October 30th, 2009 by Nate

Over the weekend, I undertook the first stages of fermenting my very first bier. I am finally moving from being just a consumer to actually being produce. This should be quiet the experience seeing as my only previous experience is the drinking process.

During the initial stages of my setting up the first brew, I consumed some Swiss Biers from the Monstein Brewery . The Brewery is located near Davos, high in the Swiss Alps. What is great about this brewery (which I’ve not visited, but hopefully will be soon) is that they brew some specialty biers to be had with unique Swiss Foods, such as Fondue. I should point out here that most people will tell you to NEVER have beer with Fondue, unless of course you like a concrete-like block of cheese in your stomach. So I am very much looking forward to trying this on in the coming months.

The two biers pictured above were found in my local supermarket (I don’t know who is buying their bier, but they are doing a great job at getting quite the collection). Of these two I was quite partial to the Monsteiner Mungga (Mungga is a small, Swiss groundhog like creature) bier. Which I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this top-fermented bier with it’s wonderful toffee and nutty overtones, which seemed to suit the malty air in my kitchen, thanks to the brew.

The second bier, the Bock, wasn’t bad by any standards. However it just didn’t jump out at me and to be honest tasted more like the Mungga than a Bock.

What I am REALLY happy to find is that there are some quality Bier brewers in Switzerland. For a while there I was very worried, mainly because the French-Speaking part I’m in seems to either brew or import stuff I wouldn’t even give to the dog. None the less, I do believe we are staring to open a door into the quite varied Swiss Bier culture.

As a total these get 3 steins. The Mungga was a 4, but was let down by the Bock:

2009, Ale, Beer, Bier, Bock, Swiss Bier, Swiss Bier/Bière/Birra, Switzerland, Top-Fermented

October 28th, 2009 by Nate

In an attempt to try some new flavours, I recently purchased some Young’s Ale from my local supplier.

This was a surprisingly good ale. Plain and simple.

I do appreciate this top-fermented cousin of the Weissbier, and have been a fan of English Ale’s since visiting York in 2008. None the less the above Special London Ale was quite malty and enjoyable with a fantastic dry, fruit like kick to it. Although not being an expert on Ales, I still enjoyed this and will happily give this 4 steins:

English Ale, English Beer, Special London Ale, Top-Fermented, Young's

October 26th, 2009 by Nate

Well during the Oktoberfest expedition, there was the moment of the ‘morning after’. In which we had realised that we’d parked our car in a park house that is locked on the weekends (!?!?!?) and in the process of waiting for the owner to open the garage it was decided that a bier was need to get our engines running.

The cafe we managed to get a table at was located on Neuhauser Straße near the Augustinerkirche (Augustiner Church) and thus they served the appropriately named Augustiner Bräu.

A quick history and personal perspective on this Brewery. I actually accidentally stumbled on a bottle of their Lagerbier Hell back in 2007 when I was living in Frankfurt and completely enjoyed it. I was also very interested in the label’s design and history. I found out that Augustiner is the only independent brewery left in München (the others have all become part of bigger companies such as INBEV). Not only is it independent, the brewery has been creating the magical malt mélange since 1328. So there is some ‘propper’ brewing skills here!

Anyway to the adventure and experience of drinking these biers, they may have been breakfast biers but by all means this was the perfect way to start the day and to prepare for the next round at the Wiesn. Not to mention that their Weissbier is one of the best I’ve ever had, here is 5 steins:

Beer, Bier, German Bier, hefeweizen, Lager, Munchen, Munich, Oktoberfest, Weißbier, weissbier

October 24th, 2009 by Nate

The ‘fest is over for another year, however the bier keeps popping up.
Last week I was in my local super market when I cam across this case of Löwenbräu Oktoberfestbier. Now I’ve previously reviewed the adventure of drinking this bier at Oktoberfest and this chance to have a ‘few’ more of this Märzen gave me a chance to reflect on the quality of the bier.

The thing that has become apparent to me is quite simply how ‘light’ the Löwenbräu Oktoberfestbier is. Especially as this is meant to be a Märzen, which traditionally is a darker and richer bier. The Oktoberfestbier is quite light that it’s almost a rich lager/pils. Having said that there are some distinct differences to make it stand out from Pils. The key is the Malty flavour strength versus the Hoppy flavour of the Pils (not to mention the higher, albeit slightly, alcohol content). This is what, for me, distinguishes the Löwenbräu Märzen as a Märzen. It may not be a ‘traditional’ Märzen, but it certainly is a Märzen.

Thinking about the origin of this bier I realised that whilst I am a fan of the traditional Märzen, there really is no way people would consume it (with it’s higher alcohol taste, heavier flavour and texture) in the number and style that is synonymous with Oktoberfest. I am aware that the bier has changed over the last 20 years or so, however and maybe this is purely a romantic notion inspired the Gemütlichkeit and experiences of the festival, I really do enjoy this bier.

Prost.

Beer, Bier, German Bier, Lager, Löwenbräu, Märzen, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest 2009, Oktoberfestbier, Pils

October 22nd, 2009 by Nate

With my US and Canadian friends in tow we pub crawled our way around Lausanne. We hit one of my locals, le Bleu Lézard and decided to ‘sink’ a Kwak.

Many years ago this was the bier that opened my palate to the experience of bier other than the stereotypical Aussie Lager. This Amber with it’s 8% alcohol content is extremely direct with it’s flavour and, lets be honest, is quite warming for the winter months. Besides the strong ale like qualities and the deep crimson colour, the obvious attraction of this bier is the way in which it is served.

