My Guilty Pleasure: Foster’s Lager

Australia is actually known to produce some very nice beers. Whether Foster’s is one of them is very disputable. If you ask the locals, the answer is almost sure to be “No“. If you ask the foreigners, the answer is more likely to be “No” but you may also hear an occasional “Yes“. For me, this beer is a guilty pleasure. I know a lot of people don’t consider it a top quality beer, but I can’t help myself not to love it. It’s one of my favourite lager out there, definitely among the top 3. I can’t really say why this is so, but it just is.

• Name: Foster’s Lager
• Brewery: Fosters Brewing (CUB)
• City: Southbank
• Country: Australia

This Australian beer pour with a typical lager looks. It has a clear and golden color, the body is decently carbonated, and the head is medium in size, foamy and white. The aroma is predominantly grainy and slightly malty, so it smells like a regular lager. The taste is sweet and malty ar first, followed by a grainy and slightly hoppy body, finishing with a nice and bittery finish.

Foster’s runs down your throat extremelly smooth, with the carbonation and hoppy taste giving you the necessary refreshment. The taste is light but not really watery, although it is true you could have a bunch of these in a row, especially when the day and the setting is right. I can’t really tell you what makes this beer so special for me, but it just tastes great. Simple as that.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 4,9%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 4 / 5
• Smell: 4 / 5
• Taste: 4,5 / 5
• Overall: 4,5 / 5

• Botlle: 3.5 / 5

The Most Interesting Beer in the World: Dos Equis XX Special Lager

This Mexican beer is probably most famous for it’s commercial series featuring The Most Interesting Man in the World, and the slogan: “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” Maybe you haven’t heard of this commercial, but I bet you saw this guy at least once, since it has recently become the inspiration for several internet memes. Just google it, and you’ll see.

• Name: Dos Equis XX Special Lager
• Brewery: FEMSA – Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma (Heineken)
• City: Monterrey
• Country: Mexico

This Mexican lager, accidentally found in one of the kebab joints on the local train station, pours out with a typical lager appearance – golden color, clear and bubbly with a medium white foamy head which settles down almost immediately. The aroma is slightly malty and mostly grainy – like we are used to with lagers. The taste is light and grainy. The beginning is pleasantly sweet (not too much) and the finish is moderately bitter. The body is perhaps slightly watery, but still pretty nice and refreshing. Nothing bad about XX but also nothing worth remembering. Still good enough to accompany that midnight kebab.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 4,3%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, yeast

RATINGS

• Apperance: 3,5 / 5
• Smell: 4 / 5
• Taste: 3 / 5
• Overall: 3 / 5

• Bottle: 4 / 5

The Festival Beer: Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier

In honor of the gretest beer festival in the world, the German Oktoberfest (in progress from September 21st to October 6th), I give you a special edition of one of Germany’s most popular beers.  Ah yes, the Oktoberfest – every beer lovers dream destination with the famous beer jugs, pretzels and sausages. We’ll meet someday soon!

• Name: Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier
• Brewery: Paulaner Brauerei
• City: Munich
• Country: Germany

If you can’t enjoy beer in the original Oktoberfest environment, at least you can treat yourself to a bottle (or several) of this beer. It’s not the same, but it will do. This one pours out with a attractive clear golden color, which is topped with an average, about a finger of it, of white head. The head doesn’t have a great retention since it quickly settles down to a white circle around the edge.

The aroma is sweet and grainy with some addition of hops to it. The taste is light and follows the nose. There is a malty beginning, followed by a grainy and slightly yeasty body with a medium bitterness. It all comes together into a pleasant and easy to drink beer which is also quite refreshing. It could offer a bit more taste, but it’s still pretty awesome despite this. The plus side is that it contains 6% of alcohol, although you can’t really feel it. You could easily have a couple of big ones in a row.

• Style: Oktoberfest / Märzen
• ABV: 6%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, yeast

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3,5 / 5
• Smell: 4 / 5
• Taste: 3,5 / 5
• Overall: 3,5 / 5

A Cheap Refreshment: Pittinger Marzen

Pittinger is one of those beers that are widely spread during the summer’s barbecue season, when the focus is not on the quality, but rather on the quantity. Why is it so popular then? Well, the title exlains it – it’s refreshing and moreover it’s cheap.

