Heineken Lager Beer (Dutch: Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken (pronounced [ˈɦɛinəkə(n)]), 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.
On 15 February 1864,Gerard Adriaan Heineken (1841–1893) bought De Hooiberg (The Haystack) brewery on the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal canal 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 and it 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.
In Heineken’s early years, the beer won four awards:
- Medaille d’Or (gold medal) at the International Maritime Exhibition (International Exhibition of Marine and River Industries) in Paris in May 1875.
- Diplome d’Honneurs (Honorary Diploma) at the International Colonial and Export Exhibition in Amsterdam in 1883.
- Grand Prix (Grand Prize) at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889.
- Hors Concours Membre du Jury in Paris in 1900.
The two awards that are still mentioned on the label are the Medaille d’Or and Diplome d’Honneurs.
In 2013, Heineken joined leading alcohol producers as part of a producers’ commitments to reducing harmful drinking.
By the end of February 2013, Heineken had stopped producing the brown bottles used for the Dutch market in favor of the green color of bottles it already used for exports.
In 2014, Heineken celebrated its 150th anniversary. In 2015, Heineken won the Creative Marketer of the Year Award, becoming the second company to win the award twice.
The original brewery where Gerard Adriaan Heineken first started making Heineken is now the Heineken Experience Museum.
