Slovenian Craft: Carniola ESB

Searching the online beer shop I came across this one and I decided to give it a try. Named after aa historical region on the area of present-day Slovenia, it is a real Slovenian craft beer.

• Name: Carniola ESB
• Brewery: Carniola Brewery
• City: Ljubljana
• Country: Slovenia

Carniola ESB pours with a hazy golden color, almost without any carbonation, and is topped with an off color (dirty) head. The head doesn’t linger around but immediately settles down to a small lacing around the edge. My first thought was: “This is going to be a heavy and filling beer”. The aroma is basically just hops, hops, and yes you guessed it, hops. There is also a slightly unpleasant alcohol smell, but it doesn’t stick around for too long. The taste is sadly quite neutral and slightly stale due to the lack of carbonation. It’s not really bitter, although you do have that sligthtly bitter taste on the end of your tongue. The aftertaste is similarly a bit on the bittery side, but only just.

Considering this is a new brand of beer (relativelly) this is a good effort. There is still room for improvement. But in the end, it is still a nice beer, perfect for a night at home.

• Style: Premium Bitter / ESB
• ABV: 5,2%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, yeast

RATINGS

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

• Bottle: 1,5 / 5

Sexy Ale: Vizir Lucky Luke

This interesting beer is one of my recent finds. The craft brewery responsible for this one was established a few years back, but I only heard about it a few months ago, although it is located only a half an hour’s drive away. This is just the first one out of the six pack I bought recently.

• Name: Vizir Lucky Luke Sexy Ale
• Brewery: Vinska klet in pivovarna Vizir
• City: Črnomelj
• Country: Slovenia

This “sexy ale” pours out with a hazy golden and slightly coppery color. The head, although only a finger of it, is white and extremelly creamy. It features a faint but pleasanty sweet aroma – there are some citruses present as well. The taste is gentle and bitterweet at first, followed by a mild hoppiness throughout the rest of the body. The finish is equally bitter which is definitely a positive thing.

Although not a strong beer, it still offers plenty of taste as well as the refreshing feeling. Extremelly easy to drink, although some more demanding drinkers may consider it too plain. Nevertheless, if possible give it a chance. It makes a nice choice for an easy drink.

• Style: Amber Ale
• ABV: 4%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

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

• Bottle: 4 / 5

The Dragon: Union Pivo

Today, another beer from my home country of Slovenia. Actually, the entire Slovenian beer market is divided between Union (red) and Laško (green), which I already talked about. Before merging together into Laško group, the battle between red and green was much more obvious and interesting. But as everywhere, some prefer other and hate the other, whereas the truth is they are quite alike.

• Name: Union Pivo
• Brewery: Pivovarna Union
• City: Ljubljana
• Country: Slovenia

Like it’s former foe, Union pours out with a good looking golden color, completely clear, which is then topped with about a finger of white head, settling down immediately. There’s not much to the nose – there are aromas of grains and hops mixed together into a pretty weak smell. The taste starts on the sweet side (of course), which is followed by a quite watery body. The finish is fairly weak with just a slight bitter aftertaste.

Compared to Laško, it’s less bitter and more watery. The differences are quite subtle, but in general, Laško offers more taste. I myself am a green man, but I don’t usually say no to a glass of red one either. It can still be a pretty nice refreshing drink, which can run down your throat very easily. And if you have a bit too many of them, there’s no headache the next day.

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

RATINGS

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

A Golden Horn: Laško Zlatorog

• Name: Laško Zlatorog
• Brewery: Pivovarna Laško
• City: Laško
• Country: Slovenia

Laško Zlatorog is Slovenia’s most popular beer, first produced in 1825. It pours out with a typical golden color of a lager, topped with a decent white head. It has a pleasant hoppy aroma, which is followed by initially sweet malty taste, finished with a nice, bitter and hoppy ending. The aftertaste is slightly on the bitter side and not lasting really long. This highly carbonated beer is a perfect solution in hot summer days, but it is also excellent choice on any other day of the year.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 4,9%
• Ingredients: water, malted barley, unmalted grains, hops

• Slogan: Zvestoba do roba! (Loyalty to the Brim!)

RATINGS

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