February 26th, 2010 by Nate

A couple of years ago, whilst on a tour of Europe and before the Schengen Agreement was signed by some Eastern European countries, I completed a boarder crossing between Germany and The Czech Republic. This was the days when you had to hand over your passport to the boarder guard, sit back and wait a few hours whilst they processed you through their ‘system’.

So during this boarder crossing somwhere between Dresden and Ústí nad Labem, we had some time to kill and well what do you do when passing between Germany and the Czech Republic, you have a bier!

Now for my American Readers, you may, or for that matter, may not know about Budvar bier (yes it looks like your Budweiser, King of Beers, bier). Well there is a long held dispute between Budweiser Budvar Brewery (Budějovický Budvar, the Czech Brewery) and Anheuser-Busch as to the ownership of the bier. Essentially the bier was licensed in the USA by Anheuser-Busch 1876 and thus it’s kind of stuck. Whereas the original Budvar has been relegated, at least in the USA as Czehchvar.

Anyway, enough of the history lesson. The one thing that can be said unequivocally is that the Budvar bier is miles ahead of the American version of ‘Bud’. Please note that this is in no way an insult to Americans, just Anheuser-Busch. Which much like the Fosters conglomerate in Australia tend to homogenize the beers at their disposal. The American ‘king of beers’ is well far from deserved of the crown.

The Czech Budvar, the Pils, on the other hand is good, but it’s not spectacular. It does pale in comparison to other Czech Pils, but when laid next to it’s competing namesake biers, this is well… good. The bier is light, with a grassy and hoppy aroma. It’s easily drinkable with a nice but light golden colour. The flavour though is pretty ‘normal’ in that it just doesn’t challenge me. There is a nice, but simple grain flavour that can sometimes be overwhelmed with the alcohol flavour. It’s a midrange bier but nothing awesome.

Anheuser-Busch, Budvar, Budweiser, Czech Republic, Dresden, Germany, Schengen Agreement, Ústí nad Labem

February 24th, 2010 by Nate

In one of my local super markets, my usual hunting grounds for new beers, I came across the above conundrum. This is, as the label states, a Bohemia Clásica. Now correct me if I am wrong, but Bohemia is in the Czech Republic? Anyway after reading the label further I realised this was actually a cerveza from Mexico.

So initially I was skeptical as to the quality of this cerveza. The thing is that most Mexican export cerveza is pretty poor on quality. Yes cervezas like Corona or Sol are comically thin in taste, texture and well quality. Yes I am not against having one on a hot day, but much like the thing Australian lagers I believe that I enjoy the more challenging beer than just having some bubbling water with some alcohol and a twist of lemon.
Anyway, back to my skepticism…. I decided I would give this cerveza a try.

This straight of the bat smelt like a European beer, not a Mexican Cerveza, ok interesting. The aroma was hoppy and had a fresh malty scent to it. The the pour was a typical pale lager, but stronger than any other Mexican Cerveza I have seen, plus the head was stong and really seemed to lock the floral hops in. The flavour was exactly that of a Pils out of Bohemia. It wasn’t as good as your Urquel or anything from the Pils region, but this was a surprising Cerveza. I don’t think I’d buy any more of them, but it certainly game me a new perspective on Cervezas coming out of Mexico.

This is a Cerveza you should try and see if it works for you. For me I was more surprised than anything else, but I still enjoyed the Cerveza. Although I can and will buy better Bohemian pils in the future.

Bohemia, cervezas, Mexican Cerveza, Mexico, Pils

February 22nd, 2010 by Nate

Not so long ago I spent some time in Rome on a particularly hot summers day. During my meandering through the city streets my mate and I stopped for a cold drink outside the gates of Basilica Papale di San Pietro (St. Peter’s Basilica, or the for the non-Catholics, the home of the Pope). Served up on tap was the above 0.5 litre birra from the Brauerei Forst and no it is not a German Bier, it’s an Italian Birra.

Allow me to explain this titillating situation. You see there is small portion of Northern Italy that predominately speaks Austro-Bavarian German. This region is known as either South Tyrol or Bolzano-Bozen. It has been part of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire, The Kingdom of Italy, and now Italy. But because of it’s history it has very Austrian and Germanic background, thus the Brewery being named Brauerei Forst, which has been brewing this golden drink since 1863. Seriously who thought that part of Italy spoke German? Cool huh?

So down to the birra, which unfortunately isn’t as cool as the history of the region, Brewery or where I consumed the birra, But it was in no way bad, I still managed to enjoy this Specialbier. The thing is that it that this bier wasn’t trying to be anything it wasn’t. It’s a clean lager with light but crisp hop finish and is perfect for quaffing or quickly drinking. I honestly knew nothing about this brewery until I visited Rome on a stinking hot summers day, thus this birra was perfect to fight off the effects of the heat. Because it was exactly what it was, a cool, crisp lager and nothing more, not a “king of beers” or had a name indicating it was a bitter, but was in actual fact was a lager, I really liked the Forst Lager/Specialbier.

