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Top Tastings 2010
An extended review of a beer featured as a new real ale in a bottle on the bottled beer review page in the February 2011 issue of BEER magazine, sent free every quarter to CAMRA members, who can also view it online. The magazine is additionally available in selected newsagents.
ABV: 4.3%
Origin: Hamstall Ridware, Staffordshire
Website: www.blythebrewery.co.uk
 Blythe Ridware Pale Relatively new to bottle conditioning is the Blythe brewery at Hamstall Ridware in rural Staffordshire, which very successfully produces packaged versions of its cask beers by hand bottling. The standout beer from the range is Ridware Pale, a very pale, hoppy bitter that started as a summer seasonal but is now available year round.
A delicate yellow with fine white foam, the beer gives off a delightful fruity and flowery lemon and honey aroma with perhaps a slight sulphury note. A crisp, dry, lightly bitter palate is superbly balanced, with decent pale malt and poised hop bitterness enlivened by floral and mineral hints.
A refreshing swallow leads to a fresh, tasty finish with the very British resiny burr of quite assertive but not overstated hops. Earthy pepper flavours slowly emerge over plenty of firm and fruity malt. One of the best I’ve tried of the new breed of bitterish golden ales.
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Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/blythe-ridware-pale/88027/
An extended review of a beer featured as a new real ale in a bottle on the bottled beer review page in the February 2011 issue of BEER magazine, sent free every quarter to CAMRA members, who can also view it online. The magazine is additionally available in selected newsagents.
ABV: 5%
Origin: Newington, Edinburgh, Scotland
Website: www.stewartbrewing.co.uk
 Stewart St Giles I appreciate Edinburgh micro Stewart’s, founded by ex-Bass brewer Steve Stewart and his partner Jo in 2004, for brewing at least some cask ales that are unapologetically Scottish in character, reflecting the country’s distinct tradition – not always the case with the current crop of micros north of the border. I was delighted to hear they now have a bottle conditioned range, from which St Giles, named after the landmark Presbyterian High Kirk on the capital’s Royal Mile, stands out as the best and most Scottish of the ones I’ve tried.
This deep cherry red beer has a ripe and malty aroma with spiced cinder toffee notes, and a classic malty-fruity palate with cereal malt and toffee lifted by gently roasty dryness. A long chewy sappy light caramel finish is mainly dried by developing burnt cake and roast notes, with a gentle hint of hops. A warming, soothing glassful for an Edinburgh winter day.
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Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/stewart-st-giles/115585/
An extended review of a beer featured as a new real ale in a bottle on the bottled beer review page in the February 2011 issue of BEER magazine, sent free every quarter to CAMRA members, who can also view it online. The magazine is additionally available in selected newsagents.
ABV: 5.1% and 7.7%
Origin: Hainford, Norwich, England
Website: www.oleslewfootbrewery.co.uk
 Ole Slewfoot Red Wing John Bates’ Old Slewfoot brewery at Hainford near Norwich, founded in 2009, is one of a small but growing number of brewers using bottle conditioning to explore unusual styles in controllable batches. There’s an nod across the Atlantic in the brewery name – from a bear in a song by Johnny Horton and the bottled beers I’ve tried take something of an American approach to mixing and matching styles in a range of Belgian-inspired beers in 375ml corked and wired bottles.
 Ole Slewfoot Friend of the Devil Red Wing (5.1%) is John’s take on a Flemish sour red ale. It’s a burgundy colour with some pinkish head and quite a low carbonation, with a sharpish cherry note and a whiff of roses on a fruity, slightly woody aroma. The palate is only lightly sour – presumably through the use of an inoculated wild yeast – with chocolate, fruity malt and an irony tang appropriate to the style. A satisfying finish has tangy fruit, wood polish and a bit more chocolate. An intriguing beer – not a clone of the Belgian originals but recognisably in the style, and distinctive in its own right.
Friend of the Devil (7.7%) acknowledges a debt to strong golden ales of the Duvel variety in its name and a notable pear hint, but its deeper colour puts it into the amber camp. Aside from pear there’s malt and brown sugar in the aroma, and biscuity, fruity malt on the palate, which is slightly sugary, nutty and perhaps a touch musty. A touch of hops lifts a nutty, chewy finish, but overall the beer didn’t quite work for me.
