What comes to mind when someone says “Becks”?
There are two things that jump into mine: Beck’s, the footballer and Becks, the beer. One’s a flashy git, been all over Europe for years, has come to Australia, has had a great pedigree and shows glimpses of greatness every now and again, but doesn’t quite live up to the hype anymore.
The other now lives in Italy and is married to Posh Spice.
That’s right this weeks’ Drop is Becks. It seems that there are two versions of Becks getting around presently. There’s one that’s brewed here, and one that is imported by International Liquor Wholesalers, an arm of Woolworth’s, in the same way that Dan Murphy’s are. The locally brewed product was the one that I tasted.
The first thing you notice is how pale the colour is, almost as pale as a Scotsman in winter. The second thing I noticed that was that even though this is a pilsner, there is no mention of pilsner on the bottle at all. Might be a marketing move as there is a mind set against pilsners. In the glass, Becks doesn’t have a lot in the way of bubbles and the head faded off pretty quickly. On the tongue it seems to be an easy drinking sweet tasting beer with a fruity beginning, then turned to having a very watery finish with no real body to it.
I don’t understand it. These guys have been brewing beer since 1873 in Northwest Germany, and brew to a German purity law that’s been around for about 500 years. The two medals on the front label are medals that were won in its first year of being brewed. Let’s not forget though that that was over 130 years ago, and tastes change. Lord knows that I never minded watching Bob Santa Maria on the box with my parents when I was younger. Now I wonder what was I thinking?
And I wonder the same thing with this beer. What are they thinking? It’s just water, malted barley and hops. So why can’t they get this right, why does this drop offend me? Perhaps I should have another one, you know forgive and forget. So as I sit here now writing, with another Becks in my hand, I’m still as offended by the second bottle as I was by the first.
Hmmm…maybe it gets better after the rest of the six-pack…. nup!