Africa – Gulder Lager

Beer is not the first thing you think of when you hear Africa. Heck, it’s far down the list, even. So, consequently, there is also a bit o a problem getting these beers. Luckily, I was able to find an African shop during a short trip across the border and there it was, Gulder Lager – a pearl of Nigeria.

A quick trip to wikipedia tells us that the producer, the Nigerian Breweries, is the pioneer and largest brewing company in the country, which produced its first Gulder Lager in 1970s, but has brewed some other brands wven before that.

This beer is also featured on my FB collection page Beer Bottles Collection.

DETAILS

• Name: Gulder Lager

• Brewery: Nigerian Breweries PLC
• City: Lagos
• Country: Nigeria

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 5,2%

RATINGS

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

DESCRIPTION

Another quick trip to my favourite beer page, ratebeer.com, also tells us that all Nigerian beers are made with a portion of sorghum and lower portion of malt in the product. Sorgum is a kind of a grass or grain that is cultivated in Africa. This is also probably the reason for Gulder Lager having a bit different aroma, which is still hoppy, but on a grainy side. The taste of this golden colored beer is bitter and slightly acid with kind of hoppy aftertaste. It could be drinkable, but for that metallic feel in the end ruining this taste of Africa.

Chocolatey Beer – Old Tom With Chocolate

Beer and chocolate. They are just a delight individually so they must be even better together. Well, let’s hope this is true.

This Chocolate Tom is produced by the Robinsons family brewery which has been established in 1838 in Stockport, England. Its products are best known in North West England, but they must be doing something right, because they can be found all around the world. Recently the brewery have been in focus thanks to the joining with the British legends of heavy metal, Iron Maiden, and production of their beer  Trooper.

This beer is also featured in my Beer Bottles Collection on FB.

DETAILS

• Name: Robinsons Old Tom With Chocolate

• Brewery: Robinsons
• City: Stockport
• Country: England

• Style: Old Ale
• ABV: 6%

RATINGS

• Appearance: 4 / 5
• Smell: 4,25 / 5
• Taste: 4,25 / 5
• Feel: 4 / 5
• Overall: 4,25 / 5

DESCRIPTION

This traditional English ale poured out with a dark brown color, although the exact color is called dark mahogany according to the label. The glass was topped with a small but foamy off-white head. I had great expectations about the aroma. But initially I was disappointed, thanks to a strong alcohol smell. After letting it breath for a couple of moments, my nose picked up an amazing chocolate smell, which actually brought back memories of B-52 shots from my student years. The taste was great as well: sweet, chocolatey and pleasantly roasted. The finish was quite neutral (slightly hoppy), but after a few seconds the bitter finish kicked in, completing the taste of this fine beer.

Original Czech: Bernard Černý Ležák 12°

Bernard brewery is a Czech story of success. Established a good twenty years ago (in 1991), it quickly became one of the most known Czech breweries. This family brewery produces traditional Czech beers with only the best ingredients. Today, Bernard beers are famous not only around the entire Czech Republic, but also around most of Europe. And best thing yet, it’s still continuing to grow, so we can expect even more pleasant Czech beers from Bernard brew makers.

This beer is a part of my Beer Bottles Collection page on FB. Check it out!

DETAILS

• Name: Bernard Černý Ležák 12°

• Brewery: Bernard
• City: Humpolec
• Country: Czech Republic

• Style: Dunkel
• ABV: 5,1%

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3,75 / 5
• Smell: 3,25 / 5
• Taste: 3,75 / 5
• Feel: 3,5 / 5
• Overall: 3,5 / 5

DESCRIPTION

This Bernard is a very nice dark lager which pour of course with an almost completely black color and is topped with about two fingers of very decent light brown head with quite good retention. The aroma is surprisingly very gentle (not really as expected). It’s slightly sweet and chocolatey (+ some hops). The taste is likewise sweet, chocolatey, almost completely without the roasted feel, which is actually quite nice. The afterfinish comes late and brings along slight and lasting bitterness.

All in all, it’s a very nice and drinkable beer, which isn’t too strong, but still offers just enough taste to completely enjoy it. Good job Mr. Bernard.

Iron Maiden Beer: Robinsons Trooper

When I saw this one in my favourite beer store, I just knew I have to make it a part of my collection (the entire collection can be seen on the FB page Beer Bottles Collection). I’m not really a fan of Iron Maiden, although they are pretty OK, but I’m a fan of beer, so I wanted to see if the bands singer is really capable of producing a decent ale. Plus, it’s got an awesome label, so that+s also cool.

• Name: Robinsons Trooper
• Brewery: Robinsons
• City: Stockport
• Country: England

First things first, the appearance. The glass was filled with copper colored liquid, topped with a fairly small (avergae) white head, that settled down relatively quick. The aroma was very nice – malty and very sweet. At first I expected the taste to follow this sweetness, but luckily it didn’t. The taste was just awesome. If this wasn’t one of the best ales I have tried, I don’t know what then. It started with a mild hoppy kick, followed by a generously bitter, and slightly yeasty body. The finish was bitter and hoppy, but still light enough to really fit my sytle.

