Bier Adventures

Lion Kolsch in Köln

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:52:27 +0100

Biers come in many forms from many locations, but Deutschland and Belgium certainly have the most variety that I've ever come across. About a month ago I was in Koln with my PiC for the AFLG Grand Final and decided to try on the famed local Kolsch biers. Being a huge fan of Heferweizen, I was skeptical at first of this Pilsner like bier. But I do have to say that I quite enjoy it's slightly bitter hops, which is actually quite a refreshing for the palate.

Whilst Kolsch is exported to a number of destinations, I say wait till you get to Koln before you give it a go. It's well worth the experience. I give this 4 out of 5 Steins:

Oktoberfest 2007 (Löwenbräu)

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 12:12:19 +0100

Being a fan of Bier and that I'm living in Deutschland, it was only right that I headed to Oktoberfest. What can I say that you probably don't already know?
Bier? Well there is a hell of a lot of that!
Fun? Hahaha... yeah there's lots of that as well.
Food? Half a chicken never tasted so good!
Girls? Have you ever been to Bavaria?
Singing? Prosit! Prosit!

Needless to say it was a brilliant time, and whilst I was there, I tried the bier from:

    * Löwenbräu
    * Spaten Braeu
    * Hofbräu
    * Hacker-Pschorr

I wont go into reviewing the bier here though. I think the event leads itself more to excess rather than sampling the biers provided.

Needless to say I'm going again this weekend.... yes I seriously am!!!!!
Ahhh the bier!!!

Fortress Bier

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 21:48:48 +0100

It's been a while between updates.... I know. However my camera was on a sojourn to Brazil with my partner in crime. Speaking of, I was gifted some Brazilian Beer, which I will be adding to this site very, very soon. Anyway, the above photo was taken over the 2007 Easter Weekend when I was in Würzburg with some mates from Australia. I don't honestly remember anything about the bier, so I wont review it. In the background, perched on the hilltop is the amazing Fortress Marienberg, which is a stunning sight to behold. However the view of the city from there is even more breathtaking. In a note of administrative details for the site, I've now moved the entire Bier Adventures to it's own independent domain: http://www.bieradventures.com.

Alt-Oberurseler Brauhaus

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:08:39 +0100

One of the great things about Deutschland is the bier gartens (beer garden) that are pretty much spring up on every corner when the temperature gets warm. Then there are the mainstays that are there all year round, such as Alt-Oberurseler Brauhaus. Not only is it a traditional Bier Garten but it also brews it's own bier & quite the range: - Pills (as pictured above) - Hefeweizen - Bockbier and many others. As for a rating, I don't mind the bier to be honest, it just didn't grab my full attention. I've only had the Pills there, so I can't give a full rating. But the pils in my mind was more of a 3, than 4 Steins:

König Ludwig

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:01:03 +0100

I recently had to buy some biers for a friends farewell and being that it was on after 8pm, most markets/shops in my area were shut. So I happened to stumble across this great little trinkhalle that had these biers, the König Ludwig Weissbier. Having never tried this before I grabbed 10 (as it was the only weissbier at the store) and you know what, it wasn't a half bad bier. The flavour was strong and surprisingly crisp. This wasn't as sweet as a some of the better weisbiers that I've had, but it still had a good aroma and body. It was a good bier, but not necessarily great. I want to give it 3.5, but because of my 5 stein system, it has to get bumped up... So this is a 4 Stein bier:

Personal Brau

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 00:22:16 +0100

Someone close to me recently visited a brewery as part of a team-building day (firstly, how cool is that!). Not only did they get to taste different biers made from around Germany. They were also given the opportunity to bottle their own bier (I know!). Well as this person was not able to drink the bier, it was presented to me as a gift (I know........!) So the photo above is of the 1ltre bottle of bier from the Barbarossa Brauhaus. Now to review the bier.... this was tough as I was tasting it through a biased view. But I have to say that this bier was uniquely enjoyable. It was an especially smooth, and crisp bier of the lager variety. It had the heavy mid tones of hops like a pils. But left a surprisingly citrous flavour on the tongue. I really enjoyed it, so much so that I'll be visiting theBrauhaus in the near future to purchase a few cases! Rating? Has to be a 5.... From the pleasure of being presented with the bier, to actually drinking it, it was a hell of an experience and in the end, thats that it's all about.

