17th December 2012

I was in Helsinki last weekend watching a rather excellent performance by Muse. While I was there I managed to find a few beers to keep the blog ticking over the festive period. 

Also, since next Monday is Christmas eve, there will be no blog next week. Because I know nobody will bother reading it anyway. And the week after that is New Year's eve, so I won't be writing then either. 

So I will take this opportunity to say: Merry Christmas readers. See you all in the new year.

Coconut Porter (USA)

This was one of the beers that I most looked forward to trying after flicking through the book the first time. And after all the expectation I was left a little disappointed. The coconut taste is slight, and although I wouldn't want to taste like I was drinking a can of Malibu, I would have liked it to be a bit more obvious. The porter itself is actually quite good. I was just expecting more.

Eggenberg Pale Lager (Czech Republic)

Another strange brew from the chaps at the Eggenberg brewery. This pale lager didn't really taste like a lager at all, more like a wheat beer, which didn't sit well with me. Definitely not one of my favourite Czech beers, in fact, probably my least favourite so far. It even smelled weird. The Dark Version was one of the first beers I had from the book, and was much better.

3rd December 2012

This weekend saw my girlfriend add to her previous age, poor thing. Congratulations to her, though. And I'll be taking a break from blogging next week, as I'll be in Helsinki watching Muse. Hopefully I'll be able to find a few beers from the book while I'm down there.

Celebrator (Germany)

The things I do for you people, and this blog... After suffering from a two-day hangover brought on by the missus' birthday party, I was still one beer short of being able to update this page. So I soldiered on and chose to drink this on Monday evening. When I poured it I was frightened. Frightened that this 6.7% dark beer would make my stomach's somersaults even more vigorous. But strangely it had the opposite effect on me. It was smooth and light, but delicious, and made me glad I risked it. 

Budějovický Budvar (Czech Republic)

When I was younger this was my beer of choice, I would drink it in the pub whenever I could find it. Unfortunately, after trying all the IPAs and other stronger tasting beers, this doesn't have the same appeal to me any more. I do still like, and I definitely favour this over the Carlsbergs of this world, but it wouldn't be near the top of list. Brings back some fond memories, though.

26th November 2012

I've had a tough day at work, and now my brains are fried, so don't be expecting anything Shakespearean from me today...

West Coast IPA (USA)

I had the opportunity to compare two IPAs from the book. While I was drinking this, my girlfriend was drinking Brewdog's Punk IPA. I have to say that after tasting this, I couldn't taste hers at all. That's not to say that the Brewdog's effort is bad, just that this is very, very good. I tend to prefer American IPAs to their British equivalent, and being an Anglophile it pains me to say that, but they're usually more bitter and hoppy and more flavourful. I'm not going to break out the stars and stripes and chant "USA! USA! USA!" just yet though.

Brains SA (Wales)

Rather nice, but lost a few points for being what can be best described as "medicine-y". I'm not sure if that was because the beer was old or not, because, to be fair, it had been sitting in my beer stash cupboard for quite a while. But like I said, it was still a nice reddish ale, one that I would definitely buy again. If only to see if a new bottle tasted any differently.

19th November 2012

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of this blog. And my how times have changed. I used to be a guy in a crappy old apartment drinking beer like some shady tramp. Now I'm a guy in a swanky new apartment drinking beer like some shady tramp.

Oh well, here's to the next twelve months, and hopefully beyond. Cheers!

Gouden Carolus Classic (Belgium)

Not really my kind of thing, this. Way to sweet for my taste. So I regretted buying this huge 750ml bottle, but at least I had the opportunity to use my giant beer glass. It lasted a very long time, but I drank every drop of it, so I was quite proud of myself. And in a way I'm glad I did, because it did start to grow on me towards the end, even though I thought about pouring most of it down the drain. I wouldn't buy this again.

Red MacGregor (Scotland)

After spending the whole afternoon carrying heavy furniture up four flights of stairs for a friend, this was exactly what I wanted on a Saturday night. Nothing too exciting or thrilling, just a nice beer while I relax at home. Although there was a slight metallic taste, it wasn't too noticeable and in a way suited the beer style. It definitely didn't put me off drinking it.

12th November 2012

Winter has almost arrived here in Finland, with the temperature dipping below freezing. Luckily we have a balcony that is perfect for keeping your beer cool during the dark winter months. And remember to recommend the blog's very own Facebook page.

Stone Ruination IPA (USA)

I had this just after the insanely strong Mikkeller Black, hence the slanted picture. And I'm glad I only put a picture of the front of the bottle, so you don't need to read the condescending crap printed on the back. Almost made me feel like I wasn't good enough to drink it. But the beer is actually very good, and certainly delivers the bitter hoppiness that it promises.