The experimental Friend of the Devil Brett Version, dosed with Brettanomyces yeast and not tasted yet by John himself when he sent me the bottle, shifts the character of the base beer in an interesting way. This beer had a good condition with a champagne like fizz and that distinctive wet plastic brett aroma. A flowery, lightly biscuity and nutty palate had tangy acid balanced by firm malt, leading to a slightly figgy, chewy, toasty finish with lingering nuttiness and a touch of hops. An experiment worth pursuing.
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Read more about these beers at ratebeer.com:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/ole-slewfoot-red-wing-flemish-style-red-ale/138541/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/ole-slewfoot-friend-of-the-devil/138540/
An extended review of a beer featured as a new real ale in a bottle on the bottled beer review page in the February 2011 issue of BEER magazine, sent free every quarter to CAMRA members, who can also view it online. The magazine is additionally available in selected newsagents.
ABV: 8.5%
Origin: Lowestoft, Suffolk, Engand
Website: www.green-jack.com
 Green Jack Ripper One of very many great breweries in the east of England, Green Jack is a well appreciated, award winning and commercially savvy cask ale brewer that’s recently started doing some interesting things with bottles. Tim Dunford and his wife and business partner Lee haven’t had an entirely smooth ride – their first brewery in Oulton Broad ceased trading eight years after opening in 1993, but they were soon back with a new one, behind Lowestoft’s Triangle Tavern, which claims to be the most easterly real ale pub in England. Early in 2009 they expanded to a much bigger standalone plant and are now one of the largest brewers in the region.
Tim has long been unafraid to offer stronger beers in cask besides the session regulars – his Ripper (8.5%) strong ale, a barley wine with a deliberate nod to Belgian tripels, is a renowned local award winner, and Baltic Trader Imperial Stout (10.5%) also appears intermittently on the bar. Both these are now available bottle conditioned in attractive 750ml flip top bottles with labels detailing not only the best before date but the dates when the beer was brewed and bottled.
Ripper seems to have taken to the bottle best. It’s a hazy blond beer with a fine orangey-white head and a citric, slightly minerally and sulphury aroma, tones of burnt rubber mixing incongruously with peaches and cream. A firm but dry palate has a grainy, roast quality with a herbal hint – I’m not sure if coriander was actually used but there’s a definite Belgian herbal flourish — and a distinct note of apricot jam. It’s fruity and very spicy, leading to a dry finish with more apricot, obvious alcohol and complex shifting spice textures. Rooty hops finally emerge on a long development – the brewery prides itself on generous use of whole hop cones and while there’s plenty of hop character here, it’s intriguing rather than overstated. Very decent.
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Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/green-jack-ripper/37914/
Top Tastings 2010 (Granite)
ABV: 6.5%, 8% and 10.4%
Origin: Millom, Cumbria, England
Website: http://hardknottale.co.uk/
An extended review of a beer featured as a new real ale in a bottle on the bottled beer review page in the February 2011 issue of BEER magazine, sent free every quarter to CAMRA members, who can also view it online. The magazine is additionally available in selected newsagents.
 Hardknott Infra Red As Hardknott Dave, Dave Bailey is one of the most informed and perceptive commentators on the beer blogging scene, and a champion of great beer made with imagination and pride. Dave is also a brewer – originally a landlord, at the idyllic Woolpack Inn at the top of Eskdale in the Lake District, he added a brewery partly because he thought it would help get the pub into the Good Beer Guide. His beers became so successful he’s now shed the pub to concentrate on beer production full time on an industrial estate in nearby Millom. Being both a campaigning beer writer and a brewer is rather brave as there’s an obvious test for checking if you practice what you preach. Happily, it’s a test Dave passes with distinction.
Hardknott, named after the steep pass that links Eskdale with the Duddon Valley, is one of a small but growing band of British brewers experimenting with bottles of what in the US would be called “Extreme Beer” – generally strong, with an eclectic approach to style, full of big and vivid flavours and amenable to attentive sipping. The fine trio of bottle conditioned beers I tasted all fit this profile.
Infra Red (6.5%) is a typical style fusion – it claims to be an oxymoronic ruby red India Pale Ale, but it could be a particularly hoppy US-style amber ale and the dry but biscuity character also suggests a dry brown from the other side of the M6. It’s a rich amber-red beer with a light and fine orangey-white head, made from pale and crystal malts and Cascade and Centennial hops.
