August 24th, 2010 by Nate

Have been sitting in the side streets of Split enjoying some Croatian Pivo in the summer heat! Love summer holidays.

Živjeli!

Beer, Croatia, karlovacko, Pivo

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

June 18th, 2010 by Nate

We all know that somehow Budweiser managed to get the rights to this years world cup. Love it, hate it, or whatever, but InBev has the power nowadays to get what it wants. We can leave that discussion for another day.

What is interesting however is the recent efforts by former Preimer League player and current ITV pundit Robbie Earle. It seems that he has ‘passed’ his pre-defined selection of tickets away to a group of 36 Mini-Orange-Skirt wearing ‘fans’ that made such noise (really????) that they were escorted from the game in the second half. What was FIFA’s issue? Well it turns out that they were wearing skirts that were provided as part of a Bavaria Beer promotion in the Netherlands before the world cup started.

You can read more here (www.smh.com.au)

But this now brings me to a couple of questions:
1. What does it matter what sponsorship someone has on their clothes? Do you see any Nike wearing fans kicked out because Adidas sponsors the cup?
2. Were these ‘fans’ doing anything more than just being rowdy?
3. From what I can find, there was no drinking of ‘another’ beer, so why kick them out?
4. The ‘offensive’ clothing had barely any markings to indicate it was from Bavaria. So why make all the noise when in actual fact not reacting would have given less publicity to it?
4. Is this really news worthy?????
5. Most importantly, why is Bavarian Beer made in the Netherlands???????? Am I the only one confused by this?

Bavaria Beer, Beer, Fifa, InBev, ITV, mini, mini skirt, miniskirt, Preimer League, reuters, Robbie Earle

May 27th, 2010 by Nate

For those of you out there who are familiar with the move Downfall, or even the parody skits that have been splattered all over youtube, Oh and you like beer you will thoroughly enjoy this one.

Let me say that if taken in the appropriate manner, tongue-in-cheek that is, you will have a good laugh at this

Beer, Downfall, German Bier, Oktoberfest, Video

May 7th, 2010 by Nate

Here in Switzerland we are surrounded not only by different countries but plenty of cultural offerings as well. I was recently shopping at the local Coop (a supermarket chain here) when I came across the above Jelen Pivo (Serbian for Deer Beer). Yes this is Serbian Beer/Pivo, which means a new category for this site, but also another countries view on the typical lager, as this is. Although this one seems to be the market leader in much of Adriatic Europe and is getting some press here in Switzerland. Interesting, eh?

Seeing as it is so popular, I couldn’t wonder if we were dealing with a Fosters or Bud of the Adriatic region. However after tasting it (a couple of times) I actually came to like it, for a mass produced beer. I actually liked how it was actually just a little spicier than a regular lager. It was also relatively cheap, for an import pivo, here in Switzerland. So this might even go into my mix of biers to give people learning more about bier.

Beer, Jelen Pivo, Lager, Pivo, Serbian Beer, Serbian Pivo

April 6th, 2010 by Nate

Beer comes in MANY types of packaging, but I have never, flat-out never seen anything like this Viru Pils before. Which is why I’ve always shied away from it. I don’t exactly know why, maybe it was the ‘mutton dressed as lamb’ feeling. Or even because it just doesn’t look like a beer bottle. Either way, I’ve walked past and ignored this beer for the time I’ve been living in Switzerland.
In the end I decided it was time to give the interesting bottle a try.

So a little background, Viru is an Estonian Beer. In Estonia Beer is actually called Õlu, which is almost identical in pronunciation to that of the Old English for Ale: ‘alu’ or ‘ealu’ (check out my post on this here).

To the Õlu itself: I was actually surprised. I guess it was the macho-bull-shit mentality to think that a Õlu coming out of a bottle such as this would be bad, but this was actually really good. Yes this is yet ‘another’ lager/pils, but this was done well. The malty flavour was actually subtly direct and gave the normally hop flavour a nice vanilla smoothness (yeah I just said that, but it’s true).

Being that this is the first Estonian Õlu that I’ve tried, I was pleasantly surprised. I would recommend this Õlu, so if you can, give it a go. On the other hand if you have tried it, what did you think?

