September 4th, 2010 by Nate

Ahhh Holidays

Well I’ve just returned from a rather week long whirlwind tour in Croatia (Hrvatska) and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

If you’re interested in some of the non-beer-photos, check out my other site at Urban Atrophy.

So to the Pivo consumed whilst on tour. I should not that I’ve previously been to Croatia and tried a few of the pivo whilst I was in Zagreb. This time around I was coastal and hung out in Split and Dubrovnik.

The above Karlovačko is a local favourite of the coastal Croatians. It is almost the exact photo that I posted from my phone’s camera, however I like having a bit more clarity and colour from the real camer. Karlovačko is a typical filtered lager, that when served really cold, is actually quite refreshing and enjoyable. It is slight more on the malty side than most lagers, but I enjoyed that sweeter taste whilst sitting seaside. I will say that when it was served just cool (which happens more often than not) the pivo takes on a kind of stretched flavour that doesn’t sit so well.

Bier Adventures Croatian Pivo Drinking tip #1: Drink the Pivo REALLY cold

The situation above was actually just enjoyable as the cold pivo. I drank this pivo in the back lanes of Split whilst enjoying a Dalmatian Pašticada, which is essentially stewed beef and pasta (but DAMN good stewed beef and pasta). The lovely little hole-in-the-wall ‘Konoba’ Trattoria Bajamont was a perfect place to chill out of the crowds.

The Pivo was a 3 Steins, but the experience bump this up to a 4 Stein adventure:

Croatia, Croatian, Dalmatia, Dalmatian, Drinking tip, karlovacko, Lager, Split, Urban Atrophy

August 12th, 2010 by Nate

I’ve just returned from my yearly pilgrimage to the Mediterranean Coast Line. As most Aussies will understand, life without the Sand, Salt, Sun and Surf is tough. Thus this short period of indulgence along the Italian coastline is a small pleasure for me, and one that I can’t get enough of. Therefore I am luck to be be only a short 5 hour drive from the coast, which makes it relatively attainable.

Anyway, I’m here to talk about beer. More specifically, Birra. Regular readers will know that I do have a small penchant for German Biers, their complexity and quality. But what I do tend to try and hide behind my thick wall of Weiss bier favoritism is that I do like my lagers. Why do I like lagers? Well I think it has a lot to do with nostalgia and the fact that most Australian Beer tends to be a variation on the ol’ favourite lager (although this, like in most big beer markets is changing).

But for me there is nothing that categorises ‘summer’ than the daily Swim, kick around of the ‘footy‘ in 30 degree heat. Only to be followed up with a super cold lager. So it comes as no surprise that I enjoyed the above Nastro Azzurro. I’m not going to BS here, it’s not a complicated birra. It doesn’t have any particularly defining qualities, except that it was COLD, sharp and hoppy. That was pretty much. But having this birra after a long day of taking it the summer life was a guilty pleasure.

In the end, shouldn’t that be what beer drinking is about? Well for that matter, consumption should be about? I mean whilst I’m happy to post reviews of beer that are good and bad, I think that most of my ratings generally relate the experience, nae, the adventure related to it.

Beach, Beach beer, Beer, Birra, Italy, Lager, Mediterranean, Nastro Azzurro

July 5th, 2010 by Nate

I posted recently about the Edel Pils from Hebendanz and today I am reviewing the above Festbier from the same establishment.

First allow me a little explanation. Festbier is quite literally “Festival or party beer”. It’s a special beer brewed for a special event. This type of bier is sometimes a Märzen or sometimes it’s more of a unique style brewed for the event, such as Oktoberfest. As I mention in my previous Festbier post, there has been quite a discussion about this over at The Brew Club on the merits of festbiers “>festbiers (namely Oktoberfest) and Märzens.

Märzens generally have stronger malt flavours than a regular Pils or other biers. They also have a higher alcohol content and personally I find Märzens to be more on the ‘chewable’ side of bier, that is a bier that has more texture in the mouth.

So how about the Hebendanz Jubiläums Festbier? Which mind you is the brauerei’s anniversary brew. Well this was a pleasure to drink. It had all of the qualities you’d expect from a good festbier and was quite enjoyable to drink, as well as taste.