Bier, Birra, Forst Bier, Forst Birra, Italian Birra, Italy, Lager, Rome

February 18th, 2010 by Nate

Earlier this month I spent some time reviewing the Grimbergen Triple where I noted that I liked the bier but it was nothing great. So you don’t need the whole little story, etc. I’ll just get to the bier. Thus it is important to say that with the above Blond this Abbey Brewery shows that it certainly has some range in it’s spectrum of bier production.

This one was more to my liking, it had a pale-ish golden pour to it and presented an aroma of caramel with some hints of citrus fruits. The first thing that hit me about the taste was that of the typical Belgian spices, it is distinctive to many a Belgian bier and something that I quite enjoy, it’s distinctive. The flavour also hits at, like the aroma, some Citrus fruits and a nice banana-caramel flavour. So overall not bad.

I’ve actually give this bier one more stein that it’s Triple brother. Why? well it comes down to drink-ability. The characteristic that I am starting to really appreciate. The Triple wasn’t bad, but I could not spend the night with mates drinking them, whereas the Blond goes down like a treat. I like bier to be challenging and I like the idea of trying many biers that challenge the status quo, but I cant spend a night drinking bier that is too rich or too-wine like, which unfortunately happens with some Belgian biers. Thus I was happy to have this Blond revitalise my opinion of the biers.

Belgian Bier, Grimbergen, Grimbergen Blond, Grimbergen Triple

February 16th, 2010 by Nate

Ahh Altbier, literally “Old Beer”, the Düsseldorf local drink and the primary competitor of Kölsch for the title of Rhineland’s Bier. Well at least that is what I’ve been lead to believe through my discussions with the locals in my visits to the region.

Düsseldorf and Köln/Cologne are 30km from each other and have a friendly rivalry of superiority. This extends to the depths of local biers, with Köln having their Kölsch and Düsseldorf their Altbier. One joke I’ve heard is that the Altbier is a brown colour as it down stream from Köln on the River Rhine, thus Düsseldorf gets all of the runoff from Köln. Crude, but not quite true.

Both biers are top-fermenting, but the Altbier is generally lagered at a warmer temperature than Kölsch. The Altbier actually tends to be more like a British Ale and the Kölsch is like a slightly weak Pils.

Anyway to the bier at hand, Das Alt from Schlösser is a typical Altbier. I consumed this in a pub of the back streets of Düsseldorf, away from the tourists. It has the usual dark, coffee like colour and your typical German Bier head retention. It gives off the smell of sweet malt and a slight alcohol aroma. The taste was sweeter than I expected, I guess due to the colour I was thinking something more along a bock, but this was sweet with a good hit of hops and an ever-so-slight smokey kick. The unique taste to this bier is how it felt in the mouth, there was this almost creamy, ale like quality.

I’ve had better Ales, and then again I’ve had better bocks, stouts and hell even Pils. But this wasn’t bad either. It was mid range, but nothing challenging.

Ale, alt bier, altbier, Düsseldorf, Kölsch, old beer, Rhineland

February 12th, 2010 by Nate

I have been living in Switzerland for 2 years now and had visited Switzerland for work and play for the 2 years before that. In the 4 years of expeditions through this tiny country I had rarely found any ‘decent’ beers. It seemed to me that the Swiss had no real interest in the good stuff. I think this feeling had a lot to do with most bars only selling the major brands en mass and from tap.

But I’ve been slowly learning oh how ignorant I was. First up, what you consider to be the main bier all depends on where you are in Switzerland. For example in the southern, French speaking area you will find the players such as Boxer (which is actually quite a small production, and they make great beer) or Cardinal (whom I find to be more run-of-the-mill). Then in the Northern, German-Speaking parts the big brew house is Calanda. There is however one big, all conquering brand; Feldschlösschen, whom I have yet to actually have a ‘good’ beer from.

None the less I have finally found that there is quite the collection of breweries throughout Switzerland. They tend to be regional and, especially for those in the north, have quite the selection to taste from. The above Reinheitsgebot.

So how about this Quoellfrisch? Well I can tell you that it pours a lovely cloudy and yellow colour (ignore the amber tones in the picture there was a red light on the right of the frame). The head is strong and the armoa is a little weak, almost like a light lager, an Amstel or Heineken for example. The flavour was clean, not particularly crisp but it had this nice and understated sweetness to it. The feel of the bierin the mouth is lively but nothing spectacular.

This for me was a mid range bier, worth trying but it just didn’t stand out. So like it’s Weiss cousin:

Appenzeller, Boxer, Calanda, Cardinal, Feldschlösschen, Quoellfrisch, Swiss Bier, Swiss Bier/Bière/Birra, Switzerland

February 10th, 2010 by Nate

Here in Switzerland we are blessed to be surrounded by countries that produce amazing food and drinks. From the French with their fromage, to the Italians and the multitude of P foods (Pizza, Pasta, Pesto, Panini, etc) there is no shortage of great gastronomic influences.