Meantime Coffee Porter (England)

I like porters. Simple words for a simple sentiment. And adding coffee to the mix is a stroke of genius, giving the beer and added bitter kick. A great way to kick-off a Friday night; will get you tipsy, but stop you falling asleep down the pub.

5th November 2012

The blog is taking over the world. This week I've had visitors from as far afield as Taiwan, Panama, India and Mexico. Welcome to you all.

Kapuziner Weißbier (Germany)

It's been pretty well documented on these pages that I'm not a fan of wheat beers. However, none of the ones I've tried so far have been quite as bad as this. It looked like sewage. And, although I have no basis for comparison, I would assume this tastes worse. Avoid. Like the plague. At all costs.

Greene King Abbot Ale (England)

Probably the British version of Trappist beer, in that it was originally brewed by monks. However, this is nothing like a Trappist beer (it's not as good, but not many things are). It's a pretty typical British ale, which wasn't unlike a few others I've had before. Good, but I've had better. 

29th October 2012

A nice relaxing weekend in a spa turned into a drunken weekend away from the spa. I did find a great little pub in Turku, Finland though. If you ever find yourself there, I recommend you locate the Cosmic Comic Cafe. I would have been there longer myself, had my funds been a little more in order.

Gambrinus (Czech Republic)

Is this so special as to warrant a place in the book? I don't think so. That's not to say that it's bad. Just not as special as some of the beers I've had on my adventure. There was just no wow factor. A little bit disappointing, especially for a Czech beer.

Mikkeller Black (Denmark)

Dear God! I went out for a quiet drink with the missus, and ended up with this 17.5% monster. As you can see from the picture, there was almost no head on this beer, which I thought would make it an easily drinkable beer, despite it's strength. But every mouthful feels like a shot of some stout flavoured liqueur. And it will get you drunk, so drink this slowly, really slowly, make it last a month or so. The taste wasn't bad at all, it was just way too powerful, and it'll stay with you for a couple of days.

  

22nd October 2012

After last week's embarrassing incident involving a lost photo (knowing me, it was bound to happen at some point) this week I'm glad to report that pictures for both beers are safe.

Tiger (Singapore)

A beer definitely suited for the climate that I imagine there is in Singapore. A refreshingly light taste that will quench your thirst. It's impossible to not like this beer and I felt better for drinking it. Although that's possibly because it was a Friday night.

Le Freak (USA)

A new record holder for the most expensive beer I've had so far. €23 I paid for this (actually my missus bought it, but let's not quibble over details). The label looks like some cheap beer you might find on the shelves in Lidl, but never judge a beer by its label. Apparently a mixture of two different beer types (one Belgian, the other American), which combine well to make a really great beer. Was it worth €23? Probably not, but I'm glad I drank it. And you know what they say: "Le Freak - C'est chic"

15th October 2012

I had a rather chilled weekend at home this week. There was no football on TV, but luckily for me my girlfriend has ordered the Cartoon Network channel. So I had a weekend filled with Adventure Time and Johnny Bravo. And beer obviously.

Jever Pilsener (Germany)

Don't start refreshing the page, the sad truth is that I can't find the picture of this beer. I'm not sure if I ever took one, or if it has been deleted by accident. Either way, you'll just have to trust me that I drank this.

 The first words out my mouth when I drank this were..."tastes like metal". And it did. There was a really crisp bitterness to the beer, which I really liked. If they could somehow get rid of the aftertaste which made me think I was drinking mercury, they could be on to a winner.

Honey Dew (England)

This is a strange beer. At first I didn't think it was anything special, but then I was hit by the smooth, sweet taste from the honey. Really easy to drink. You see, I like honey, and obviously I like beer, but I was a bit scared to try this, and not just because it was two months past it's use by date. I was scared that this would be some sickly sweet drink. But it wasn't, the honey taste isn't overpowering, just enough for you to notice it.

8th October 2012

I didn't find time to write the blog last week, and if you think that I'm going to do a double edition this week, well, you've got another thing coming.

A. Le Coq Porter (Estonia)

There are two Estonian beers in the book, both of them porters and now I have drank both of them. And I have to say that this one is definitely better than the Saku Porter. The A.le Coq porter is more fizzy, sort of like a porter flavoured lager. A bitter taste that wasn't overpowering, which made it easy to drink. Well done Eesti, you've made a great beer here.