• Name: Pittinger Märzen Premium Export
• Brewery: Privatbrauerei Fritz Egger
• City: Unterradlberg
• Country: Austria

This Austrian low-budget beer pours with a golden and clear color, and is topped with about a finger of white foamy head with minimal retention. The smell is pleasant and light – there are aromas of malts and hops, as well as some grains. The content runs down your throat very easy, expecially when extra cold. The beginning is sweet and malty, followed by a grainy body and a very weak finish. The body is light and quite watery, which was actually expected, considering it’s a cheap beer.

Taking into account the price, the quality of this beer is fine, but don’t expect much taste from it. But there’s still enough of it, so you know you’re drinking beer. Plus it will go nicely with some grilled meat. After that, down a couple of beers of higher quality just to satisfy your beer craving.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 5,2%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3 / 5
• Smell: 3,5 / 5
• Taste: 2,5 / 5
• Overall: 2,5 / 5

• Bottle: 1,5 / 5

The Golden Oak Beer: Zlaten Dab

Time for another Balkan beer. This time I’m presenting another Macedonian beer, acquired in the beautiful, no that’s an understatement, in the gorgeous city of Ohrid, although the beer originates from the city of Prilep.

• Name: Zlaten Dab
• Brewery: Prilepska Pivarnica
• City: Prilep
• Country: Macedonia

Everytime I see this bottle I immediately think of Heineken. They look so much alike, at least to me. But the sad part is, that the similarities do not stop here. The content itself is also very much Heineken-like. Zlaten Dab has a typical pilsener appearance. A clear, golden color, and a relatively small white head that settles down quickly. The aroma is malty, and perhaps slightly more yeasty than Heineken. The taste is similarly watery and pretty neutral. It starts more on the sweet side, but it perhaps finishes with a slightly higher level of bitterness than its Dutch lookalike.

It can be refreshing when ice cold, but that’s basically all you get from this one. I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed by this beer. It was among the worst beers I drank during my trip across the Balkans. But, if I compare it to Heineken once again, I would much rather prefer Zlaten Dab than the Dutch super-celebrity.

• Style: Pilsener
• ABV: 4,5%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, unmalted grains, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3,5 / 5
• Smell: 3 / 5
• Taste: 2 / 5
• Overall: 2,5 / 5

• Bottle: 2 / 5

Birra Sammarinese: Titanbräu Bionda

A couple of months ago I made a trip to the Italian capital of Rome. And on my way back home, I decided to stop in a tiny, but extremely beautiful, country of San Marino, which left a great impression. And since I was visiting a foreign country, I just had to try the local beer. It was a bit hard to find, since this is the only local beer brand (with, I think, 4 varieties), but in the end of the day, I have treated myself to a nice bottle of Titanbräu – named after the country’s highest mountain.

• Name: Titanbräu Bionda
• Brewery: Titanbräu – Birrifico Artigianale Sammarinese
• City: Serravalle
• Country: San Marino

When you pour this craft beer out of the simply labelled bottle, you get a glassfull of pale yellow, almost golden beer, which is topped with a slightly off color head, about a finger of it to be exact. The content is not clear but slightly hazy, and decently carbonated – it is unfiltered with some natural sediments. The nose picks up a sour aroma, together with some yeast. It resembles some of the wheat beers. The taste is more on the light side, with yeast and malts dominating it, ending with an averagely bitter finish.

I can’t really say I didn’t like this one, nor can I say that I liked it. It was really something inbetween. For that price I would rather get a couple of other beers, but I had to give it a chance.

• Style: Zwickel/Keller/Landbier
• ABV: 4,9%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, yeast

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3 / 5
• Smell: 2 / 5
• Taste: 2,5 / 5
• Overall: 2,5 / 5

• Bottle: 4 / 5

Hungarian Hybrid: Borsodi Borostyan

Although a hybrid, it has nothing to do with a Prius. Buty why such a name? Well, simply because the style of this beer, Polotmavy, is a hybrid between the dark lager and the pale pilsener, similar to Vienna style of beer. Sounds interesting and enjoyable, so let’s see what’s it really like.

• Name: Borsodi Borostyán
• Brewery: Borsodi Sörgyár (MolsonCoors)
• City: Bőcs
• Country: Hungary

The content of this bottle pours out in a dark amber color, covered with a decent foamy and beige head. The nose picks up a sweet and roasted aroma, together with some caramel. The taste is quite pleasant. It starts sweet, together with some moderate roasted note (in acceptable measures). The finish is hoppy and bitter, again with some roasty feel. All in all, it’s a nice beer, smooth and fairly easy to drink. I don’t really prefer too much roasted taste in my beer. Borsodi keeps that in mind and delivers just enough of it.

