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:

Those regular readers will know that I’m an Aussie guy living in Europe. Thus when I get to see a bit of home, especially something related the beer from the homeland, I’m only happy to share it.

I should note, that I don’t particularly like VB. Nor am I being paid to publish this video.

I will let the ad speak for itself, however it’s a nice hark back to the masculine drinking ways.

If the video no longer works, be sure to check out VB.com.au.

We’ve all heard of a pizzeria but how about a Birreria?
I found this in the small town of Diano Castello, near the Imperia coastline in Italy. I’m happy for such things to exist

Živjeli!

The one thing that struck me on the Northern Coast of Italy was the large contingent of non-Italian beers that had struck up deals with the local bars. I don’t know about you, but I’m all for new beers being offered to locals, but finding non-Italian beers in bars more regularly than Italian birra was interesting.

Maybe it is because I was staying in a fairly touristic area? Maybe the foreign beer companies had struck a deal with some prominent pubs to get some exposure. Maybe, Maybe Maybe. It’s not uncommon to find big beer brands such as Fosters, Warsteiner or Becks in places here, but I was honestly dumbfounded to find just how many establishments were pushing Tennent’s.

The thing was that this wasn’t just beer being served from bottles or cans, rather this was the house’s tap beer. Plus it wasn’t just the Lager from Tennent’s, but all of their brews:
Lager (4% ABV)
Special (3.5% ABV)
Ember (4.2% ABV)
Light Ale (3.1% ABV)
Super(9.0% ABV)

I think it’s great to see a Scottish brand getting such adoration from a bar in a foreign land. It also got me thinking about the logistics of getting the beer to Italy (as I have confirmed, it’s not brewed locally). Interestingly, this is yet another member of the AB-InBev group. So this could explain why it is where it is.

All of these questions leaves me with ideas for more blog topics… will have to come to those later.

To the beer itself, this was a pretty straight forward lager. Nothing special, nothing to write home about except that I was drinking a Scottish ale on the Italian coastline. It is a good mid-range beer, although I don’t think it was cold enough, which I’ve found a few Italian establishments having problems with. Still I did enjoy this beer at dusk.

To break up the Italian Holiday Birra reports, I thought I’d just slot in this quick review of the
Rothaus Eis Märzen.

You may recall that I have previously reviewed their Hefeweizen. In that article, I point out the cult following this beer has, especially in the southern states of Germany. Because of it’s location it is often referred to as the “pride of the black forest”.

(German lesson for the day: Zäpfle essentially is a common name for a tavern, a tavern owner and sometimes as slang for a drunk)

Anyway to the Märzen at hand. Again regular readers will know that the Märzen discussion amongst us non-Germans has been ongoing. This is bier style that I very much enjoy, although not so much on a summers day, it’s a more spring/autumn drink. So why then am I drinking it in Summer? Well I was in Germany a month or so ago and needed some Benzin (petrol/gas) and hit the gas station for some additional refreshments. As is typical with German roadhouses/gas stations, they always have a collection of local biers for sale. So I picked up the above Rothaus.

I think that maybe it was the wrong time for the bier, but I still enjoyed it. After all it is bier! Still I think that the extra malt and stronger alcohol content should be left for the cooler months. I am sure that when I get to that period, I’ll be happy to re-visit my thoughts on this bier.

At this stage I can only fathom a high 3 steins.

If you’re a regular in the Beer Blogging community, you will be aware of the efforts of Zak Avery over at “Are You Tasting the Pith” in his recent visits to Rome to disclose and show the works of Italian Brewers.

Well today I’m going to add a little to this. During my recent Italian holiday I was having dinner in Imperia and tried the above Oppale from 32 Via Dei Birrai, which appears to be the first Italian Artisan Microbrewery that brews it’s beer entirely from Italian Products and has been certified in doing so (ISO 9001:2008 DNV).

It seems that the stranglehold of the big birra companies in Italy, much like other parts of the world are coming under fire from some very interesting an quality brewers. You might recall that last year I reviewed a couple of brews from the Birra Troll brewery, which in much the same vain is going after the big boys. Good for them I say.

None the less, to the beer. Straight off the top, this was a 5 stein birra. No questions asked.
Why? Well this lovely hopped ale had a fantastic dry, sweet flavour that suited my seafood platter perfectly. It has all the qualities of a good ale; well balance carbonation, hoppy notes, soft on the palate and yet lively and enjoyable all at the same time. (I know, I know a lot of birra waffle, but what a birra!)

If you can somehow get your hands on this outside of Italy, I highly recommend it. I am currently in communication with the brewery about getting a case shipped to Switzerland so that I can enjoy even more of it.

Salute!

Oh and for good measure, here is the back of the botttle:

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.

Yes, Yes, Yes… August is a time where actually posting about beer takes a very distant second place to the actual act of drinking them. I’ve just returned from a rather short lived vacation on the North Italian coastline. Short it was, but it was also enjoyed.

One of the things I do enjoy about travel and one of the major reasons I started this site was to share the experiences and most importantly the beers I get to try with everyone, well those of them that are interested.

No I promise not to harp on too much about Italian Birra. In fact Zak Avery over at “Are You Tasting the Pith” has been doing a stella job. Especially as I’ll be again visiting Rome, I’m looking forward to checking out Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fa.

For those of you who are regular visitors to this site, you may recall that last year I reviewed the G. Menabrea E Figli, well above is a pic I snapped of the same birra, just this time on the Diano Marina beach.

Anyway, just sharing at the moment. No reviews. But will be back soon with some more.

International Beer Challenge Logo

The 2010 International Beer Challenge winners have been announced (and Bob over at the Brew Club managed to attend, bastard!).

Congratulations to all of the winners. What I’m interested in knowing is who has tasted the Sam Adams Pils and Utopia? Are they really that good? Do I need to get on a plane to the USA (giving up my bank details, Fingerprint, DNA, etc on the way)? I mean I’m not adverse to going to the US but it has to be worth it.

Best Low Alcohol Beer – Back-to Back awards for Bill Brewer from Harvey and Son (UK)
Best Ale – Another back-to-back awards for Highlander from Fyne Ales (Scotland)
Best Stout or Porter – Vital Spark from Fyne Ales (Scotland)
Best Wheat Beer – Weihenstephan Hefe Weissbier (Germany) – Their second win in 2 years
Best Lager – Sam Adams Noble Pils (USA)
Best Specialty – Sam Adams Utopia 2009

Supreme Champion – Sam Adams Utopia 2009.

So once again, congrats to the winners.

Now tell me, who’s tried what and what are your thoughts on the winners? Personally I’ve tried the Weihenstephan Hefe Weissbier quite a lot, you can read about my thoughts on my this site and others. So how about the others?