Chimay Bleue (Belgium)

This tastes quite strong, which may lead you to believe that you're drinking something you probably shouldn't be. It's "only" 9% though, so while not exactly liver-destroying, you wouldn't want to start a Friday night with too many of these. The taste is very Belgian, meaning it tastes different from any other beer from any other country. I don't know what they do in the brewing process, but as long as they make beers as good as this, who cares?

24th September 2012

I can't think of anything to put as an introduction this week. So this will have to do. 

Racer 5 (USA)

If you can ignore the cheesy American bullcrap printed on the side of the bottle ("...the next generation of IPA. Racer 5 Go Go...") you will find an excellent beer. I found this in what must have been the world's loudest pub, in London. It would have been nice to drink this slowly, but because I wanted to leave before deafness struck, I had to down this quite fast. Didn't really make a difference to my opinion of it though. It was great.

Guinness Foreign Extra (Ireland)

There are three different types of Guinness in the book. And this must be the bigger, more psychotic brother of the family. It tastes almost the same as regular Guinness, only a little bit more boozy, which is understandable, as it's 7.4%. There was also a slightly smoky aftertaste, which I didn't like too much either. The big brother is slightly inferior to it's little sibling.

17th September 2012

Quite a nice weekend, which included football, birthday cake and, of course, beer. Here is this week's selection.

Coopers Sparkling Ale (Australia)

Luckily I read about this beer from the book before I drank it. It suggested that I roll the bottle before pouring, which would get rid of that massive blob of yeast you can see at the bottom of the bottle. This beer looked disgusting, like I'd just dunked my glass in to Australia's dirtiest river (probably called Chuzblahbawonga river). The taste however was like a rather nice lager. And I understand where the sparkling name comes from too, drinking this was like eating a packet of pop rocks.

St. Peter's Cream Stout (England)

Very smooth stout, which is probably what a cream stout should be like, I guess. The taste is quite tame for a stout, which would be great for those out there who are new to dark beers but want to give them a try, this would be an excellent starting point. Not the best stout I've had, but definitely not the worst either.

10th September 2012

After a weekend of crazy running activity, I was in the mood for a few beers, unfortunately my stomach wasn't, so here are a couple of beers that I drank a while back, which haven't made it on to the blog yet...

Efes (Turkey)

A rather good effort from Turkey. Nothing particularly noteworthy, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad beer. It's better than a lot of beers, but there was nothing to really make it stand out from the crowd following some of the great beers I've had whilst doing this blog. Would be nice to be drinking this on a beach somewhere. Or maybe with a kebab.

Summer Lightning (England)

This is another beer that is more suitable to summer drinking, which makes the name rather appropriate. However, I drank this on a not so warm autumn day in Finland. It's still really good though, made me want to go out to a beer garden somewhere to drink a few more. Apparently this beer as won "over 70 awards", I never knew there were so many awards a beer could win. And I probably wouldn't give it that many. Maybe one.

3rd September 2012

So autumn crept up on us while I was still waiting for the summer to start. Not to worry though, here's a couple of great beers that will be sure to cheer you up... If you drink them. By the way, anyone who understands the beer counter picture on the right wins a prize*. 

*Prize may not exist.

Blue Moon (USA)

I had this a while back while I was on holiday in London. It was served in a generic glass, so again, you will have to make do with a photo of a beer tap. When I saw the barmaid put a slice of orange in this, I wondered what the bloody hell she was doing. But when I tasted it I understood. The beer was quite citric anyway, and the extra hint of orange made it the perfect summer beer, very sharp and crisp in taste. This one would head straight in to my top five, if I could remember what my top five list was...

Schiehallion (Scotland)

Thank god I have that picture there, otherwise I would never have been able to spell that, and don't ask me to pronounce it. Beers like this are the reason why lager is so popular around the world. Or at least it should be. It tastes more like a pale ale than a lager, which is definitely a plus for me, lagers tend to be flavourless and boring, but this one really packs some taste in to the bottle. This is from the same brewery as the amazing Ola Dubh and I'm beginning to see a pattern. This is a quality brewery. 

27th August 2012

This blog seems to be getting more and more popular, with people from all over the world tuning in to read my amateur thoughts on great beers. Welcome to all of you. If you like the blog, please refer it to others whom you think will be interested. And feel free to like the blog's Facebook page.

Maredsous 8 (Belgium)

This weirdly bitter wheat beer had me a bit confused. At first I thought it was a little bit horrible, which isn't uncommon for me with wheat beers, but the more I drank, the more I liked it. It isn't as strong as Belgians usually are, which made it great for daytime drinking, while we were escaping the Great British rainy summer. Overall, not a bad beer. Cool chalice-like glass too.