Until recently there was quite the shortage of UK delicacies, although some, especially my Aussie mates and lineage might argue if there is such a thing, generally this is intensified around the Cricket and Rugby seasons, alas I digress. Back to the delicacies, the thing that I believe a lot of the world over looks when trying to find something unique to sample from the UK is Ale. Yes you can have some Fish and Chips or a Pie , or there is some Haggis from Scotland, but for me the one thing that is unique for ‘the kingdom’ is Ale.

The idea of ale for my compatriots from the great southern land is one of humour and ridicule. You see where I come from, beer needs to be cold. Summer leaves you thirsting from something something that will wet your whistle more than tipple the palate, thus we tend to drink the more common colder and lighter brews. Hence if you ever look at the Aussie beer consumption rates you will see that beer such as VB, Tooheys and XXXX tend to top the list.

Whereas in juxtaposition is UK collections of ale. Generally served at a warmer temperatures; striking an array of colours other than ‘gold’; tends to be low on carbonation and is more times than most a complex drink. All of these traits suit a land where the weather is as variant as it’s history. Australians will mock from afar about ‘piss warm beer’, hell I used to be one of those ‘guys’. But as soon as you begin to work your way through the pubs and drinking institutions of the UK, you become enlightened. Well I say “you” as I really hope the other Aussies have been lucky enough to local ales.

Something I learned on my last trip to London, and actually picked up this tidbit from the inside of a drinks menu: The word ‘ale’ derives from the Old English ‘alu’ or ‘ealu’, which makes this a truly English word and not some bastardised French/Norman/Germanic word.

Well enough of that…. to the beer, or well ale at hand. Needless to say the above ramble would only make sense if I finally got to the point that when I manage to find some English Ale here in the French Part of Switzerland, I have to give it a whirl. This is The Old Jock Ale from the Broughton brewery. A relatively new brewery who now have added 11 ales to their lineup since 1980. The above Old Jock Ale is particularly nice. It pours a lovely copper/amber colour. It has this brilliant smokey caramel/toffee aroma which I had not expected, but really indicates a great use of the malt here. From what little I know about Scottish Ales, they tend to be more on the darker, Malty side than the English cousins. This Old Jock did not disappoint, the flavour was initially a combination of a slight bitterness mixed with the smokey toffee. What really made me enjoy this was that the ale left just the ever so slight aftertaste comparable to that of just finishing a good Laphroaig. Thus because of depth of the drink and it’s challenging qualities, I’m giving it 5 steins:

Ale, Broughton, Laphroaig, Scottish Ale, The Old Jock Ale

February 8th, 2010 by Nate

Over the 2009-2010 Holidays my partner in crime gave me the ultimate present, a collection of bier. See as a Nürnberg native, my partner in crime has a bloody good idea of what constitutes good drinks that tipples the tongue in the area. So she decided to select the local Franconian brews that shaped her more formative years. Above you have a view of the selection of the good stuff that I’ve begun to review and in good time I will be sharing with you.

So be on the look out for my Franken und Nürnberg Bier Abenteuer, or in English Franconia and Nuremberg Beer Adventures.

Abenteuer, Adventures, Nuremberg, Nürnberg

February 6th, 2010 by Nate

Well it’s that time of year, Carnival should have kicked off in the Roman Catholic regions of Europe and well most parts of the world. The Köln celebrations are particularly interesting and one that I believe all people should experience, although interestingly anyone who’s visited these celebrations will tell you it’s best visited single

Anyway the bier today is the local Köln brew called Kölsch. It’s a pils like bier although not as bitter and it is always served in a Stange (pole) or locally called a Reagenzglas (test tube), or Fingerhut (thimble). It’s a small glass so that the bier you are always drinking is always chilled.

Honestly I really enjoy Kölsch. The above is from Brauhaus Sion and isn’t a bad bier at all. The bier is slightly malty and does have pils like qualities, and I loved having the short glass as you always have a cold drink, which was perfect for a pit stop during a day of sight seeing around Köln or if you are partying it up this weekend.

German Bier, Köln, Kölsch, Pils

February 6th, 2010 by Nate

Image source: Coverbrowser

Apparently I’m not doing enough to keep the numbers up. It seems that the number of Beer Sales in Germany dropped in 2009! Apparently it went under the 100 million hectolitres limit? Who knew?!

The Tandleman Beer Blog has more on the topic. However I just want to add my $0.02. Although 2009 was a bad year, the article is relatively positive and upbeat about 2010 thanks to big event such as the World Cup coming in Summer. Still I wonder if this is enough? What are the Germans now drinking? Is it those mix-drink/alcopop things? And do the fruity Becks and Schöfferhofer mixed beers count as beers? I wonder.

So next time you see a German beer in a pub, help them out and have a pint. After all we don’t want them to become extinct

Prost!

Bier, German Beer, German Bier