It was extremelly easy to drink and I felt like I could have another one right then. The only bad side was that it hadn’t given me that refreshing feel. But this doesn’t really matter if you drink it just for pleasure next to some good food, and keep some other beers for refreshment. For a persons who didn’t really care much about ales sometime ago, this next sentence is a big thing. Trooper is one hell of a good ale. Would definitely give it another try.

• Style: Premium Bitter / ESB
• ABV: 4,7%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

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

• Bottle: 4,5 / 5

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

Cerveza De Peru: Franca

During my period of beer collecting I have come across many expressions in different languages for the word beer. There is the word pivo in my native Slovenian language, as well as in its Slavic friends Croatian, Bosnian, Czech and Slovakian.  Similarly in Polish as piwo, and in Russian and Serbian where it is written as пиво. In Scandinavia we have olut in Finnish, öl in Swedish, and øl in Danish. The Greeks drink μπύρα (don’t know how to pronounce it really), the Hungarians drink sör, the Chinese 啤酒 (help with pronunciation) and the Japanese ビール (help again). In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands there is bier, in France biere, and in Italy birra.

But my favourite word for beer, among them all, is cerveza. I just love this word. Una cerveza, por favor. No wonder I brough so many beers back from Spain, because it was fun ordering them. So today, I give you a cerveza from South America. Franca – Cerveza de Peru.

• Name: Franca
• Brewery: Ajeper S.A.
• City: Lima
• Country: Peru

What to say about this Peruvian beer? Well, it pours with a typical clear golden color with a decent white and foamy head that settles down relatively quick. The aroma is nothing special – some malt and quite some grains. That’s it. The taste starts with some sweetness which is followed by grainy body in somewhat watery body. The end is a bit bitter, but only just. It lacks some of the needed bitterness. All in all, this beer is nothing special. Refreshing, easy to drink with a limited amount of taste offered to the drinker. I’m not saying it’s bad, but there’s hardly anything to set it apart from other mainstream lagers – it’s average, which is too bad, because my hopes were much higher. Well, at least the bottle is crafted nicely.

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

RATINGS

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

• Bottle: 4,5 / 5

The Best of the Hop: Grieskirchner Pils

At least that’s what it says on the label. But this Austrian beer is another proof that they know how to brew beer. And also that the German language may not be the most beautifully sounding language out there.

• Name: Grieskirchner Pils
• Brewery: Brauerei Grieskirchen
• City: Grieskirchen
• Country: Austria

What to say about this Austrian? It’s a nice pilsener, better than average, but still nothing special, nor anything offensive. Appearance: typical. Yellow/golden color with a medium foamy head which settles down quickly. Aroma: typical. A decent and mild grainy aroma along with some maltiness. Taste: typical. A mild taste that starts sweet and grainy, perhaps also with some hops, and finishes with a mild bitterness, but only just.

Overall, a pleasant and refreshing beer. As pilseners go, I would rank it slightly above average. It may appear slightly watery, but you still get enough taste. One of those beers that you could easily drink at any time.

• Style: Pilsener
• ABV: 4,8%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

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

• Bottle: 3,5 / 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 Name Says It All: Pilsener

After a relatively long time, here is another South American beer. This most popular Ecuadorian beer has a simple and straightforward name, so let’s see if the content is anything like it.

• Name: Pilsener
• Brewery: Cervecería Nacional Ecuador (SABMiller)
• City: Guayaquil
• Country: Ecuador

Basically, this is just another common pilsener. It has the typical appearance with its golden color and a small white head. The aroma is likewise typical and average: fairly strong malty smell together with the grainy aroma. The taste is light and slightly watery with a sweet start and a slightly bitter finish. This could well enough be almost any other average pilsener, except that this one originates from the somewhat exotic (depends where you live) country of Ecuador.

Nothing special about this beer, but then again also nothing to complain about. You get exactly what the name promises – a pilsener.

• Style: Pilsener
• ABV:4,2%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

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

• Bottle: 2,5 / 5

Go Green: Tuborg Green

Together with Carlsberg, Tuborg presents one of the most recognisable Danish products. Since it is present even on the shelves of our small local supermarkets, I guess it’s safe to say it can be acquired almost all around the world.

• Name: Tuborg Green
• Brewery: Carlsberg Brewery
• City: Copenhagen
• Country: Denmark

Tuborg Green is your typical pilsener, meaning that it looks, smells and tastes like a typical pilsener. So, your glass will be filled with a pale golden liquid, topped with a meadium white head with basically no retention. The nose will pick up a mild grainy aroma, as well as some hoppiness. You will enjoy a taste that follows the nose. The start is malty and grainy, but it’s not really sweet as is the case with some others. This nice start is followed by a mild bitterness in the body, not too much of it but still enough to taste it. The finish has some hops in it, but only just.

Is Tuborg Green one of the best beers in the world? No, definitely not the best beer I have tried.

Is Tuborg Green the best Danish beer? No, not really. I prefer Carlsberg to this one, but I bet there are also some other fine Danish beers out there. Hopefully, I’ll get to try several of them next summer.

Is Tuborg Green a good beer at all? Definitely. It’s a very decent beer that gets it’s job done. Nice, refreshing and non-offensive. That’s your Tuborg Green.

• Style: Pilsener
• ABV: 4,6%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

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

• Bottle: 4 / 5