Beer, Estonia, Estonian Beer, Estonian Õlu, Õlu, Pils, Viru

March 25th, 2010 by Nate

(Photo was taken in the Medieval city of Toruń, Poland)

There is a great discussion over at The Brew Club that was kicked off by Bob the Brit: “How do you review your Beer?” Bob has outlined his thoughts on the site and it is particularly interesting to see how other beer drinkers, enthusiasts and web-based reviewers rate their beer. I am not going to repeat any of Bob’s work (you can read all about it here), but it’s suffice to say that it got me thinking about how I rate my beer.

I should preface this by saying that I originally started Bier Adventures purely to share my love of bier and travel experiences with the world. So my scales of measure were never correctly defined nor tuned. This becomes clear as an attached adventure to the beer tends to ‘bump up’ the rating I give.

An example of such a bump is that of the Polish Tyskie. It was consumed during a brilliant night consisting of a Chopin concert; traditional Polish dinner of żurek; a walk around the top deck of the Pałac Kultury i Nauki (Palace of Culture and Science), and then finally paired up with a glass of Żubrówka vodka. Thus the beer has a higher rating that it probably deserved.

However as I cannot always have an adventure whilst drinking, nor can I always drink a beer in mid-adventure, I have begun to try and regulate my ratings appropriately. Allow me to detail my categories for you.

Note: When possible, I do drink beers as recommended by the brewer. Such efforts drinking from the correct receptacle, in the correct temperature and very rarely with the correct food are examples. I also, like Bob, also try to drink at least 2 before rating them. However rarely do I drink in controlled environments, thus aforementioned bump in ratings.

The One Stein Rating

Put simply, I wouldn’t give these beers to my dog. This may be a little harsh and it’s intended to be. 1 Stein beers honestly leave me wondering why. Why anyone could brew something so offensive to the tastes. Sometimes I may not ‘get it’, the style may not work for me, or the beer may be stale. None the less 1 Stein beers always initially annoy me as I get frustrated at having spent the money on them. When I could have very well purchased something I know (for the same price) and actually enjoy it.

But if you never hit rock bottom, how will you ever know from where to evaluate other beers. A perfect example is that of The Noël Bière from Meteor Brasserie. It was horrid, and I threw out the remaining members of the six pack, however it allowed me to really enjoy the Boxer Christmas bier for everything it was worth.

The Two Stein Rating

Such beers tend to be the more common, mass-produced, beer conglomerate brews. You will drink them if there isn’t anything else going, but you know that tomorrow you are going to wish you hadn’t. Generally they are pale, super-cold lagers that aren’t bad in the heat of summer, because they are cold not because of anything else. Predictable, somewhat boring and sometimes drinkable. For example of this is the 1664 Blanc, a poor and weird attempt at a wheat beer.

The Three Stein Rating

Now we are getting into the range where even crappy beers, so long as they are coupled with a great adventure or experience start to be highly rated. Although 3 Steins correctly labels the beers and/or their experience as mid-range, I feel I should break down the understanding of ratings further, into two groups:

1. Those Beers that based solely on their quality, flavour, taste, texture, aroma… etc. deserve their rating.
A perfect example of this is the Erdinger Weißbräu, which is a solid Weißbier. It is something you, to quote from Bob, “can take to a friends place”.

2. The Beers that are generally poorer in quality, but have a great story or experience attached to them. The Spitfire Kentish Ale, for example, is a beer that didn’t sit so well with me, but the whole experience of drinking the pint with a pie made it oh so more pleasurable.

The Four Stein Rating

Much like the 3 Steins, I do divide between beer and ‘moment’. However as with any economy of scale, Four Stein Biers must be and really are a step up in quality and enjoyment. Take for example the Black Sheep Ale. This was a very good beer, but it was also drank in a wonderful restaurant that was at an 8 degree angle in York. So this beer not only deserved it’s rating, but the experience did as well. Whilst not the greatest thing in the world, 4 stein beers must be better than the rest. They must excel and challenge my palette. Over all the experience must be worthwhile and enjoyable.

The Five Stein Rating

You don’t create a rating system without having clear winners. 5 Stein Biers are the cream of the crop, the bee’s knees as it may. Quite simply in order to have a bier in this category, it has to completely challenge my conventional thought of what beer is. For example my experience of drinking a Cisk sea side in Malta was a true pleasure, however the beer, although a popular and mass produced lager, was brilliant and something I had not expected. It not only made me re-evaluate my position on lagers, but made me reconsider how I go about testing beers. Before I had tried the Cisk, I tended to be a little closed off to the mass produced beers. I mean when a beer of any type can make me think this way, it’s a clear winner.

