{"id":4233,"date":"2015-12-02T20:28:29","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T03:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brutalhammer.com\/?p=4233"},"modified":"2015-12-02T20:28:29","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T03:28:29","slug":"heineken-pulls-tequila-beer-from-u-s-nobody-notices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brutalhammer.com\/heineken-pulls-tequila-beer-from-u-s-nobody-notices\/","title":{"rendered":"Heineken Pulls Tequila-beer from U.S., Nobody Notices"},"content":{"rendered":"
So much for Desperados<\/a>, gone from the U.S. before most people had a chance to taste it. The Heineken lager that’s aged in tequila barrels and infused with “tequila flavors” is a modest hit overseas, so the brewery introduced it into a few American test markets<\/a> just last year. Evidently things didn’t work out so well, and Heineken quietly announced last week<\/a> that Desperados was departing these shores.<\/p>\n Desperados isn’t the first tequila-themed beer to meet with misfortune here. That would be Tequiza, a beer “with blue agave nectar” for which we have Anheuser-Busch to thank. Tequiza rolled out in 1998 under the slogan “Give it a Shot” — the ads implying that Tequiza was a tequila shot and a beer chaser rolled into one. But at a meager 4.5% ABV Tequiza wasn’t worth a shot. It limped along until 2009 before being mercifully killed.<\/a><\/p>\n American fans of Tequiza and Desperados, if there ever were any, can take comfort in knowing that A-B is back on the case. Behold Oculto<\/a> (Spanish for “hidden”) an “agave-infused” beer about to go nationwide this fall. At least Oculto has a little more kick to it than Tequiza did, coming in at 6% ABV. The labels are artfully designed to resemble Mexican Day of the Dead masks — and, for added thrills, the eye sockets in the skull mask will start to glow when the bottle gets cold.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n