Beer tasting

This post will contain various remarks about many of the beers that I encounter during the course of my travels.

Russia

Baltika 0. A non-alcoholic beer, which tastes much like a very average light beer. In my opinion, not pleasant enough to enjoy.

Baltika 1. Despite searching for the entire two weeks that I was in Russia, I could not find this beer.

Baltika 2. Strongly reminiscent of James Boags Premium, with a slightly lighter and fruitier flavour.

Baltika 3. This is the draught beer of the Baltika lot and is the sponsor of the national soccer league (which should tell you exactly what kind of beer it is). It’s a standard draught beer, with a mild and somewhat bland flavour that won’t get in the way if you try to drink 20 or so.

Baltika 4. A decent dark ale, moderately rich and malty for a beer of this style, but not heavy or exceptionally dark. Not my favourite style of beer, but quite nice for what it is.

Baltika 5. A golden ale that was pleasant enough without standing out. Definitely not as good as the James Squire Golden Ale.

Baltika 6. This strong porter (7%) was surprisingly good, probably the best beer I had in Russia. Smooth and rich (but not to the point of being overpowering), and a very nice surprise.

Baltika 7. This is the export lager, which a Russian lady told me is the “classy” beer to drink in Russia. It’s a perfectly acceptable lager, thankfully with more flavour than the draught (Baltika 3), quite decent without being exotic.

Baltika 8. An unfiltered “wheat ale” with a somewhat mild taste for a wheat beer, and also less sweetness than the average wheat beer, I found this to be very nice.

Baltika 9. The strongest of the lot at 8%, this beer exhibits a stronger, fuller taste than the other Baltika lagers (ie, 3 and 7) and perhaps a slightly stronger malt flavour. The strength of the beer does make itself known in the palate, but not nearly so much as in other strong beers (eg, Chimay).

Oxota. The single cheapest beer I could find on the streets of Russia, it is also quite strong at 8%. This combination of cheap and strong did not fill me with great expectations, and this beer proved deserving of such thoughts. Not just rough around the edges, but also rough around the middle, I later found out that this beer is essentially for alcoholics only. Update: Oxota is made by Heineken!

Sweden

Jämtlands Oatmeal Bitter. This was a very recent release by one of Sweden’s smallest breweries. Full flavoured and quite bitter, it was somewhat rich, dark and even a little syrupy. Quite interesting to drink and very enjoyable.

Bëdaro Bitter. A simpler, less rich beer than the Buckwheat Bitter, but still slightly dark in appearance. With a good, bitter taste and a full flavour, this is definitely one of the better bitters I have had.

Wisby (Klosteröl). I forgot to write down the name of this beer, but I believe it was the Wisby Klosteröl. Unhomogenised, unpasteurised and served from the tap, it arrived at the table with a cloudy, deep yellow appearance. Quite thick and rich, without being heavy or having any bitterness, this beer was somewhat fruity and quite different to any other beer I’ve tasted. This would make a very good summer beer, but it would also be a good beer at any other time of the year — I really enjoyed it in the late Swedish autumn.

Nils Oscar India Ale. I had a bit of trouble deciding how to describe this beer. The best I could come up with was that it is reminiscent of Little Creatures Pale Ale, a moderate amount of bitterness and a very nice, long palate. Little Creatures Pale Ale is one of my favourite beers, and I’d say the Nils Oscar India Ale is about as good.

Jämtlands Postiljon. The strong pale ale (5.8%) is richer and has more flavour than a Coopers Pale Ale. Somewhat malty, only a very slight bitterness and no fruity overtones. Excellent.

Slottskällens Imperial Stout. A very rich and strong stout (9%) that is velvety smooth and absolutely delicious.

Denmark

Jacobson Limited Edition. Very rich, about 8.5%, reddish in appearance but no “red” flavour. Slightly sweet with no bitterness or hops present, some cocoa taste but a mild palate for such a strong dark beer.

Hvede. A mild-flavoured and only moderately sweet wheat beer. Nice, but nothing special.

Master Brew. Tastes like a golden ale, except that the 10.5% alcohol makes it presence very obvious. Apparently a pilsener (but not very apparent), some hoppiness and a little bitterness in the aftertaste, darkish gold in appearance. Very potent.

Netherlands

Heintje. A light, moderately sweet wheat beer with some mild fruitiness and no hops flavour. Pleasant without being exceptional, it is one of the more drinkable wheat beers that I’ve tried.

Ettaler Kloster-Biere. Tastes of burnt toffee and malt, with some bitterness present in the aftertaste, no fruitiness or hops detectable and somewhat rich.

Texels Skuumkoppe. A caramel and malt flavour, dark but not as rich as one would expect, relatively light in palate, with a small amount of hops present in the aftertaste.

Johnny. A pale ale, not quite as bitter as Coopers Pale Ale, perhaps slightly less hops than the Coopers as well, with a possible pilsener influence.

Grolsch Dunkel Weize. A very nice wheat beer, not very fruity and not overly sweet, this is the dark (“dunkel”) variety which is peanut-brown in colour. The flavour is clearly that of a wheat beer, but it leans much more closely to the darker beers than the average wheat beer.

Belgium

De Garre. Rich, very smooth, dark amber in colour, only slightly sweet with a moderate amount of malt flavours and very little hops. A very delicious Belgian beer, apparently only available from the tap at the bar of the same name.

Bar Bar Winter Bok. A bock beer (dark and sweet) that contains a small amount of honey. Despite this, the beer is not sickly sweet, although it is very rich. The flavour is very full and disguises the sweetness, so that you are not left feeling as though you’ve downed a glass of cordial. Despite this, the beer is not very heavy and does not leave you feeling as though you’ve eaten an entire meal.

Westmalle Dubbel. Served from the bottle in an Irish pub (!!), this tastes no different to the same bottles purchased in Australia. Dark, strong and heavy, although not the strongest beer on offer from Westmalle, it was the start of a good day spent wandering the streets of Bruges and sampling a good number of Belgian beers.

Lindemann’s Kriek. Very sweet, although with a slightly tart finish, this beer tastes like fizzy cherry juice with added sugar. Really more of a chick-drink than a beer.

Bellevue Kriek. The Bellevue Kriek is a little less sweet than the Lindemann’s variety, but there is no tart finish and so in the end all you can taste is the sugar. It is amazingly similar to Ribena.

Jupiler. One of the cheapest beers, whose signs adorn the majority of pubs and bars. The 500mL can and low price are clearly the main attractions here, it is a bland and mild-flavoured beer, purely intended to allow you to drink a large amount. Meh.

Maes. Another cheap beer with abundant signage, this has somewhat more flavour than the Jupiler, but I found this to be a disadvantage; not because I wanted to drink several cans in quick succession, but because the flavour is nothing to write home about (and yet, here I am, doing exactly that).

France

Meteor. A beer local to the Alsace region of northern France, Meteor is packaged in tiny (250mL) green bottles with bright yellow labels and has been in production since 1640. It is a slightly dark golden-yellow in colour, and tastes like a mild pale ale only with a maltier palate. The flavour is delicious without being overbearing, it is the kind of beer you could easily drink all night without getting sick of the flavour, and yet it has enough flavour that you can slowly enjoy a single glass.