• Style: Polotmavy
• ABV: 5,2%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 4 / 5
• Smell: 4 / 5
• Taste: 3,5 / 5
• Overall: 3,5 / 5

• Bottle: 2 / 5

White Dutchman: Wieckse Witte

Have you ever wondered why are these beers called “white beers”? The first guess would have to do with their color, but they are not really white. The real reason hides in the fact that these beers are made with wheat in addition to barley, and etymologically speaking, both words “white” and “wheat” have the same root. Well, you learn something new every day.

• Name: Wieckse Witte
• Brewery: De Ridder Brewery (Heineken Nederland)
• City: Zoeterwoude
• Country: Netherlands

The bottle contains a very hazy golden colored beer with a very weak carbonation, and a very decent (about two fingers) white fomay head. The aroma is typically wheaty – you would recognize it even if you hadn’t seen the beer. Besides this wheaty and slightly yeasty aroma, you could also identify some spices and citruses (if you try hard enough).

I generally don’t like wheat beers. There are only a handful of them which I really liked so far. Sadly, this one is not among them. The sweet and spicy taste, together with too much yeastiness, is not really what I was hoping for. The bitter finish slightly improved the shole experience, but still… It was drinkable, but that’s it. Nothing more to it for me.

• Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
• ABV: 5%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, wheat, yeast, hops, spices

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3 / 5
• Smell: 3,5 / 5
• Taste: 2 / 5
• Overall: 2,5 / 5

• Bottle: 3 / 5

Pirate of the Caribbean: Cubanero Fuerte

I always like to try exotic beers, so I was naturally excited when my friend brought me this Cuban beer (it’s considered exotic here in a country full of Central European beers). This Caribbean beer is sometimes also produced under the name of Bucanero Fuerte, but as I could conclude, it is the same beer.

• Name: Cubanero Fuerte
• Brewery: Cerveceria Bucanero
• City: Holguin
• Country: Cuba

Here we have another beer with a typical lager-like appearance – a clear and golden body, highly carbonated and topped with about a finger of white head which settles down to almost nothing quite quickly. The aroma, although nothing unseen, is pleasant. There is a smell of malts together with some grainy aroma. Perhaps also a slight presence of hops. The taste is light and slightly watery, but still very decent. It starts sweet (not too much) with grainy taste following until the finish which proved to be decently bitter.

A very nice and refreshing beer which runs down very smoothly especially when met with a hot day. Although it is nothing special, this beer still reaches slightly above the average lager quality. But if you would down a couple of these in its natural environment, it would probably seem like the best beer in the world at that time. It all depends on the situation.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 5,4%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3 / 5
• Smell: 3,5 / 5
• Taste: 3,5 / 5
• Overall: 3,5 / 5

No Assembly Required – IKEA Öl Ljus Lager

I actually found this beer the last time I went to the IKEA store in Italy. I didn’t know IKEA sells their own beer brand, so I was pleasantly surprised and excited when I saw it on the shelves. I just had to get it of course. Only when I got back home, I also found out they also make a dark version of their beer, but it will have to wait until I get back to IKEA again.

• Name: IKEA Öl Ljus Lager
• Brewery: Krönleins Bryggeri
• City: Halmstad
• Country: Sweden

Before I start, I have to say I wasn’t expecting much from this one. So I could only be surprised and not really disappointed. Well, the reality was that I wasn’t dissapointed nor was I anything near surprised.

It pours with a golden color and only a finger (at best) of white head. The aroma is typically pleasant – there are some grains and malt fairly distinct within this bottle. The taste doesn’t surprise you either. The beginning is sweet and malty, followed by slightly grainy body, and surprisingly bitter finish. It may have a slightly watery feel, but at the same time it still offers quite enough of taste to enjoy it.

The IKEA lager proved to be just another decently average lager. Quite easy to drink and quite refreshing, so it deserves to give it a chance. Together with their hot dogs it will make shopping experience slightly more tolerable.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 4,7%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3 / 5
• Smell: 3,5 / 5
• Taste: 3 / 5
• Overall: 3 / 5