One of the great Geman Beers is DAB which comes from Dortmund in Germany. The brewery is fairly new in German terms and dates back to 1868 being set up by a few local buisnessmen and their master brewer Heinrich Herberz. Dortmund is located in the North Rhine-Westphalia which is on the central western side of the country not far from the Dutch Border.
Being rebuilt in 1949 after being destroyed in World War II and is now owned by German food giant Radeberger The DAB is a pilsener and like all German beers obeys the Purity Laws. DAB is readily available in bottleshops around the world and is a favorite in German themed restaurants worldwide.
Here’s a clever add from the guys at Amstel Bier in the Netherlands, it shows what lenghts people will to, to ensure the beer reaches the customer- its quiet fun. sit back with a cold Amsel and enjoy today’s You Tube of the week.
Obolon the great Ukrainian Brewer offers some beautiful beers including Magnat, a barley beer, Velvet their dark beer, a White Beer and the one photographed here the Premium to name a few. The premium is exported to many countries around the world and readily available and well worth a try next time you are at your favorite liquor store or bottleshop. The Obolon Premium comes in half litre green bottles and contains 5.2% alcohol. The beer uses Obolon Premium Rice which gives the beer a lovely soft flavour with medium content of solids with a distinct malty taste. The beer is a very good choice if you are looking for one of those crisp but flavorsome European style pilsners- look out for it.
Well the last thing you want to do after a few beers is get behind the wheel of a car, well with Schlossgold you can have as many as you like and still be fine to drive. This beer is alcohol free!.. You might be thinking no that cant be beer it will taste awful, well we are here to tell you it is delicious! It is an Austrian Beer and one of their best sellers, it dates back to 1321 and is the perfect beer to have when you are not having a beer. This beer and many like it are becoming quiet popular in Europe as people are becoming more responsible when drinking, it is stocked in both liquor stores and anywhere you might buy a milk or soft drink. The beer is available in many countries around the world and the distributors are looking for more, so look out for it when you want a beer that tastes like a beer but is virtually alcohol free.
Franziskaner is the oldest privately owned brewery in Munich and has a proud tradition, dating back over 700 years to 1363, where the brewery set up by Seidel Vaterstetter diagonally over the road from the Franciscan monastery, hence the name Franziskaner. In 1841the brewery moved to more modern premises in Munich’s eastern suburbs at Lilienberg. Franziskaner has been a proud brewer for Oktoberfest, with it’s first brews appearing way back in 1872, they produce a beautiful golden yellow beer especially for the event from a old Viennese recipe ideal for summer drinking. Franziskaner beers are easily identified with the distinctive Franciscian Friar monk on the label, this was originally painted by Ludwig Hohlwein back in 1935 and has remained an important icon ever since. The brewery produces a number of beers including their most popular the Weisse wheat beer, Hefe Weisse Hell, a Dunkel and of course the Oktoberfest brew which appears at the end of Summer each year. They are all top fermented and use no nasty chemicals or additives as stated in the German Purity Laws for beer.
Sweden must be a good place this time of year as not only is it close to Santa’s home but also their local brewery produces a christmas beer. Spendrups have several breweries across Sweden and pruduce beers under the brand names of Spendrups Original, Norrlands Guld, Loka, Wisby Klosteröl and Old Gold,as well as producing heineken under licence for the local market. Around christmas time each year Spendrups produce a christmas beer that has a fruity taste and aroma with added spices and herbs to give it a festive flavor. Over the last few years we have always picked these xmas beers up at our local IKEA store, not sure if any other bottle shops stocks them outside Europe but keep your eyes out for them or just head down to IKEA, they wash down their tasty meatballs very nicely indeed. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently many beer drinkers have been concerned about additives and other nasties in their beer, and then there are people who are allergic to different things- well from deep in the German Black Forest not far from the French border town of Strasbourg comes Schnitzer Brau a organic gluten free beer which is full flavored, fresh tasting and brewed using organic millet malt instead of wheat. There are two flavors to look out for the Original and a very tasty German Hirse Citrus and Lemon blend. The brewery also takes pride in ensuring the beer is organic with no nasty chemicals, pesticides or insecticides used on any of the products going into the brew, which has got to not only make the beer tastier but much better for you. Look out for Schnitzer Brau- it is available outside Germany.
When you think of Greek beers you usually think of Mytos, but there are so many other great beers to look out for including Alfa, Keo and today’s feature beer Marathon. Marathon is no ancient brew it only reached the market in 1971 and is made using only high quality natural ingredients- none of the nasty stuff. Being a pale lager it contains 5% alcohol and has a fresh crisp taste with a hint of malt making it very easy to knock down. Marathon Beer is produced by Athenian Brewery which is now part of Heineken, this beer is available in many regions throughout the world so look out for it in your bottleshop’s fridge.
Just up the road from Salzburg there is a little village in upper Austria called Zipf and it is home to one of Austria’s best beers Zipfer. This spicy and somewhat dry beer is brewed to the traditional purity laws of Austria which are a bit different to neighboring Germany. Austrian law mandate only pure ingredients and may contain the addition of rice to the recipe but only to 25% of the grain content. Where the Germans only permit water, wheat, barley, hops and yeast. The beer is a bottom fermented lager and was perfected by brew master Anton Dreher in the 1840′s making it fairly new in European terms. In recent years a lemon variety has been release which is attracting a new audience to the beer. Read the rest of this entry »
Wexford Irish Creme Ale is another product from the Green King using authentic Irish malts and hops dating back to a 1810 recipe. The beer is very smooth with a tasty caramel taste and as the name suggests is very creamy. The can features a widget, a small ping pong ball like device which releases nitrogen into the beer when the can is opened to give the beer a live taste like straight out of a draught tap. Quiet a few of the English and Irish ales and stouts use a similar idea, ball shaped and others with very high tech fins and flaps. We will do a story on widgets in coming weeks. The beer probably isn’t a beer you would want to drink year round, it is more a winter beer and goes great with rich hot foods like roasts and casseroles rich with gravy and roasted veg. delicious!
