30th January 2012

It's time to say goodbye to January. And what better way to do that than to freeze your tits off on the way to liquor store to buy three of the finest, cheapest ales you can find.

Eggenberg Dark Lager (Czech Republic)

A bit strange this one, sort of like you'd mixed half a pint of Guinness with half a pint of Heineken. That might sound revolting, but it isn't, it actually tastes really good

Aldaris Porteris (Latvia)

A nice effort from our Latvian friends. It's nothing spectacular, but it looks like porter, it tastes like porter, and it smells like that old man in the corner of the pub. Everything a porter should do.

Orval (Belgium)

This is a Trappist beer, and I wasn't sure what that meant. A quick visit to Wikipedia had me reading some religious mumbo-jumbo, so I decided to ignore all of that and simply say that I like this beer. A lot. They should use this instead of communion wine, I may even start going to church if they do.

23rd January 2012

Despite still being slightly ill at the weekend, I soldiered on in my beer quest. It didn't do much harm in all honesty.

 Goose Island India Pale Ale (USA)

I'm pretty lucky to live in a place where there is quite a range of these little-known American beers. They really are great.

Carlsberg Elephant (Denmark)

Doesn't taste like elephant fortunately (or not, depending on how carnivorous you are). This is still a very drinkable lager, despite the rather high alcohol content, so it has the potential to mess with your senses, like a hypnotist with a grudge.

La Chouffe (Belgium)

A slightly chemically taste that didn't really work for me. A lot of alcohol though, so after a few you might not care that it tastes like you're spraying Cillit Bang in to your mouth.

16th January 2012

I've hardly been at home this week, so I haven't had a chance to update the blog until now. I have a bit of spare time now because I'm ill, but I managed to struggle out of bed to write this.

Liefmans Cuvée-Brut (Belgium)

I've already had a bad experience with fruit flavoured beers (see Wells Banana Bread Beer, 2nd January 2012), so I was a little skeptical about this. The label says "flavoured with cherries", but should say "tastes like cherries". But that's not a bad thing, I like cherries, and I have to say that this was delicious. I'm not sure I would call it beer, but I would definitely recommend it if you can find it. 

Weltenburger Kloster Asam Bock (Germany)

I think all of those fancy German words mean "rather nice bitter". Apparently this stuff is made in the world's oldest brewery, so they certainly know what they're doing.

Bitter And Twisted (Scotland)

The Scots are good at some things: making whisky, domestic violence and wearing manskirts, to name a few. And now it seems they can make beer too. Och aye!

9th January 2012

My first weekend back in Finland after a couple of weeks in England, and time again to get some foreign beer. At least, foreign to me.

Schneider Weisse (Germany)

Another Weissbier that I can add to the list of beers that I don't really like. I'm not saying that this is a bad beer, it's just not for me.

Palm (Belgium)

Apparently this stuff is the best-selling ale in Belgium, which is remarkable, because there are a lot of great ales coming out of Belgium, and I'd never heard of this one. I can see why it would be so popular though, it's delicious. Tintin's favourite beer definitely gets a thumb up from me.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (USA)

And I thought Americans were rubbish at making beer (Coors Light, anyone?) but so far I have loved every beer that has made its way across the pond. Maybe I should be a little more broad-minded... now where could I get some spray-on cheese?

2nd January 2012

Happy new beer everyone! As I'm still in the UK I continued my theme of drinking English beers, with one Polish beer thrown in as an acknowledgement of my heritage.

Well's Banana Bread Beer (England)

Beer made with bananas. It has a very interesting taste. Wait, interesting is the wrong word, I mean... erm... disgusting. What the hell were they thinking?

Źywiec (Poland)

The Poles, like the Czechs, make some excellent beers. This is one of them. It got my new year celebrations off to an great and delicious start.

Bateman's Victory Ale (England)

I do like beers that have a lot of flavour and also have a bit of a kick to them. Victory Ale scores a win in both of those departments (see what I did there?) 

Timothy Taylor's Landlord Strong Pale Ale (England)

This was my first beer of 2012, I was already pretty drunk, as you may be able to tell from the wonky picture of a half-empty bottle. I had had this before and it's lovely, great way to start the year.