Beer Post #11

Today's beer post is dedicated to the world famous beer gardens of Munich, Germany. I was lucky enough to visit this Nirvana in my January wanders through Central Europe. I hooked up with some American friends to explore the nether regions of brew halls in Munich. (See our photos).

We arrived on January 10th, and our first excursion was to the Paulaner Brewhouse directly across from the train station. We had sausages and beers. I drank the heffeweissen, which was delicious! The Munich Breweries website describes this brew as, "Pale unfiltered wheat beer. Aromas of cloves, coriander and ginger, sweetish taste with clove aroma, more cloves and basil in the finish. Archetypal wheat beer with lots of cloves - exactly what you would expect from the style." I agree. It's a style that has grown on me in the last few years. I had two liters ;-)

That night we sought out the awesome Augustiner-Keller brew house. We didn't go to the one near Marionplatz; rather, it was a short ways away by subway from our Tryp Hotel, and we managed to locate it with minimal difficulty with some help from English speaking locals.

This beer garden was exactly like I anticipated it would be. The outside was an A-Frame Swiss chalet looking structure. The inside was painted a yellowish tan with decorations of small creatures mounted on wooden shields, paintings of festivities during Oktoberfest, and tables made out of large barrels. In the next room where the decor was more traditional Bavarian with pastoral scenes, etc, we ate an awesome meal comprised of sausages, snitzel, pretzels, apple strudel and several rounds of beer. The server recommended a Pils, but I had their Dunkel weis, which was very drinkable-all that I hoped for. In my opinion, it is the best that Augustiner makes. According to Munich Breweries website, the Dunkel weis is "Red-brown, nutty, malty and lightly hopped." This concise description fit it to a T. They also say this about the Dunkel, "Dark lager. Toffee and fruit aromas, neural taste with hop and malt, bitterish raisiny finish. A very nice, chewy dark beer." Unfortunately, the Augustiner-Keller didn't have all the brews, like the Dopplebock, for which they are famous. We passed a very enjoyable evening, but dropped pant-load of cash in the process.

The next day, we visited Dachau. Sad.

The following day, we went to Marionplatz to find the Hofbrauhaus. The building was cool, the ceilings were painted with murals and their were long wooden tables with benches where folks just camped out, drank and listened to the oompah band. The beers were LARGE. I drank the Dunkel weisse which I think was not as good as the Augustiner dunkel weisse. The Munich Breweries website supports this assessment; they said, "Dark lager. Malt aroma, neutral taste, dry bitterish finish. Pretty bland dunkles." We had the giant pretzels and some laughs though.

Estimation: Munich-mostly modern with some older buildings. The churches were austere. Beers- mostly what you get through imports. Atmosphere at some of the brew houses- unsurpassable. Pretzels-delectable. Apple strudel-awesome. Cost: Outrageously high.

Beer Post #10

Merhaba! Apologies for being negligent regarding my December posts. No, Jeff, I haven't quit drinking; rather, I've been spending time on the road and am grateful to have the time now to report my findings.

Our trip to Istanbul offered me some opportunities to sample some new, if not diverse, gifts from Allah.

In Turkey, it's all Efes. This national brewery produces 71% of the beer sold in the country. While they are contract brewers for Becks, Miller, Warstiener and Fosters, these sales only account for about 10% of the beer consumed nationally. The remaining 90% of the market share that Efes enjoys are beers produced under their own label. These include a Pilsner style lager, a dark lager, a strong ale (7% abv), and a German wiezbier called, Gusta.

The Efes Pilsner tends to the sweet side for me. It has more body than you might expect, especially for the warmer climate that is its primary market. The head is light and thin. Regarding packaging, the bottle is best in terms of quality. The quality of the cans is inconsistent whereas the draft varies from horrible to shitty (this is most likely a result of dirty lines at the pubs I visited). Concerning the Pilsen, Fonefan at Rate beer said, "Bottle. Clear light yellow color with a small to average, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, white to off-white head. Aroma is light malty, toasted, bread, moderate cardboard. Flavor is light to moderate sweet with a short to average duration. Body is light to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is soft."

Gusta, on the other hand, is a top fermented brew in the German hefeweizen style. At Ratebeer, one writer, RickGordon, described Gusta as, "Hazy pale yellow colour with moderate head. Dryish aroma with slight fresh sourishness and only light phenolic. Light bodied with bit acidity. Low wheat profile and very flawless. Lacking in esters and body, apart from that this is very German." I concur.

