Steinlager (sometimes known as Steinlager Classic) is a

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

-style

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

brewed by

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

East Tāmaki East Tāmaki is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is a largely industrial area adjacent to a rapidly growing population. Prior to the 1960s it was largely a dairy farming area. A landmark is Smales Mountain which in 2010 has the remains of ...

, a suburb of

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. It has won several prizes, notably at beer competitions in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and is New Zealand's biggest

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

beer.

History

In 1957 the New Zealand

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

Arnold Nordmeyer Sir Arnold Henry Nordmeyer (born Heinrich Arnold Nordmeyer, 7 February 1901 – 2 February 1989) was a New Zealand politician and Presbyterian minister. As a member of Parliament (MP) he played a crucial role in the Labour Party, serving fr ...

, threatened to cut international beer imports as part of his "black budget" and challenged New Zealand's brewers to "come up with an international-style lager beer". Lion (then New Zealand Breweries) produced a beer the following year named Steinecker, named after the company whose equipment the beer was made in. The beer's name was changed in 1962, not in response to a challenge from the Steinecker company, but to distinguish it from

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

. In 1973 Steinlager was launched in the

and an American consultant suggested that to become successful the company should change the colour of their bottles to match that of other premium beers. As a result, the original brown bottle colour was changed to green.

Ingredients

According to Steinlager, the Steinlager Pure beer contains

malted barley Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as " malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar ...

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

, yeast and water. The entire Steinlager range of beer is not gluten-free, and isn't considered suitable for those with

coeliac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine. Patients develop intolerance to gluten, which is present in foods such as wheat, rye, spelt ...

Steinlager variants

Steinlager Blue

In 1991, another beer bearing the Steinlager name was introduced. Steinlager Blue was marketed using an advertising campaign featuring

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul music, soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast ...

. The two different tasting beers were known as Steinlager Blue or Steinlager Green which related to the colour of the bottle or can it came in (although Steinlager Blue was sold in a brown bottle). Steinlager Blue was discontinued in the later 1990s, leaving just Steinlager Green which then dropped the green from the name. Note the only reason Steinlager Blue & Green tasted different was the bottle colour. Beers bottled in green or clear bottles degrade under UV light. Both Steinlager beers were brewed in the same vat.

Steinlager Pure

On the first of June 2007 Steinlager Pure was released in the New Zealand market. Steinlager "Pure" and Steinlager "Classic" are now sold alongside each other, with Steinlager Pure positioning itself at the premium end of the beer market. It is marketed with

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor and film producer, known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running associatio ...

Willem Dafoe William James "Willem" Dafoe ( ; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades including a Volpi Cup Award for ...

and

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born April 11, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and musician. He has won several accolades, including a Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and has been nominated for the Palme d'Or, the Golden Lion, and the Bronze Horse. Gallo was ...

Steinlager Premium Light

Introduced in 2000 as a low alcohol variant of Steinlager.

Steinlager Super Cold

Introduced in 2006, Super Cold is simply Steinlager Classic served at 0 degrees

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

Steinlager Edge

Steinlager Edge was a mid-strength, low-carb variant of Steinlager. It is made from the same hops as Classic and Pure but has an alcohol content of just 3.5% compared to 5.0%. It was discontinued in 2013 due to poor sales.

Steinlager Tokyo Dry

In 2016, Steinlager Tokyo Dry was introduced as "New Zealand raw ingredients meet Japanese brewing mastery".

Sponsorship

Steinlager is actively involved in sponsorship of major New Zealand sports teams, probably the most high-profile rugby team in the world, the New Zealand

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team, have had the support of Steinlager since 1986. Steinlager is also the current presenting sponsor of the United States leg of the

IRB Sevens World Series The SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World ...

. Steinlager was involved in yacht racing with the maxi-ketch ''

Steinlager 2 ''Steinlager 2'' is a Bruce Farr-designed yacht. Skippered by Peter Blake, she won the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race and line honours in the 1989 Fastnet Race. She was the only yacht to ever win all six legs of the Whitbread Round ...

'', which was skippered by Peter Blake, won all six legs of the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race, and again in 1995 with

Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a Sailing (sport), sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates (airline), Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competiti ...

with their "

Black Magic Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...

" boat, which won the

Americas Cup The America's Cup is a sailing (sport), sailing competition and the oldest International sport, international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match racing, match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the y ...

by beating

Dennis Conner Dennis Walter Conner (born September 16, 1942) is an American yachtsman. He is noted for winning a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and three wins in the America's Cup. Sailing career Conner was born September ...

's defending boat Stars & Stripes, also known as Young America, 5-nil in the finals' series. Steinlager, along with

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

, ENZA,

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

and

Telecom New Zealand Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications and digital services company providing fixed-line telephone services, mobile phone services, broadband, and digital technology services (including cloud, security, digital transfor ...

, formed the "family of five" major sponsors of

in 1995 and again in their successful defence of the cup in 2000. In 2006, Steinlager provided sponsorship to specific USA Rugby Union teams, including Media Rugby Football Club and York/Lancaster Rugby Football Club, as part of a US marketing campaign.

References

Steinlager History

All Blacks sponsorship deal

More Steinlager info

External links

Steinlager website
{{Brands of New Zealand Kirin brands Beer in New Zealand Beer brands America's Cup