The folks at Grolsch have been busy lately. There’s the new amber ale, which is sure to be a hit with anyone who likes a light, drinkable brew with a little bit of attitude.
“The redesign of the packaging is more attractive and contemporary, which will appeal to both our current Grolsch drinkers and attract new consumers,” said Peter Gyimesi, a guy Grolsch pays handsomely to say such rose-colored things. Like its predecessor, the new Grolsch bottle is green-colored, though a slightly different shade than before that Gyimesi assuredly describes as “eye-catching.” I guess he’s right, since your Imbiber caught sight of a six-pack in his ‘fridge next to a Ziploc bag full of some nasty-looking brown stuff I pray is leftover meatloaf (the lesson here: Never walk your dog while intoxicated). The new logo isn’t all that different from the old one, though I guess you could say it’s a bit more “todayish” than it was yesterday. (Take that, Gyimesi!) Oddly, the new amber ale comes in bottles bearing the old logo, but that curiosity aside, it’s sure to be a hit with anyone who likes a light, drinkable brew with a little bit of attitude. It’s a beer for those whose tastes lie somewhere in the vast golden mean between Guinness and Miller Lite. The Grolsch Amber Ale, which retails for about $8 a six-pack, is triple cold-filtered and made with three different varieties of malt and a proprietary blend of hops from a recipe that dates back to the 17th Century. That’s a long, long time in the business, and that tradition translates to great character and the sort of old soul the new beers on the block simply cannot imitate. (E-mail questions, comments or suggestions for the Imbiber to)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 6, 2005. Read the original PDF.