I realise that this is not the most scientific of methods, but it allows me to have some fun with my drinking experiences. Any Questions? Ideas? Thoughts? Questions?

Beer, how it works, Rating, Steins

March 10th, 2010 by Nate

Isn’t Nostalgia fun?

The reason I state this is that WAY back at the end of 2006. I followed my career and moved from Australia to Germany. Naturally one of the first things you do when you arrive in German is have a bier. Well at least I did.

So on December 28th 2006 I picked up some brews at my local Rewe (German Supermarket Chain) and then headed back to my apartment to enjoy them in the middle of winter (note that December in Australia is Summer, thus I had just flown from a 32 degree Sydney-Summer day into a Frankfurt -8 Winters day).

If you click on this link, you will be taken back to my first post to Bier Adventures from Deutschland. Back in those days I didn’t review biers I just posted photos of them on my site. As I so eloquently state on the post, a bottle of Maisel’s Wiesse has cost me a grant total of 0.79 cents Euro! Bargain right?

Anyway since that time I’ve ingested a ‘few’ biers from far and wide so my tastes have grown a little. So much so so that although I’ve also posted about drinking Maisel’s Weisse with a Schweinebraten and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure, I think I’ve moved on from thinking this specific Weisse is worthy of such attention.

Yes it is a popular and original family brew from 1887. Yes it is a Weisse that I get to see a lot of and probably drink a lot of when not testing/trying new beers. What the Maisel’s Wiesse isn’t is 5 or even 4 stein material.

Why the change of heart you may ask (or not). Well once you start trying the Schneider Weisse, the Augustiner Weisse, the Franziskaner Dunkel and many, many others you tend to become spoiled for choice and well, at least for me, become a little bit of a Weisse snob. The Maisel’s is simply too sweet for me, a little like a glass of liquid brown sugar + a little bit of wheat.

Having said all of that, I do think that this is the perfect entry weisse bier. It’s great to introduce people to the enjoyability of a weisse without being challenged to early on. So I’m not saying I don’t like the bier, but it has to take a step down in relation to the other Weisse biers.

Beer, Bier, Frankfurt, German Bier, Germany, Maisel's Wiesse, Nostalgia, Wiesse

February 5th, 2010 by Nate

Image Source: Steel Kaleidoscopes

I’m going to share a quote with you from the Sydney Morning Herald related to the recently renewed partnership between Fosters and Corona. It turns out that Fosters is the Australian distributor for Corona, and it has some sort of turnover around the 65 Million AUD mark! Not bad eh?

Anyway that isn’t really my problem. My particular gripehas come from the 2nd last paragraph from the aforementioned article in which it is stated that:

“Corona Extra has grown to become Australia’s No. 1 premium imported beer”

I was completely gobsmacked when I read that. That sentence has shaken my world. Yes when I lived in Australia I was known to buy a $55 carton/case of Corona. Yes it is an easy to drink beer with very little complexity. Yes it was ‘cool’ to drink it as it was an ‘import’. But No, I never thought it would become this sort of behemoth. #1 Australian Premium imported Beer? Bloody hell!

First of all, how is this beer premium? Can someone tell me? Please?
Yes I will give it the import label, which makes it look cool, but Premium? I’m at a loss.

Second and finally, What other Premium Import beers is it competing against?

Anyway, Enough of this rant, just wanted to share. I’d be happy to discuss with anyone if they want to chime in? I’m going to go and cool down with a non-premium beer.

Cheers.

Australia, Beer, Corona, Fosters, Mexico, News, Premium Beer

February 4th, 2010 by Nate

Belgian Bier for me is amazing complicated, contrasting and confusing. This is not a bad thing at all. I adore the variation in the brew types from all over the country and the above is no different. Grimbergen is quite a popular bier here in Switzerland, in fact my mates swear by it. Yet to this day I’ve not actually tried one. So yesterday I found the above Grimbergen Triple in the local supermarket and decided it was time to give it a go.

This Abbey bier is typically strong and definitive, as all Belgian biers tend to be. This Triple has a biter sweet crispness that was actually quite pleasant. The 9% ABV is surprisingly subtle, all things being considered, still the bier for me wasn’t anything specifically great, nor was it bad. I enjoyed drinking it, but like many a Belgian bier, after one or two I tend to be bored with them. So I’m not discounting this bier, I just am not amazed by it. Any thoughts?

Beer, Belgian Bier, Bier, Grimbergen, Grimbergen Triple, Triple