Hopleaf Pale Ale

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:06:54 +0100

Being that Malta really is a warm country, it makes sense that birra such as Lagers and Pils are produced as it better suits the climate. Ales, on the other hand 'generally' suit the cooler climates. However after having the above Hopleaf Pale Ale, I was impressed at just how good an ice-cold Pale Ale can be. Initial impressions of the birra were of the lovely bronze colour (especially when compared to other Maltese Birra), and the hoppy and almost toffee like fragrance. The flavour was quite had a contrast of almost spicy hops and a sweet, biscuit like charm to it. It was not heavily carbonated, almost like a Kilkenny. Whilst I enjoyed this, it just didn't have the refreshing properties of the Cisk. Still it was worth drinking it, so I'm giving this 4 steins: ..... oh and I was experimenting with my exposure settings, hence the 'different' picture above

Cisk #2

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:00:06 +0100

As I mentioned the other day I spent the other weekend in Malta and I tried a few of the local birra. This is just another photo of the previously discussed the Cisk, this is just another photo, of a can (or 'tinny') on the beach. As a reminder, I loved this lager and I gave it 5 steins: #Update# I've also submitted this photo to the recent Photo Friday challenge, Vacation. What better way to indicate a vacation, but a cold beverage, sand, sun an the sea in Malta. If you are visiting from Photo Friday, be sure to check out the rest of Bier Adventures and it's partner site, Urban Atrophy.

Maltese Cisk

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:48:35 +0100

I took a few extra days off last week and made myself a 'long weekend' in which I visited the beautiful Island of Malta. The island is dripping with history and culture, which was surprising for somewhere that is 35 Kilometers in diameter. What was even more surprising for me was the quality of the local birra there. Above is my first of what was to be many Cisk birra. Cisk is a local lager of stupendous quality. In Australia, where I spent my formative years, most beers are of the lager variety and to be honest, are really lacking in quality. Therefore my opinion of lagers was shaped with a certain lack of respect for the cold-gold beers. So I was dumbfounded to find a mass produced lager that really hit a specific note with me. Cisk is your typical gold, served extra-cold, bottom-fermented lager. But the flavour does not border on boring, but more towards brilliance. It has the depth and malty flavours of most lagers, but rounds in a slight fruity taste which certainly compliments the Maltese environment (which I might add averages 30 degrees during July). You can drink this in the morning (I did), afternoon or evening and it goes down easier than any lager I've ever had. Having said all of that, this birra is without question a 5 stein winner. In fact this is my first non-weizen birra to be awarded the top award. If you ever get the chance to have this surprising birra, grab a case or two, you wont regret it. Ohh and I'll have more photos of this birra in different locations over the coming days.

Pschorr Bräu in Trier

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:17:36 +0100

As I mentioned in my last entry, I spent the weekend of July 6th-8th '07 in Trier, Bastogne and Luxembourg. Whilst in Trier I managed to try a new Hefeweizen (auf Deutsch), the Pschorr Bräu from München. I'm starting to find myself becoming increasingly subjective in my recent trials of different weizen. It is so far my favourite style of bier and everyone I try opens my mind, but also forces me to become increasingly focused on the ones I like. The problem is that when you like one type of bier you tend to rather not waste your money on a risky bier, especially when there is a good or even great bier residing as it's neighbour. Still this recent Bräu was good. It had the typical body of a good weizen, without being to gassy or lacking the caramel and banana after taste. I really liked this, but it's not quite a 5 steins bier... yet. So I have to give it 4: On another note, a commenter 'Alex' has left the following link to another Bier Adventurer, russa0@gmail.com. So have a look at his video of biers he has consumed: Secondly, I've recently visited Malta and will be posting some biers from there soon.