 Hardknott Æther Blæc A malty and fruity aroma has a liquorice note, and a very biscuity and toasty palate yields big thistly grapefruit and lychee hop flavours nonetheless well balanced by quite a soft sweetness. A long, robust and satisfying finish offers bitter orange marmalade and lightly charred, slightly tannic malt tones, with a late gritty note.
Æther Blæc (8%) is an eccentric take on an imperial stout, aged in a cask which previously held 29-year-old Caol Ila Islay malt whisky. This black beer pours with a thick and creamy deep beige head and a leatherish, creamy, fruity aroma with a note of herb liqueur and the definite salty iodine tang of Islay malt. Whisky notes are also immediately evident in a malty, lightly fruity and slightly woody palate, with smoky and phenolic notes shading towards disinfectant, though smoothed wonderfully by malt.
 Hardknott Granite 2009 A touch of dark marmalade on the swallow leads to a full, warming and slightly tart fruity finish, with touches of cedar smoke and ash. Not the most complex wood aged beer I’ve tried but highly impressive – it would be interesting to taste again in a couple of years, though it might not last quite as long as the whisky did!
And finally Granite (10.4%), a dry hopped barley wine named for the local rock that provides a natural filter for Dave’s brewing water. This very dark ruby brown beer with a fine mid-beige head has a tart fruit and malt aroma with a whiff of Stilton cheese. That cheese note, intriguing rather than offputting, persists on a full, rich caramel malt palate that’s tantalisingly complex. Chewy hops emerge, then sweetness, then mouth-numbing alcohol, with spicy, fruity esters escaping as the beer warms in the mouth. A vinous, sherryish finish yields chewy roast and slightly burnt tones, plum jam and tobacco.
This beer should definitely age well – Dave is known for his polemics against best before dates on beers like this, and my bottle bears the legend “best before February 2015 but probably better after.” Narrowly the pick of a very strong bunch, and hopefully the sign of great things to come from a very talented brewer.
To download BEER if you’re a CAMRA member, see http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=beer.
To find out more about CAMRA membership, see http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=joinus.
Read more about these beers at ratebeer.com:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hardknott-infra-red/129597/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hardknott-aether-blaec/124172/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hardknott-granite-2009/127218/
Originally published in BEER November 2010. Click on the links for extended reviews of the beers mentioned.
 Marble Special and Decade. Pic from the Beer Emporium: www.thebeeremporium.com While it’s great that good beer in Britain is a ubiquitous, everyday drink, the way in which the British perceive beer as an everyday, unpretentious quencher sometimes deters brewers from pushing the limits of their art. In countries where the development of craft brewing took a different course, such as the USA and Italy, numerous beers are marketed as rare and relatively pricey artisanal products – the sort of thing you might give as a gift and not be thought a cheapskate.
One brewery daring to challenge the “ordinariness” of British beer culture Manchester’s Marble Arch brewpub, which now offers a pair of strong limited edition beers, Special Barley Wine and Marble Decadence Imperial Stout, conditioned in 750ml Bordeaux-style bottles with wired and waxed corks, at an eyebrow-raising but realistic price of £9.99 a bottle. Both are excellent but the stout (8.7 per cent) impressed me most, with its spice cake, tropical fruit and Marmite aroma, a palate bursting with pineapple syrup, lemons, raisins, plums and crystallised ginger and a long drying chocolate finish with a charcoal touch.
Moor brewery in Somerset has enjoyed an upmarket makeover recently, with an American influence most obviously explained by the Californian origins of its current owner-brewer Justin Hawke. Moor JJJ IPA (9 per cent), in an elegant 660ml bottle with art nouveau label, is a “triple” IPA that could challenge many West Coast examples, bursting with complex hop character: roses, fresh hay, citrus, caramel, coconut and cracked pepper but still grounded, just, by toasty and fruity malt.
Publicity-shy family independent Samuel Smith’s of Tadcaster has recently added to its range of excellent but filtered specialities a barley wine, Sam Smith’s Yorkshire Stingo (9 per cent). This is not only bottle conditioned but matured for over a year before bottling in oak casks, some of which are over a century old. The deep burgundy brew has spiced toffee and grapes in a cakey aroma, and a broad oak note colouring a malty, nutty palate with red fruit and spiced candy – serious quality stuff.
