So there I was in Harry’s Market, part of the Whole Foods empire, when I saw it: Peter’s Brand Classics, a beer described on the can as “A Dutch Style Pilsener Superior Quality”. Now, I just had to buy some because I remembered this beer from the 90s when my old boss at Mac’s Liquors (we’ll call him Jeff because, well, that’s his name) brought this beer in for three reasons:

1.   It was imported (from Holland)

2.   It tasted like Heineken (also from Holland)

3.   It was cheap

I remember it in 12-ounce bottles for the even then remarkable price of $3.99 a six-pack, all 6 wrapped in clear plastic. I haven’t seen this beer in ages, 20 years almost, so was curious as to how it fared today. It is often confused with Brand beer though they are two distinct beers, as I wrote on October 15^th of 1998:

No, two different beers from two different breweries. "Brand" beer, or the brewery at least dates back to 1340 and is located in Limburg in the Netherlands. Last I knew it was imported by Brand Beer Inc. from Roswell, GA.

Peter's is from Union Export Brewery in Amersfoort.

Today, the can tells me that this beer is still a product of Union Export Brewery of Breda, Holland. My cans, however, are now brewed in Germany under license by Hofbrauhaus Wolters of Braunschweig. It is imported by Mutual Wholesale Liquor of Commerce, California.

Peter’s Brand Classics has an alcohol content of 5% by volume. The price is twice as much as it commanded in the mid-90s ($7.99 today), but it now comes in six-packs of 16.9 ounce cans. Not bad considering 20 years of inflation. My can is stamped as best before 12.06.17, which in the European format would be June 12^th.

Peter’s Brand Classics pours to a deep golden color with a thick fluffy white head and a decided crisp malt and grassy hop nose. Taking a sip, the beer is full of crisp biscuity malt, oodles of it up front; a lot like chewing on a handful of fresh malt. Though the malt flavors are well presented, the body is a bit lacking and slightly thin. It does lead into a very grassy, quite dry finish with a lingering bitterness on the tongue.

Peter’s Brand has always been a budget beer, and with that in mind I give it 3.5 stars on its own merits plus a half star for the price. It’s an easy drinking beer with malt and hop above and beyond what you’ll get in a macro lager for about the same price. Why drink cheap beer when you can drink good beer cheaply? That’s what Peter’s Brand has always been about.



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