Oh and one little factoid that I feel I MUST share with you. The Brauerei Hebendanz is located in the town of Forchheim. An atypical German town with it’s cobblestone streets, old city square and lovely architecture. What is even more interesting is that Forchheim is part of a region called Fränkische Schweiz. In English the region is called “little Switzerland”, not because of any association with Switzerland, rather it is simply resembles the rolling hills of Switzerland and was named as such by the Romantic Period artists.

All this is well and good, but the fact I think most of you are interested in is that the Fränkische Schweiz is the little place in the world that happens to hold the title of having the highest density of private breweries in the world.

Some food for thought eh? Keep an eye out for more information on this topic. I’m going to certainly have more to say on this.

Festbier, German Bier, Hebendanz, Hebendanz Jubiläums Festbier, Märzen, N, Nürnberg/Franconia Adventure

June 21st, 2010 by Nate

When the weather has been summer-like, I’ve been keen to get outside and enjoy it. The above photo was taken on my Balcony during a lovely Saturday afternoon. This is the the St. Georgen Braü Pilsener from the Upper Franconian town of Buttenheim.

This is yet another Small-Medium sized Franconian Brewery that’s been doing it’s thing for over a hundred years. In fact St. Georgen Braü has been around since 1624.

Their Pils to me was actually just as good as an Urquel. A perfect blend of hoppy and citrus like flavours. However as good as this Pils is, I’ve been informed that the brewery makes one hell of a Kellerbier. So good in fact that it’s get shipped throughout Europe to quality beer establishments. I’ve not yet tried this, but I will try and pick some up on my next trip to Nürnberg/Franconia

Buttenheim, Nürnberg/Franconia Adventure, Pils, Pilsner, St. Georgen Braü Pilsener, Upper Franconian

June 19th, 2010 by Nate

Not quite a Fanconian Brewery, but certainly not bad by any shot. The Brauerei Rothenbach in the Swabian region of Bavaria has been brewing some sort of beer since 1796. So there is a little bit of experience at it.

This shows in their Festbier (above) is a typical dark Märzenbier or Marzen. The Brew Club guys have previously discussed the merits of the different types of festbiers (namely Oktoberfest) and Marzens.

This is a actually one of my favourite Märzen’s. It was lovely to drink with a heavy caramel malt flavour and just a small kick of hops. I drank this whilst sitting on the balcony reading a book and couldn’t have been happier.

Bavaria, Brauerei Rothenbach, Fanconian, Festbier, Märzen, Märzenbier, Swabian

June 15th, 2010 by Nate

Until I started writing this review, I had no idea that the above Boddingtons Ale was actually an Inbev brew. This kind of made me a little sad. I really enjoy this Ale. It’s wispy sweetness, it’s typical English low carbonation and chewable feel all make this a good brew. But somehow knowing that it comes from the big brother like Inbev kind of dampens my interest in the Ale.

Here in Switzerland the ale is either served on tap in bars on in a Nitro-Can that has a Widget inside. A widget is essentially used to ensure the head of the beer is stable. Which is quite beneficial when drinking this original Manchester brew. I do recommend reading Wikipedia article about it here: Widget. Interesting idea actually.

Hmmm I’m still stuck here. I actually buy Boddingtons quite often here in order to mix-up my adventures. So Whilst I would love to give this a 5 stein, the Inbev relation brings it down to a 4.

Boddingtons Pub Ale, English Ale, InBev, Manchester

May 26th, 2010 by Nate

Well my collection of biers from in and around the Nürnberg region of Franconia has come to an end. Above it the final bier from my current collection. However, fear not! I am returning to the region in 4 weeks time and will be certain to pack the car up with enough ‘new’ and great biers for drinking and review.

The above Dunkel bier is from the tiny town (1000 people) of Weissenohe. It is kind of your small German towns, old city buildings, cobblestone streets, ugly new concrete buildings, etc, etc, etc. But most importantly, at least for this website, is that they have their own brewery.

The Brewery has been doing it’s ‘thing’, on and off, since 1050 when it was a Benedictine monasteries means of brewing it’s supplies for Lent. No I’m serious, the monk of this region would brew liquid food to allow them to survive during the Lent. Some stories that I’ve been privy too is that the monks were ‘rationed’ 8 liters a day (yes you read that right).

So besides the cool history, I probably should overview the bier itself. This is a wonderful and enjoyable bier. It has great caramel and malty characteristics. Which seems to be beautifully contrasted with an earthy quality that I just couldn’t put my finger on….. maybe as I’d had a couple. Still this is a great bier from another tiny, historic brewery who survives thanks to the interest of the Franconian locals.