Luxembourg Diekirch

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:51:28 +0100

I spent the last weekend (July 6th-8th '07) in Trier, Bastogne and Luxembourg. Was a great road trip! Anyway, I'll start with the last beer I had (above). The 'pint' (yes thats what they called it?) of Diekirche is a Pils from the 'Brasserie de Luxembourg Mousel Diekirch' brewery. As far as pils go, this is no comparison to an Urquel or even some of the German Pils. It wasn't completely flat on flavour & did have some hoppy tones, but generally I just didn't enjoy drinking it. Which is surprising seeing that Luxembourg is surrounded on two sides by the Belgians and Germans?? Therefore I give this a 2 Steins

Heidelberg Weizen

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:31:02 +0100

I recently visited Heidelberg in the Baden-Württemberg of Germany. Not only is it one of of the most scenic locations in Germany with it's stunning Schloss (castle), but it was just a cool town. The above photo was taken atop the Königstuhl, the mountain that also hosts the Schloss. The bier drunk this time, was (yet) another Hefeweizen. The Palmbräu was surprisingly refreshing. It was more of you typical Bavarian Weizen than other's that I've tried. Yet it still wasn't as full of flavour as say Schöfferhofer, almost lacking on the fruity after-taste. Still it was much more stylish than most Weizen from the North of Germany that I have been trying recently. So for a rating, I would give this a 3.5. But as I don't have a decimal system in place with my Steins, this gets rounded up to a 4 Steins.

The Beginning and the End

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:57:55 +0100

The first photo shows a nice and light Tatra lager. The thing about this piwo was that it's flavour was a complete contrast to it's aroma. It smells almost sweet, but the flavour is strong and crisp. I took the first photo at the beginning of the evening whilst enjoying a causal pre-dinner drink at the Piri-Piri cafe in Ciechocinek. In this picture you can see advertisements for 2 other piwo's: - Żywiec has it's emblem in the back of the chair, already reviewed here - Kaiser Premium, an Austrian Bier,on the sign post in the back ground The second photo is of the wódka at the end of the night. Someone ordered this shot with Tabasco Sauce....... so you imagine how the night went. Anyway my rating the Tatra lager is 4 steins. It surprised me with it's contradiction in aroma and flavour. I alway enjoy when life or a bier/beer/piwo jumps up and challenges what you expect.

Żywiec and 'friends'

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 19:36:49 +0100

It has been a little while between posts, but I do have good reason. I've been traveling and enjoying new bier adventures! My latest adventure was to Poland, which generally is more known for it's wódka (vodka) than piwo (beer). Whilst wódka was the drink of choice, I did enjoy a few piwo's as well. The above is the most popular and widespread of the Polish piwo, Żywiec. Interestingly, this piwo brand was owned originally by the Habsburg familly, today Heineken has the rights to it. This is not the first time I've had Żywiec, but it is the first time I will review it. Generally this gold lager has an earthy and hoppy fragrance that is matched by the flavour, with unfortunately is left lagging with a metallic aftertaste. Is good to be enjoyed on a hot day, but really doesn't have the quality, complexity or depth of other biers. The piwo gets 3 steins in this case...... But the wódka gets 5 shot-glasses :-) FYI, the wódka in this shot is as follows: Copernicus Wodka Zoladkowa Gorzka Sliwowica (which isn't really wódka, but a plumb based spirit) Balzams Krupnik Miodula Prezydencka #### NOTE #### I have now enabled the comment functionality for Bier Adventures. So if you have something to add, then please do so.

Ožujsko Pivo

Wed, 09 May 2007 01:57:17 +0100

When I visited Hrvatska (Croatia) a while ago I tried the local, Ožujsko pivo (bier/beer). This was actually pretty good, a flavour more along the lines of an Lager than a Pils, still I enjoyed it as much as the other pivo I'd tried. So it gets 3 steins: On a side note, I've been having problems with computers of late. So the updates may be a little on the sparse side. Bare with me in this time.