An anniversary is a good excuse for a special brew and Wye Valley, Herefordshire-based suppliers of one of Britain’s best bottle conditioned stouts, mark their quarter century with Dorothy Goodbody’s Imperial Stout (7 per cent), a limited edition of 6,000 bottles in attractive presentation boxes. This sweetish dark ruby beer has plenty of chocolate, coffee and blackcurrant with a crackle of roast in an unctuous, slightly sticky finish. It’s enjoyable and satisfying, though lacking in the challenging and intense flavours of established imperial stouts.
The 18th century brewhouse at Traquair House in the Scottish Borders remains a unique source of strong and old-fashioned beers fermented in the original unlined oak vessels, and owner-brewer Catherine Maxwell-Stuart has marked the second decade of the third millennium with 20,000 stylish bottles of Traquair 2010 (10 per cent). Vanilla and cloves on the aroma herald a beer that’s firm and generously malty, with banana and oak, and minerals, wood and vine fruits on the finish. Although filtered, Traquair beers age well and this one should keep developing toward’s the millennium’s third decade.
 Probably the most interesting clock in Prague. Bohemia taught the world alot about brewing: now it seems the world is returning the compliment. On the simple wooden shelves of Pivkupectví, the bottle shop attached to one of Prague’s leading specialist beer pubs, Zlý Časy (Wicked Times), you’ll find an impressive range of serious craft beers from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the UK and the USA. They include selections from some of the world’s most talked about brewers: Amager, BrewDog, Mikkeller, Molen, Nøgne-Ø and Thiriez.
I wonder how easy it is to sell these beers, some of which cost Kč200 (£7, €8, $11.50) or more, in a city where you can buy a decent half litre of beer in a supermarket for Kč11 (40p, €0.45, 65¢). Helpful shop manager Dana tells me they do really well, with a core of regular customers — Czechs as well as the many visitors and expatriates in this cosmopolitan city — always on the lookout for something different and interesting.
 Crates at Pivkupectví. It’s a remarkable development on a beer scene that, alongside its home country, has had an interesting century. The Czech lands spent several past centuries under the control of Austria’s Hapsburg dynasty, its southern German-speaking culture influencing brewing as it did many other aspects of life. Within this cultural sphere a belt of brewing cities, from Munich via Vienna to Prague and České Budějovice (Budweis) perfected the techniques of modern lager brewing in the first half of the 19th century, culminating in the celebrated golden lager of Plzeň that, as pilsner, provided the increasingly degraded template for the world’s most recognised beer style.
The Czech lands emerged from the meltdown of Austria-Hungary after World War I lumped together with neighbouring Slovakia as an independent nation. Nazi Germany’s annexxation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 formed a prelude to World War II, after which the country fell under the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence for several decades, becoming a ‘communist’ state with all industry nationalised.
 Bottle shelves at Pivkupectví. Nationalisation can take some of the credit for ensuring the preservation of traditional brewing techniques which countries on the other side of the ‘Iron Curtain’ jetissoned, but the stifling grip of Stalinist bureaucracy stunted creativity and innovation, with some breweries restricted to only one standard beer. Then in 1989 came the Velvet Revolution, soon followed by the Velvet Divorce in which the Czech Republic and Slovakia went their separate ways.
The restoration of the capitalist market and the privatisation of most of the breweries hasn’t been an entirely positive experience from a beer point of view — the multinationals, attracted by a population that drinks more beer per head than any other in the world, soon swooped in, and there’s no doubt many of the estabished brewers’ products have lost character as a result. At the same time, though, the market has opened up space for small scale innovation and niche specialities.
In recent years that space has become increasingly occupied by new breweries that see themselves as part of the international craft brewing movement. Brewers like Kocour, Matuška and Staňkův take the best of the native tradition and styles and techniques inspired by other countries. They have an uphill struggle in convincing Czechs reared for decades on standard lager that there’s more to the world of beer, and in taking on the big brewers that control much of the licensed trade, but they’re tackling the project with gusto and some success, aided immeasurably by showcases like Zlý Časy, surely one of the world’s best beer pubs.
