Stella Artois Brings Midnight Lager to the Masses

By Lee Heidel October 23, 2019

Stella Artois’ reputation as a brewery is built on its namesake lager. A crisp, clean beer, Stella Artois leans on a Belgian yeast profile for a bit more bite than its American counterparts and has won the adoration of drinkers in more than 80 countries. The brewery claims 600 years of tradition and its current standing in the pantheon of Anheuser-Busch brands is untouchable. People love their Stella Artois.

But even the most stalwart of legacy brands needs to change and grow. In recent years, Stella Artois has released an apple cider and an alcoholic spritzer. That portfolio expands again this month with the release of Midnight Lager.

Related Videos

stella artois midnight lager — Stella Artois

Midnight Lager is designed for the cooler months of the year when beer drinkers tend to reach for heartier fare. This is the season for porters and stouts — traditionally thicker beers with higher alcohol content. Stella Artois isn’t going that far afield from its flagship quaffable recipe. Midnight Lager is a black lager that retains a mild 5.4% alcohol by volume. Notes of chocolate and coffee are foreshadowed by the beer’s dark coloration. The intended effect is one of warming and comfort without being weighed down by the full mouthfeel or slow carbonation found in thicker brews.

The concept of a seasonal brew is actually a return to Stella Artois’ roots. Originally called the Artois Brewery, “Stella” (Latin for “star”) was added to brand the brewery’s first seasonal beer. A Christmas-time brew designed for the citizens of Leuven, this eventually morphed into the Stella Artois lager of modern times.

For the launch of Midnight Lager, the town of Sleepy Hollow, New York will have five hand-picked taverns pouring the new brew on Halloween. After that spooky send-off, Midnight Lager will be available at stores and bars nationwide starting on November 4, 2019.

To learn more about Midnight Lager, visit the Stella Artois website.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Food & Drink

Here’s how to make a margarita, according to top bartenders

The only margarita recipes you'll ever need

margarita tequila cocktail lime strainer

The best margaritas do not grow on trees, nor do they show up in a can (although there are some tasty canned drinks these days). No, the tastiest version of the tequila classic is made fresh, with love and care and some wisdom from a couple of top bartenders.

It's a balancing act, for sure, but when it's dialed-in, the margarita is one of the best and most refreshing cocktails ever devised. The classic mix of agave spirit, lime, salt, and a touch of sweetness is great alone or with any number of dishes, especially within Mexican cuisine (the nation where the drink was born).

Food & Drink

Bubbly? Full-bodied and red? Zesty and white? Your favorite wine types, explained

All the primary types of wine (and everything you need to know about them)

Glasses of different kinds of wine

Trying to understand everything about wine all at once is an impossible endeavor. Wine is a beautifully complicated, ever-changing quiddity, and even the most decorated and prestigious wine experts in the world often find themselves confounded by its constant little surprises.
That isn't to say that, if you care to, you shouldn't become educated on the subject of wine. It's a hobby and a passion that's tremendously fun to pursue, and there's much to learn on the matter.
If you find yourself in the beginning stages of your wine education, just as in everything, you'll want to start with the basics. It's possible that up until now, you haven't put much thought into the several different kinds of wine there are, except for, say, red and white. But while there are obviously exceptions within every hard and fast rule, for the most part, wine can be broken down into roughly nine categories. Here we'll take a minute to break those categories down, explain what they mean, which wines fall into them, and, our favorite - how to drink those wines.

Sparkling wine

Food & Drink

Sip these American Irish-style stout beers this St. Patrick’s Day

Great Irish-style stouts don't have to come from Ireland to be delicious

best american irish style stout beers left hand nitro

This year, why not put the Guinness down and reach for an American Irish-style stout for St. Patrick’s Day?
Okay, that does sound a tad ridiculous — and honestly, you can’t go wrong with Guinness at all — but American brewers are doing a heck of a job with their Irish-style stouts.
Irish dry stouts are an awesomely simple style, brewed with roasted barley to give off qualities of coffee and chocolate while drying out the finish. Hops add a nice bitterness to balance it all out and it's often nice and thin for excellent drinkability. Generally low in alcohol content, these beers are surprisingly low in calories, too, and can be accentuated with a thick creaminess from nitrogen.
Like other beautifully simplistic beers, these smooth stouts are so often overlooked because big flavor is generally hot in craft beer. Big, boozy barrel-aged stouts and, now, sugary sweet pastry stouts are all the rage, so it's been tough for the American Irish-style stouts to gain any traction. Plus, Guinness was once often the only stout people knew about when there were essentially two beer styles in America: lager and stout.
Never fear, however, with St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, Americans make darn good Irish-style stouts. Here are some of the best. (If you're more of a whiskey person, check out some of the best Irish whiskey.)

Left Hand Brewery Dry Irish Stout Nitro