiberg (The Haystack) brewery in Amsterdam, a popular working-class brand founded in 1592. In 1873 after hiring a Dr. Elion (student of Louis Pasteur) to develop Heineken a yeast for Bavarian bottom fermentation, the HBM (Heineken’s Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij) was established, and the first Heineken brand beer was brewed. In 1875 Heineken won the Medaille D’Or at the International Maritime Exposition in Paris, then began to be shipped there regularly, after which Heineken sales topped 64,000 hectolitres (1.7 million U.S. gallons), making them the biggest beer exporter to France.

Here are some “interesting facts” about the early days of Heineken from the website First Versions:

  • In 1869 Gerard Heineken decided to switch from traditional top fermentation to the Bavarian method of bottom fermentation, a totally different technique that produces a clearer, purer beer, which keeps longer.
  • On January 11, 1873, Heineken’s Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij NV (HBM) was established, and Gerard Heineken was appointed President.
  • A second brewery was opened in Rotterdam in 1874.
  • In 1886 Dr. Hartog Elion, a pupil of the French chemist Louis Pasteur, developed the “A-yeast” in the Heineken laboratory. This yeast is still the key ingredient of Heineken beer.
The Heineken Brewery in 1867.

And this is from the Heineken N.V. Wikipedia page:

The Heineken company was founded in 1864 when the 22-year-old Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought a brewery known as De Hooiberg (the haystack) in Amsterdam. In 1869 Heineken switched to the use of bottom-fermenting yeast. In 1873 the brewery’s name changed to Heineken’s Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij (HBM), and opened a second brewery in Rotterdam in 1874. In 1886 Dr. H. Elion, a pupil of the French chemist Louis Pasteur, developed the “Heineken A-yeast” in the Heineken laboratory. This yeast is still the key ingredient of Heineken beer.

And this longer biography is a Google translation of Oneindig Noord-Holland:

Gerard was born in Amsterdam in 1841 as the son of Cornelis Heineken and Anna Geertruida van der Paauw. He grew up with his brother and two sisters at a time when various contagious diseases were haunting the city. Many fled from run-down and impoverished Amsterdam. Gerard’s half-sister died in 1851 and his brother Adriaan, who was only eight years old, died two months later.

Gerard was a child of his time: he had a great interest in art, the history of the city and new technological developments. In 1863 Gerard had his eye on the somewhat dilapidated De Hooiberg brewery on the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal in Amsterdam. Gerard’s move to take over the brewery was, to say the least, remarkable. The consumption of beer, still the national folk drink in the 17th century, had only declined. Preference was often given to wine, coffee, cocoa or tea and for the workers, gin and brandy were sufficient, which also had a better shelf life than beer. In addition, the quality of beer had recently deteriorated, so that the brewing industry enjoyed little prestige.

What probably appealed to Gerard was the technical aspect of brewing. It was a time when many new techniques were being developed and with that much progress was possible. In England, partly due to the steam engine, the beer industry had grown to such an extent that it was comparable to the textile industry or mining. In addition, beer was considered a blessing for public health in the Netherlands. If people wanted to move forward and regain their former prosperity, they had to drink the gin and the beer. Beer was therefore an ideal product to invest in if you had money and enough guts.

Gerard had a nose for entrepreneurship and managed to bring the beer back to the man. The switch to the so-called Beijerse or bottom-fermented beer was the first major success. Expansion soon became necessary and three years later the first stone was laid for a new factory on Stadhouderskade.

To keep up, Gerard made sure that the most modern techniques were used in the brewery. He was the first to buy a very expensive ice cream machine, which solved the cooling problems in one fell swoop. Yet the brewery is not only doing well. The international market and Paris in particular remains difficult to conquer. There was strong competition from Germany but also from our own city, where Amsterdam’s Amstel beer provided exciting times. Nevertheless, Gerard always managed to come back as the largest Dutch beer brewery.

While 1893 seemed to be a quiet year, disaster struck on March 18 for Gerard. He collapsed during a meeting, after which he died almost immediately: a heart attack. His son Henry Pierre Heineken (1886-1971) would eventually take over, but lacked business acumen and interest and did more harm than good. Fortunately, his son, the well-known Freddy Heineken (1923-2002), seemed to have inherited more of his grandfather’s talent for trade and leadership. Freddy did everything he could to get the company back into the hands of the Heinekens and would then be able to turn Gerard’s beer brand into a global brand.

Beer In Ads #3367: Heineken Sax

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Saturday’s ad is for Heineken, from around 2017. From the late 1800s until the 1980s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. I’ve been posting vintage European posters all last year and will continue to do so in 2020. This one was created for Heineken, which was founded as De Hooiberg in 1592 in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands. The Heineken family bought the brewery and renamed it in 1864. This poster was created by the Puerto Rican design firm SanFeliu.

Beer In Ads #3366: Enjoy Again!

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Friday’s ad is for Heineken, from maybe the 1960s. From the late 1800s until the 1980s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. I’ve been posting vintage European posters all last year and will continue to do so in 2020. This one was created for Heineken, which was founded as De Hooiberg in 1592 in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands. The Heineken family bought the brewery and renamed it in 1864. I’m not sure who created this poster.

Beer In Ads #3365: Among Friends We Drink Heineken

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Friday’s ad is for Heineken, from maybe the 1960s. From the late 1800s until the 1980s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. I’ve been posting vintage European posters all last year and will continue to do so in 2020. This one was created for Heineken, which was founded as De Hooiberg in 1592 in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands. The Heineken family bought the brewery and renamed it in 1864. The text at the top, “Entre amis on boit Heineken la bière de l’élite,” Google translates as “Among friends we drink Heineken the beer of the elite.” Since it mentions being imported in the text, as well, this was undoubtedly for sales in another country, but I’m not sure which one nor do I know who created this poster.

Beer In Ads #3364: Heineken Eyes

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Thursday’s ad is for Heineken, from 1953. From the late 1800s until the 1980s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. I’ve been posting vintage European posters all last year and will continue to do so in 2020. This one was created for Heineken, which was founded as De Hooiberg in 1592 in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands. The Heineken family bought the brewery and renamed it in 1864. This poster was created by Dutch artist Frans Mettes.

Beer In Ads #3363: Heineken’s Bokbier Flowers

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Wednesday’s ad is for Heineken, from maybe the 1930s. From the late 1800s until the 1980s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. I’ve been posting vintage European posters all last year and will continue to do so in 2020. This one was created for Heineken, which was founded as De Hooiberg in 1592 in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands. The Heineken family bought the brewery and renamed it in 1864. I don’t know who created this poster.

Beer In Ads #3362: Delicious Clear Heineken

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Tuesday’s ad is for Heineken, from maybe the 1970s. From the late 1800s until the 1980s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. I’ve been posting vintage European posters all last year and will continue to do so in 2020. This one was created for Heineken, which was founded as De Hooiberg in 1592 in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands. The Heineken family bought the brewery and renamed it in 1864. The text at the bottom, “Heerlijk, helder Heineken,” Google translates as “Delicious clear Heineken.” Ah, remember when beer being clear was a positive descriptor?