 The unassuming entrance to Pivkupectví. Owner Jan Charvát, a former vineyard manager who’d moved into running pubs, opened Zlý Časy in 2006, down a side street in the inner city district of Nusle, Prague 4 — not unpleasant and well located for the tram network, but a long way off the very well worn tourist trail of the famously beautiful Czech capital. In appearance this is in many respects a traditional small city pub with some quirky touches, tucked away in a cellar under a residential block, simply furnished in wood and serving up the substantial local version of pub grub.
At first its beer offer was traditional too but in January 2008, encouraged by the opening of new breweries and the glaring paucity of beer showcase outlets locally, Jan expanded the beer range dramatically. In July 2010 a shop, Pivkupectví, opened next door, with what’s almost certainly the best range in the city. “I genuinely think we’re the most exciting thing about beer in Prague right now,” says Jan, and he’s probably right.
The pub stocks up to 24 changing draught beers, mainly Czech but with the occasional German, all lovingly detailed (in Czech) on information sheets above the bar and below the distinctive Zlý Časy clock (they’re keen on their clocks in this part of the world). This is supplemented by a chiller cabinet with up to 50 beers from all over, culminating when I called with 330ml bottles of BrewDog’s Sink the Bismarck at Kč2099 (£75, €86, $120)!
 Prague-based beer writer Evan Rail chooses carefully at Pivkupectví. The shop expands the range to 500 bottled beers, neatly packed on plain wooden shelves into a relatively small space and chosen, according to Jan, by drawing on the advice of beer rating websites and “barflies”. About two thirds are Czech, with a focus on smaller brewers. The new micros are well represented, but so are some of the best of the old established independent brewers: Černá Hora, Chodovar, Ferdinand, Janáček, Náchod Primátor, Opat, Pardubický, Svijanský and Vyškov are favourites.
The Belgians are mainly solid classics (Trappists, Rodenbach, Boon Oude Geuze) supplemented by the likes of De Ranke and Struise, and there’s a short but well chosen German choice including Schlenkerla Rauchbier and several unfiltered lagers and wheat beers. Americans are those now regularly imported into Europe — Anchor, Flying Dog, Great Divide, Left Hand, Sierra Nevada. Then there are the various Dutch, Scandinavian and Scottish beer geek pleasers mentioned earlier, a number of whom have collaborated with Czech brewers. Some of this comes courtesy of Mike Cole’s Czech-based importer Odddog, established in 2009, which is now also exporting Czech craft beers to the UK.
Then there’s gift boxes, glasses, the odd bit of breweriana and a curious range of handmade Czech beer cosmetics including bubble bath to help you recreate the experience of a beer spa at home. Once a year the pub and shop stage a microbrewery festival but otherwise there are not yet events and tastings.
Jan is optimistic, with the ultimate ambition to expand the range to 1,500 beers. “The situation is getting slowly better,” he tells me. “Microbreweries like Kocour are doing very exciting things, and Czech people are finding their way to the imported beers too.” The recent joint launch by a group of Prague pubs including Zlý Časy of the Aliance PIV (Intelligent Beer Bars’ Alliance) is helping provide a more general focus for the growing scene. It looks like the interesting times for Czech brewing will continue.
Researched September/December 2010. Thanks to Evan Rail for his advice and recommendations.
Fact file
Address: Čestmírova 5, 140 00 Praha 4
Tel: +420 723 339 995
Website: www.zlycasy.eu
Hours: Shop Mon-Fri 1300-2100; Pub Mon-Thurs 1100-2330, Fri 1100-0100, Sat 1700-0100, Sun 1700-2300
Drink in? In pub but not in shop
Mail order: Not yet
 Raise a glass to Zlý Časy and Czech microbrewing. Manager’s favourites: Anything from Matuška, Struise Ignis et Flamma
Beer picks
- Bernard Sváteční Ležák 5%, Humpolec, Vysočina. Beautifully fresh and juicy bottle conditioned lager with a decent whole hop bite.
- Chodovar Zámecké Černé 4.2%, Chodová Planá, Plzeňský kraj. Soft, sweetish and caramel-tinged honestly malty dark lager.
- Kocour Weizenbock 6.6%, Varnsdorf, Ústecký kraj. Big tangy cloudy wheat beer with marmalade and spiced cake notes.
- Matuška Raptor IPA 6.2%, Broumy, Středočeský kraj. Impressive Czech interpretation of a Cascade-scented American IPA.
