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 21st, 2010 by Nate

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.

AB-InBev, Diano Marina, InBev, Italy, Jammin Cafe, Lager, Tennent's

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

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 28th, 2010 by Nate

I’m always a fan of trying new drinks, hell that is why I started this website. I recently found some of the above Балтика (Baltika) No. 7 in my local super market. The thing that caught my eye was the Cyrillic label and relatively clear colour of the пиво (Pivo), so I thought I should give it a go.

A note, sometimes I just couldn’t be stuffed in pouring into a glass. I’m just happy drinking it out of the bottle, as was the case here (so no comments on colour).

The pivo has been labeled as a Premium Export, so I wasn’t so hopeful about it being top quality. Still it wasn’t bad, nor was it great. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what style of pivo the Baltika No. 7 is. It has a Pilsner aroma, but the flavour is more malty and generally quite refreshing. Almost like a pivo you would find somewhere warm, not the least Russia. It’s kind of like a Heineken, a lager but a little more Malty. Interestingly it’s website states that it was voted the “The Best Light Beer” Moscow Beer Festival.

2 Things, who knew Moscow had a beer festival? I’d be keen to check that out one day. Secondly if you are an employee of Baltika reading this, Sydney is spelled with a “y” and not and “i”.

In the end it’s an easy to drink mid range pivo, something to drink without thinking too much about it.

Bajitnka, Baltika, Lager, Pivo, Russian Pivo, Балтика

April 14th, 2010 by Nate

Sometimes you come across a brewery that is just completely disappointing. It may happen that a brewery brews one crap, mass-produced bier like your Heinekens. But generally that brewery will have something small, unique, challenging and fun to experience. I honestly hope that most breweries aim for such goals. Sort of like a car-company producing an every-man’s car, then creating something over the top that everyone would love to have.

I really had hopes that Halden Gut lager, which is brewed by Heineken was going to be good. Now I’ve already reviewed the Halden Spezialbier and I didn’t like it. Unfortunately there was nothing Special about the Spezialbier and in this case is nothing Good about the Gut Lager.

I did enjoy the bier whilst on the train through Zürich to Lausanne, which was enjoyable, but this bier wasn’t Gut. So it seems that the Heineken group really only brews the one style of bier. I hope someone can change my mind on this point. In the mean time:

Halden Gut lager, Lager, Lausanne, zug, Zurich

April 4th, 2010 by Nate

It is always good to partake in a selection of biers from a single brewery. I say this as I’m currently drinking the above Andechser Bergbock Hell from the Andrechs Monastery Brewery in Bavaria.

You may recall that I’ve already tasted the Andechs Spezial Hell, which I found to be a mid-range lager.

Now as I was saying, trying or testing different biers from the same brewery allows you to understand or at least experience some of the similarities between biers, such as water and other ingredients. It also allows for an exploration as to how a brewery can brew different biers from the same resources. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the German Reinheitsgebot (purity law) breweries.

So this time around I was trying the Andechser Bergbock Hell and although it was different to it’s sister Spezial Hell, this is just barely better than it. The alcohol content was slightly increased to almost 7% (6.9 actually), which was not at all noticeable, thus it was a benefit. It was a refreshing bier and one I can recommend to be consumed in the sun. I can’t fault the bier, but it barely scrapes into the 4 stein area. FYI: Bier advocate’s rating system suits it better, with a B+. It was a good beer, not a great beer, but it was perfect for drinking in the sun during a lovely Spring Day.

Have any of my readers tried this bier? Or do you have some Spring time Beer recommendations?

Andechs, Andechser Bergbock Hell, Bavarian bier, Bier, German Bier, hell, Helles Bier, Lager

March 30th, 2010 by Nate

So Winter is done, well so we think. The other weekend I was snowboarding the Corvatsch in the Engadine of Switzerland. The mountain is 3303m above sea level with some great open pistes for boarding on. ANYWAY, this site is about bier, not Snowboarding.

During the day of boarding I stopped to have a refreshing brew. In one of the tiny huts along the pistes I had the above, Calanda Bräu. This is a very popular bier in this region of Switzerland and I’ve actually outlined their Edelbräu, however this was my first time trying their mainstay brew. This is simply a pale lager that is easily consumed. There is actually nothing special about it at all, in fact I found it to be quite bland but drinkable. Which would have lead me to giving it 2 steins. BUT….

Whilst drinking it at altitude and on a minus 25 degree day (-25), yes you read that right, the froth of the bier actually crystallised, which I tried to capture in the photo above. So purely because of this very cool experience, I had to bump the rating up. Literally and figuratively, a very cool experience.

Bier, Bräu, Calanda, Calanda Bräu, hell, Helles, Lager, Swiss Bier/Bière/Birra

March 22nd, 2010 by Nate

The Bunny Brew (literal translation of Hasen Bräu) is based in Ausburg, located between Munich and Ulm is the home of the above “Fortuna Lager Bier”. What is interesting is that you wont find the Lagerbier or for that matter any details of the “Fortuna” brand listed on their site, but they do brew the bier.

Like other Lagers this bier isn’t so distinctive in that it is identifiable as a ‘local’ brew, however this is one to be enjoyed quickly. This one is more watery and more towards an Aussie Lager than German Lagers. This isn’t a particularly complicated bier but it is a bier that can can be drunk quickly and will deliver a sure hit of sweetness and a dash of bitterness. A perfect bier for those who like Radlers or as we say in Australia and the UK, a shandy (beer mixed with Sprite/sparkling lemonade). Because of this it’s getting 2 Steins:

Ausburg, Bunny Brew, Fortuna Lagerbier, German Bier, Hasen Bräu, hell, Lager, Lagerbier

March 12th, 2010 by Nate

The above Hell (Lager) is from the Bräustüberl Tegernsee, about an hour south of München. It resides in the town Tegernsee, a spa town in the Bavarian apls.

To the bier itself (I did luck out with the weather and sun for this photos) it is quite a pale lager in colour. It isn’t complicated and is quite easy to drink with a nice mix of faint spice, enjoyable malty qualities and a good smooth taste. It was a drinkable bier, but nothing that really stood out. No complaints here, the bier was enjoyable and a good drink.

Bier, Bräustüberl Tegernsee, German Bier, hell, Hell Bier, Lager, Lager Bier, Munchen, Tegernsee