PROST!

dunkel, Franconia, German Bier, Nürnberg, Nürnberg/Franconia Adventure, Weißenoher Bonifatius Dunkel, Weissenohe

May 24th, 2010 by Nate

Do I really need to review the Urquell? There are few people who read my blog that would have never tried the effervescent Czech Pils.

My question to you guys is just how many times have you had it out of a can? This was my first experience with it and to be honest, it wasn’t much different. Possibly a little more bitter, but great none the less.
I actually had picked up a 4 pack of these half-litre cans for a recent 5 hour train trip, which was very worth while.

Anyway enough about the king of pils? Would we call it the king of pils? What is your king or favourite pils?

For me it’s not the top of the top bier, but certainly one of the best mass produced biers out there.

Czech Pils, King of Pils?, Pils, Pilsner, Pilsner Urquell

April 26th, 2010 by Nate

Following my previous taste test of the smokey Märzen from Aecht Schlenkerla (remember that “Schlenkerla” is actually derived from the Frankish word “schlenkern” which essentially is an expression for ‘not walking straight’), it was time to review their Weizen.

Exactly like their Märzen, the Weizen has a very predominate aroma of smoke, which to be honest can be a little off putting. However like a good Fromages Français, the initial trepidation leads to an experience of pure tasting pleasure.

I am a fan of Weizen/Weiss Biers. There are no shortage of them on this site. So when I come across something that completely challenges my perspective and interpretation of what a bier can be, I’m always interested. However beyond the simple of interest of trying this bier, this bier rocked my thoughts towards what can be done with wheat biers.

I will say no more than, I really liked this bier and I think that like it’s Märzen cousin, I would very much like to spend more time getting to know it. So I guess it’s off to Bamberg.

Do you have any experience with Aecht Biers? Then please share your thoughts, stories or adventures!

Aecht, Aecht Schlenkerla, Bier, Fanconia, German Bier, Nürnberg, Nürnberg/Franconia Adventure, Rauchbier, Schlenkerla, Smoked Bier, Weißbier, Weiss, weissbier, Weizen

April 18th, 2010 by Nate

Finding a new (ish) brewery in Germany is tough. Most Breweries generally have long traditions and histories that stretch back in time. Even the younger breweries go back longer than I’ve been around on this planet. So it is always nice to come across something unique and new.

As part of my Nürnberg/Franconia Bier Adventure I was presented with the above Lösch-Zwerg – Würzig bier. Allow me to break this down for you:

Lösch-Zwerg has only been around for 12 years and takes a number of unique perspectives on the German Bier industry. These guys actively advertise themselves as a cult bier, which seems quite true with their following. The first and probably initially distinct is the bottle. Bucking the trend of the major and most other brands, Brauerei Lösch-Zwerg has decided to go with a unique 0.33-Liter bottle that is not only smaller (than the traditional half-litre) but also not part German Bottle Recycle industry:

Quick tangent: In Germany most bier, softdrink (soda) and other recyclable bottles or jars are made in a way that allows for them to be collected, cleaned and then reused without needing to crush them, re-shape them, etc. This is why many of the German bottles in my photos look like scratched, this Schneider Weisse is a good example. The bottles can be reused with any brand of bier, thus quite good for the environment and for glass production costs at the brewery.

OK back from that little story. So the Lösch-Zwerg is actually quite unique in it’s bottling process and distribution.

Something else to keep in mind, this brewery actually uses Open Vat Fermentation, in which the bier sits for 7 days. Something that isn’t too common nowadays.

Now to the name Würzig: It literally translates in to “Fruity/spicy” in English. Which is bang on for this bier’s flavour. The You can smell the hoppy and fruity mix of aromas just before you sip it. The bier has been filtered and is very clear, but also has a great golden lager colour. The texture unfortunately is actually kind of soapy, yeah soapy, I really don’t know how else to describe it. The flavour is good, slightly surprising but in the end this is a variation of a lager, albeit a good – if not very good variation. Certainly a bier I can recommend.

I really enjoyed this bier, and the experience of learning more about the Brewery. I recommend checking out their website (in German, but still good to learn about them).

Bier, German Bier, Lösch-Zwerg, Lösch-Zwerg - Würzig, Nürnberg/Franconia Adventure, Spicy, Würzig