Pater 6 by Brouwerij St. Bernardus (Watou, Vlaanderen Belgium) - Belgian Dubbel
Toasted malts, brown bread, toffee flavor upfront followed by some mild fruitiness (raisin) and dome earthiness with a longer spicy finish. Surprisingly light beer for its dark color.
Good to get back to beer. Nice to see all your interesting stuff half way around the world. Got home a few days ago and am drastically reducing my beer intake for a couple of weeks so that the liver can rest a bit.
I always eat and drink 3 times my capacity when not at home. Crete and Santorini both have craft breweries. No time and energy for a proper meal but somehow I can always manage to drink beer, starting with my very first evening, almost as soon as I got to my lodging.
Notos is a local craft brewery in the Cretan capital. I couldn’t visit their tasting room, which is closed for reconstruction or renovation. Their 4 beers I had didn’t knock my socks off or anything but they were good enough, considering Crete being a wine territory, and the island is plagued with industrial brands.
The DH blonde ale and stout were better than the first 2
Looks like you enjoyed Greece on many levels including beer
Radler Raspberry by Stieglbrauerei (Salzburg, Austria) - Radler/Shandy
Normally I really enjoy Radlers (also from Stiegl like the grapefruit one) but this one with raspberry was just awful. Artificial tasting raspberry flavor which was completely unbalanced with the beer taste. Hardly any beer taste or bitterness, just a strange aftertaste.
Golden Guava by Track 7 Brewing Company (Sacramento, CA) - IPA
Guava, guava and more guava - full blown guava flavor (but no real sweetness) with some juiciness is really nicely balanced with some medium bitterness. A long finish with guava and bitterness where the bitter notes slowly take over. If you love guava like me you will love this IPA.
Horse Tongue by Anderson Valley Brewery. It’s a sour wheat beer (described as an American wild ale); the name refers to the formation of the wheat grains. Definitely for fans of sour beers, and not very heavy at 5.3% ABV. We had this with a very Mitteleuropa dinner: pierogi, kielbasa w/mustard, and cabbage.
Succint by Austin Street Brewery (Portland, ME) - Schwarzbier)
Notes of roasted malts, chocolate, molasses, dark bread and toffee upfront with some brown sugar sweetness. Some grassiness from the lager notes with low bitterness in the end. Closer to a stout than a lager and would have been better with a bit less sweetness.
Of all the recent beers this is the only one I’ve tried (and liked too). I’m not a major beer person so I typically don’t try different ones but it’s interesting to see the enormous varieties.
So which beers do you like most ?
Blackjack by Black Project (Denver, CO) - Sour (Fruited)
Sour from the start but not overwhelming and some tartness from the black current. Very light sweetness from the fruit in the background. Even though it is overall quite sour it is very refreshing and a perfect beer for sipping and enjoying.
That sounds really tasty - and I like the description of liquified rainbows
Bobolink by Zero Gravity Craft Brewery (Burlington, VT) - Saison/Farmhouse Ale
Upfront lemony flavor with some yeasty notes, than a lot of peppery, spicy, coriander with some biscuit tones in the middle and a medium dry bitter finish with again some lingering coriander flavor. Very drinkable.
Have you tried Death & Taxes from Moonlight Brewing? It’s the only schwarzbier I’ve tried and its quite good. Not too sweet.
I just bought it very recently and will have it in the next days
Sounds good. If I had to pick only one beer style to drink it would be Saison.
My favorite warm weather beers are Spotted Cow (I’m out) and Blue Moon. Rochefort (8 over 10) for cold weather.
Interesting that you have cold vs warm weather beer - do you try other beers beside those, e.g in restaurants - there are good wheat beers or belgian ales
El Jefe by J. Wakefield Brewing (Miami, FL) - Hefeweizen
Upfront the typical grassy flavor of wheat beer, followed by some hints of coconut (with some earthiness) and towards the dnd of the sip some spices with hints of banana. The flavor of coconut is more prominent in the finish again. Overall good but not great beer. Not sure if the addition of coconut brings a lot to the overall of the beer.
Typically I order cocktails at a restaurant but seldom drink outside the house. I’m a bit of a square … well a square with round corners that is. But you’re right I should expand my beer experiences.