- Polička Záviš světlý ležák 12°5.2%, Polička, Pardubický kraj. Impressive unpasteurised premium lager with a citric, slightly oily note.
- Vyškov Jubiler 7.5%, Vyškov, Jihomoravský kraj. A fine strong celebration lager with apricottish estery hints.
Beer sellers: Zlý Časy / Pivkupectví
Top Tastings 2010
ABV: 5%
Origin: Humpolec, Vysočina, Czech Republic
Website: www.bernard.cz
 Bernard Sváteční Ležák The Bernard brewery, in the hill country between Bohemia and Moravia, traces its history to 1597 but its current reputation is strictly post-Velvet Revolution. In 1991 a team led by Stanislav Bernard bought the small, neglected and bankrupt brewery at auction and set about turning it into an example of the best kind of traditional Czech brewing practice. Expansion followed in 2001 thanks to a 50% investment from Belgian ‘new national’ brewer Duvel-Moortgat.
Crucial to the regenerated brewery’s success has been an early decision to produce only unpasteurised beer, using top quality malt and whole hops. This beer, one of the best of a very strong range, goes one stage further in being unfiltered and bottle conditioned too.
It’s a lightly hazy golden beer with a just off-white head and a fresh, fecund, lightly honeyed, malty aroma with a splash of lemon. A beautifully full, fresh and juicy palate has firm cereal notes, straw and an initially gentle burr of balancing hops which becomes quite bitter and citric in the mouth. A chewy, lightly resiny finish turns lightly peppery, but wonderfully offset by fresh fine malt. A classic.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/bernard-svate269ni-lezak/26766/
Beer sellers: Zlý Časy / Pivkupectví
ABV: 4.2%
Origin: Chodová Planá, Plzeňský kraj, Czech Republic
Website: www.chodovar.cz
 Chodovar Zámecké Černé Incorporating ancient cellars cut into granite and completely dominating its small village home west of Plzeň, the Chodovar brewery traces its written records back to 1634, though much of today’s structure is the result of an 1862 rebuild. It’s host to several beer related events and in 2006 brought together two Czech passions when it opened a hotel and spa, U Sládka (‘the Brewer’), incorporating beer baths and a ‘beerarium’ restaurant in a former malthouse with beer sommeliers in attendance.
Zámecké Černé (‘Black Castle’, also known as Černá Desítka, or ‘Black 10’ after its degrees of original gravity in the Plato/Balling system) is a decent, honest example of a standard Czech dark lager. It’s very dark brown, with amber highlights, a light beige head and a very malty and caramelly aroma reminiscent of malt breakfast cereals. The sweetish, biscuity, caramel-tinged palate is lightened by some spices and a slight tangy, physali note. There’s a little drying hops and toast in the finish, reminiscent of bourbon biscuits. I’ve got a soft spot for sweet, gentle beers and this one certainly hit it.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/chodovar-zamecke-268erne/15530/
Beer sellers: Zlý Časy / Pivkupectví
ABV: 6.6%
Origin: Varnsdorf, Ústecký kraj, Czech Republic
Website: www.pivovar-kocour.cz
 Kocour Weizenbock Another new Czech micro brewing internationally inspired craft beers alongside interpretations of indigenous lager styles, Kocour — ‘Tomcat’ — was founded by Josef Šusta and Honza Kočka in 2008 in Varnsdorf, in the far west of the country right by the German border. Honza previously worked as an air steward, through which he’d discovered the US craft beer scene.
The brewery explicity sets out to challenge Czech perceptions: according to its website, it has “committed itself to an uneasy task – to persuade domestic conservative beer drinkers that beer does not equal a chilled bottle in the fridge…that beer can go easily with gastronomy, that there is a beer for every season, for every state of mind.” The challenge begins at the label design which, as you can see, departs strikingly from tradition.
Nearby Germany also provides some inspiration, notably in this cloudy amber strong bottle conditioned wheat beer with its yellowish-white moderate head. It has a very clovy, spicy, banana-tinged aroma with a hint of furniture polish. A full, creamy palate is tangily astringent with orange marmalade and spiced cake flavours. A little alcohol makes itself felt in a dark marmalade finish that’s vivid and tangy with a sprinkling of hops and recurring clove flavours.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/kocour-weizenbock/114218/
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