Black Sheep Ale (England)

This is the beer that got me interested in real ale as a teenager. I remember stopping in a pub in the middle of nowhere and ordering a beer that I'd never heard of, which went on to become my favourite beer for several years. It still tastes as good now as it did back then. A great bitter which the British do so well.

20th August 2012

The start of the English football season was finally upon us over the weekend.  I almost feel sorry for my girlfriend, given the amount of football she will have to watch/listen to/hear about.

Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout (Norway)

Well I wasn't expecting this to be so good. I've had one Norwegian beer before and I didn't think much of it. But this is probably the second best stout I've had so far, after the Finnish Plevna Siperia. It's great that someone took time away from cross-country skiing to make this great beer. It is a bit of a shame that not many people will know how to order this as they won't know how to say Ø.

Old Crustacean (USA)

You'll have to accept this slightly rubbish picture of a beer tap as proof that I drank this beer. It's a barley wine style beer, which probably means something, I will check Wikipedia a bit later to find out what. I did rather like this though, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, and it was slightly more sweet than the beers I would usually go for. Although it is a good beer, and I know a lot of people would like it.

13th August 2012

I've been celebrating a fine performance by Team GB in the Olympics. Well done. Now, if only they would add beer-tasting to the competition, I'd be willing to give my all for Queen and country.

JHB (England)

This is named after some medieval midget who used to Entertain an old King. And this beer certainly entertained me. A very nice bitter ale with a sharp taste that was great to drink after a summer barbecue.

Grolsch (Netherlands)

In Britain, Grolsch is classed as a fairly standard beer, lining up on supermarket shelves between the Carlsberg and Fosters. The difference is, though, that this is so much better than either of those. As lagers go, this is up there with the best. Which makes me wonder why this isn't as popular around the world as those that I mentioned above. It's baffling.

6th August 2012

It's been a great week watching the Olympics. Sometimes you just have to be proud to be British. But enough boasting, it's time for this week's duo of beers. Don't forget to click here to like this blog on Facebook.

Kirin Ichiban (Japan)

"Beer at its purest" claims the label. Which got me wondering, what does absolute pure beer taste like? If this is an example of it, then it's a mild tasting, slightly sweet summer drink. And it's not bad at all. 

XX Bitter (Belgium)

A quick word of advice: Pour this slowly. I tried to pour this regularly and ended up with a glass full of foam that I had to wait about twenty minutes for. So, was it worth the wait? Sort of. The first thing I noticed when I opened it was the smell, it smells delicious. But the taste didn't quite live up to that. Don't get me wrong, it definitely wasn't a bad beer, it was actually very nice, and the name is very appropriate: it is rather bitter.

30th July 2012

The first major landmark, one hundred beers have now been drank. To celebrate the occasion I've done something unthinkable... I've let a woman drink my beer. Here you'll get a review from my lovely fiancé, Tiia, as well as from myself. Enjoy.

Sinebrychoff Porter (Finland)

Michael:

I wanted my first milestone beer to be one from the country that I love. The only Finnish beer left in the book was this one. And for a porter, this is actually rather boring. There's just not enough power in the taste. Although that might be a blessing in disguise, because the taste I did get was slightly metallic. If the taste had been any stronger it might have felt like I was drinking mercury.

Tiia:

When I saw him bringing this my first word was "NOOOOO!". I hate dark beer, do I really have to drink that? But it's Koff, it can't be that bad. And it's not that bad. This is the very first dark beer I'm able to drink (actually I didn't have a choice, "you'll have to drink all of this", he said, I'm wondering if he's trying to get me drunk). There was a weird bitter taste at the end, but it didn't bother me. I'm so proud of myself that I drank this. It's an easy to drink beer for females who are afraid of weird beers, which is everything except lager.

3 Monts (France)

Michael:

Trust the French to create a beer that you need a corkscrew to open. It didn't really taste like much, but the aftertaste was rather strange, a bit like you're drinking something much stronger. Like bleach. I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. Maybe it's a good thing that I gave half of it to the missus.

Tiia:

This had a mild taste at the start, but the aftertaste was like a cat had peed in my throat, which made me want to drink more of the stuff to get rid of the taste from my mouth. It didn't really smell like anything, which was good because then I wasn't afraid to drink it. Towards the end the cat pee taste didn't bother me... well, maybe a bit.

23rd July 2012

I'm writing this before 6am, so don't blame me if it's rubbish...