The wooden ‘holder’ allows you to enjoy the contents in the ‘yard glass’ like flask with a certain kind of old world charm. It has been a while since I’ve enjoyed this Belgian export, I guess the next one should be in Belgium.

Amber, Ambre, Belgian Bier, Bleu Lézard, Lausanne

October 21st, 2009 by Nate

International Beer Challenge Logo

2009′s International Beer Challenge results have been released. The winners are as below:

Supreme Champion
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

Class Winners
Best Ale: Fyne Ales Highlander
Best Lager: Boston Beer Samuel Adams Traditional Bock
Best Stout or Porter: Harveys Prince of Denmark
Best Wheat Beer: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
Best Fruit Beer: Redoak Framboise Froment
Best Speciality Beer: Thornbridge Bracia
Best No- or Low-Alcohol Beer: Harveys Bill Brewer

You can find the full list of award winners here

I’m interested by the results. Mainly as I’ve only personally tried (but not reviewed) the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier and the Boston Beer Samuel Adams Traditional Bock. Neither of these are bad beers, on the contrary they are very, VERY good beers. None the less, the results had me looking through the conditions of entry, which to be honest are quite fair.

Of the two beers that I’ve tasted, I do believe they are good, I just don’t know if they are the best beers available. However as the old platitude says, “you’ve to to be in it to win it”. And many of the beers that I would have considered competitive at this level just have not submitted their wares.

None the less, cheers to the winners. I will try and review as many of these as I can over the coming months. This may be a challenge given the geographical isolation of some of the brands (and that I’m in Switzerland), but lets see how that goes.

Can anyone recommend a good distributor in Switzerland? Or if anyone will be visiting soon, can you bring some of the award winning beer with you? Please?

Beer, Beer awards, International Beer Challenge 2009

October 20th, 2009 by Nate

A good mate of mine from NYC recently visited me in Switzerland. During a particularly nice Sunday we decided to head over the boarder to Italy for Lunch. As it is, I don’t like to take the normal route, and we chose to take the Grand Saint Bernard Pass, yes the place where the dogs with Whiskey barrels around their neck. What an amazing drive and in all honesty, something everyone should do.

None the less, we are here to talk about beer. When we left Switzerland it was just touching on 18 degrees (centigrade), but when we arrived in Aosta it was a pleasant 25, so a nice cold birra was in order. We decided to consume the premium brand from the Peroni brand, Nastro Azzurro (literally “blue ribbon” in Italian).

Now I remember when this pale lager first touched down in Australia and was considered an amazing import. The Aussie importers actually used to charge us 50+ dollars for a case of 24x375ml bottles! Back then I used to think that was outstanding, now I know I was an ignorant twit. Still the beer was never bad and is one of the better lagers out there in the world. It may be over produced and seen as an elite brand in some locations, but having a pint of it in the Aosta town square under the Italian sun was nothing short of a small pleasure. I do recommend this birra. It’s not complicated and doesn’t ask much of the drinker. This could be a nostalgia thing. It could be a romanticised notion thanks to the trip or even the location… still it’s getting 4 steins.

Beer, Birra, Grand Saint Bernard Pass, Italian Birra, Lager, Nastro Azzurro, Pale Lager, Peroni, Saint Bernard Pass, Switzerland

October 18th, 2009 by Nate

One of the problems with being a country that brews good biers, is that other countries import your biers to their country. Such was the issue in Italy. Above is the German Bier, Warsteiner , which is generally quite a simple and easy, but good, Pilsner. It does function well in cooling you down in the Italian heat, so it’s certainly has it’s benefits.

As you can see from the photo, this was the ‘small’ version of the bier. Yes that is my hand

German Bier, Italy, Klein Beer, Lager, Picolo Bier, Small bier, Warsteiner

October 16th, 2009 by Nate

You know I really hope that I received a dud. But this Menabrea Original which is from the same company as the birra in my last post (and I really liked the birra in my last post), but this ‘original’ birra was for lack of a better word, horrible.

The only thing it had going for it was that it was cold. The birra was flat, tasteless and made mass produced beers like Fosters or Coors Light look good.

I’m not wasting any more time on this… 1 stein… because the birra was cold.

Birra, Birra Menabrea, Italian Birra

October 14th, 2009 by Nate

In early September I headed to Italy for a short and late summer vacation. The first stop was in the town of Alba, a town that should not be overlooked by anyone with culinary interests, or for that matter with an inquisitive pallet. Alba is probably best known as the home of Ferrero. If you still aren’t sure who this is, Ferrero is the company that makes Nutella, Tic Tacs, Rocher, Kinder and so on.

Now while this is all a highlight of the town, it also happens to be the region for Italian Truffles (it was the starting point for the Top Gear: The Great Veyron Truffle Race). Therefore there is a fascinating history of foods created with truffles.

Anyway.. to the Birra. Upon arrival in our hotel/guest house, the lady at the front door offered me a G. Menabrea E Figli whilst she prepared the room. Noe I’ve not heard about, nor encountered this birra on any of my preivous trips to Italy, which means.. fresh tasting event! The birra label claimed it was a blonde and that it was the 150th anniversary version. Both of these facts seemed incorrect.

First of all the birra was first brewed in 1846, yet it’s 2009? The maths aren’t quite right there.
Second of all the birra tasted MUCH more like Pils, although not as strong of pils as the Czech versions.

Besides both of these incorrect facts, which seemed to somehow adhere to the Italian stereotype of being a little relaxed and Laissez faire, so it added to the experience. I really enjoyed the birra with it’s fresh hoppy overtone and thoroughly enjoyable, especially when compared to the other Italian brews available. This Birra gets 4 steins:

Alba, Beer, Birra, Blonde, Italian Birra, Pils