Try it at 7am at the airport, like I did, with next to no sleep. Chase it with borëk or su böreği ("a warm many layered noodle like pastry sandwich of white cheese and parsley" according to Lonely Planet Turkey).

Cost: YLT 2.85 ($2.44) for 12 oz.

Hoşçakal, Turkey! We'll miss you! (BTW, alerjim var ishali).

Beer Post #9

Number 9, number 9, number 9... Tonight's Friday, so I thought I'd have a couple of beers. The fraternal twins I'm doing tonight are: Chernigivske Bile & Chernigivske Bila Nich. In other words, White and White Night. They are brewed by Sun Interbrew Ukraine.

These beers have been a staple for me in Kharkiv. I particularly enjoy the White. It's an unfiltered witbier with medium body, a pleasant fruitiness of orange, peach, and a hint of coriander that you would expect from this beer style. However, the head is loose and unsustained. It doesn't hold its carbonation well at all, suggesting it is under carbonated. It's definitely tasty, but if you want the real deal, drink a Hoegaarden White Ale.

As for the White Night, it's a little thin for a dark unfiltered Dunkelweizen (Thanks for clarifying this Ernie in Moscow). It is an easy, unaggressive, uneventful-yet not unpleasant- lager. Surprisingly, it hints more of fruit than roasted malt. But it's lasting impression can be described best by Neil Young's quote: "it starts off kind of slow and then fizzles out altogether."

You should enjoy these twins with leftovers, because they're easy, too. Tee-hee-hee.

The cost is way affordable for the pleasures that they offer at H5.05 ($1.00) for 1 liter. I've never enjoyed a buck so much!

Beer Post #8

This evening, I thought I would critique a classic brew from the Czech Republic, which of course is famous as the home of the pilsner style of beer from the city, Plzeň.

I decided on Krušovice Imperial produced by Královský Pivovar Krušovice (the Royal Brewery of Krušovice). This lager is characterized by the brewery as a "premium", which I guess means that they're very proud of it.

At first glance, the hue is a light honey color, which is inviting.
In terms of taste, I notice that it's quite light and drinkable with a creamy texture. This is followed, however by a hop bitterness that is very sharp (most likely Saaz hops).

This beer is quite popular and common here in Kharkiv. For a 1/2 liter, it costs H7.30 ($1.45).

I had mine with a hot ham & cheese sandwich with a green olive garnish.

Beer Post #7

This popular Russian lager, Classic #3, has a mild initial palate that finishes with a hoppy bitterness that dominates. It is heavier than most American domestics, like Budweiser, but that is what it reminded me of. I would characterize this as a session beer for someone inclined to make an evening of it, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

This company, Baltika, has been around since Soviet times. It is a large manufacturer with plants scattered around Russia. They offer ten different beer styles
numbered 0-9. I'll update you later as I have a number 9 extra (ESB) in my frig.

I had my Classic #3 last night with homemade chicken noodle soup. Mmm...soup.

Cost: H3.15 ($0.62) for the 1/2 liter.

Beer Post #6

Tonight's offering is a delicious Belgian Blonde from the famous Abbaye de Leffe (now brewed by InBev) . This ale has been in production since 1240A.D.

This blonde is in the Belgian tripel style so you can expect it to be clean and lively but with substance. After the initial effervescent sensation, you taste caramel flavors that finish with a malty sweetness.

Enjoy this with crème brulée or any desert that won't overpower its subtle goodness. Where available in Kharkiv, UA expect to spend H7.30 ($1.45) for 330ml. A damn fine bargain by western standards!

Find out more:
RateBeer
Beer Advocate

Beer Post #5

Now, that I've got your attention...

With Andrey and some buddies, I found this beer hall, Stargorod, in Kharkiv, Ukraine which is styled after a Czech beer garden. It has long, picnic-style tables so it is easy to bond with your neighbors. They had a traveling band comprised of guitar, accordion and violin playing polka music.

They brew their own beer in affiliation with a Czech brewery. They offer a light lager, a white ale, a Bavarian dark ale, and a wheat (which was not available when I visited). The dark was very nice. It had a flavorful nutty quality with hints of chocolate malt, but it wasn't too heavy.

While there, I enjoyed a champion's league soccer match on the big screen television between Ireland and Donetsk, Ukraine. It didn't turn out as the locals would have preferred because Ireland scored the winning goal with 2 seconds left in regulation time. Final score: 2-1.

Oh, yeah, and the servers uniforms, as you can see, give new meaning to the phrase business casual.