Left Hand Milk Stout (USA)

This definitely wasn't the strongest flavoured stout I've ever had, but still it was rather good. I understand where the 'milk' stout gets its name too, it was very smooth to drink. It doesn't taste like milk though, which is a bloody good thing, because i think that out of all the flavours in the world, milk flavoured beer would make me vomit the most.

Veltins (Germany)

Pilsener used to be one of favourite types of beer, but the more beers I drink from this book the more boring I find pilsener to be. I drank this after a rather powerful wheat beer, which was maybe a mistake, as I couldn't taste a thing. Although, towards the end of the glass I seemed to get a taste of plain rice in my mouth. So you could save yourself some time and effort by going out and getting some Uncle Ben's basmati.

16th July 2012

After a one-and-a-half week holiday in England I decided to make this week's blog an English beer special. And because you were denied a blog update last week, I'll make up for it by adding four beers. I'm just too thoughtful sometimes.

Barnsley Bitter (England)

Starting with the beer brewed in my hometown (visit the brewery's pub, Old No 7, if you're ever in the Barnsley area). This is light in alcohol, only 3.8%, but still tastes nice and strong. Apparently there are two beers called Barnsley Bitter, and I think I had the other one once before, and it tasted like some designer eau de toilette. This one doesn't, thankfully. Very drinkable. 

Old Thumper (England)

This "beast of a beer" is a red British effort that does actually taste very British. It's a stupid name for a rather nice beer. And I'm not sure what the wild pig on the bottle has to do with anything, but it is quite nice. 

Sneck Lifter (England)

The bottle gave the story of what a sneck lifter is but I can't remember and it was way too boring for me to put in the effort of googling it. If you want to know what it is, be my guest. It's a rather standard dark ale, no different from any other British dark ale on the market. It's good, but nothing specifically noteworthy.

Thornbridge Jaipur (England)

This came in a standard beer glass, so I was forced to look like a weirdo taking photos of beer taps in pubs. This was a rather nice IPA, plenty of hoppy bitterness made it really nice to drink on a summer lunchtime. 

25th June 2012

Friday was a double celebration for me. It was midsummer's day, which here in Finland is a huge thing, and it was also my birthday. Being one year older I should also be one year wiser, but with all this beer I've been drinking I might be stuck in reverse.

Malheur 10 (Belgium)

Thanks go to Jose for bringing this for me. When I poured it in to the glass I wasn't sure what this beer was. It looked and smelled like wheat beer, but thankfully didn't taste too much like it. Unless I've just become so accustomed to wheat beer that I've actually started to like it. What I do know about this beer is that it's very strong and actually very good. A quite typical Belgian effort, lots of flavour and plenty of alcohol.

Staropramen (Czech Republic)

This was my first beer to start the weekend of celebrations. I was looking forward to this because I really like Czech beer, and as you can see, my girlfriend Tiia was quite excited about it too. And with good reason. Although this beer doesn't taste so much different from some of the other Czech beers I've had so far, it's not a bad thing. So overall the weekend was a success... apart from the England-Italy game, but I won't go in to that. 

18th June 2012

A rather nice pair of British beers to drink while watching England scrape past the Swedes.

Brains Dark (Wales)

Although this sounds like a racist zombie's favourite beer, it's actually a rather nice drink. It tasted very bitter, rather like what I'd expect a lump of coal to taste like. If you like dark beer then I would definitely recommend this. If not then there's nothing so remarkable here that would make you change your mind. I do like dark beer though, so for me this was great.

Tribute (England)

The bottle says that this is "The South-West's Favourite", and actually it's quite easy to see why. This looked slightly cloudy in the glass and had a nice strong flavour. And at only 4.2% you could drink it all night and wake up the next morning without wondering what happened to your keys/phone/face/furniture. 

11th June 2012

The European football championship kicked off at the weekend, and I'm quietly confident that England has the ability to get knocked out in the quarter finals.

Victory Storm King Imperial Stout (USA)

This is a powerful beer, both in taste and alcohol content. Stout is one of my favourite types of beer, especially when it's done right. And this is definitely done right. It leaves an aftertaste like you'd just drank three cups of strong coffee without stopping for breath. It's good. And I mean really good.

O'Kell's Aile Smoked Celtic Porter (Isle of Man)

For those of you don't know, the Isle of Man is a tiny island located between Britain and Ireland. Apparently there's a brewery there, and if this beer is an example of what they brew, it's a pretty good brewery. I'll admit that the word "smoked" on the label frightened me a bit, I've had some bad experiences with smoke beers. But this one didn't have the overpowering smoky taste that the others had. This one tasted more like the tar flavoured things that you can get, at least here in Finland. A nice mild beer.