Brewed under the wrong sign

I had a bottle of Diebels Alt from my local Tesco recently. That was pretty good. They also stock BelleVue Kriek but I won't touch that on the simple principle that BelleVue is owned by InterBrew.

d.

davek a écrit :

erm... Diebels is also owned by Interbrew / InBev... and alas it is a pale reflect of what Altbier can be.

It is? Oops! When did that happen? I won't be buying it again.

and alas it is a

Yes, but still reasonably drinkable.

d.

davek a écrit :

Summer of 2001.

Indeed, but I cannot encourage you too much to travel to Düsseldorf and try Uerige or Füchschen "vom Fass" (racked beer served by gravity from a cask). Magnificiently fruity and hoppy (with its 4.5% ABV, Uerige weighs in at 45 IBU with a nice Hallertauer edge), crisp and clean, as its unpasteurised. It tends to be served too cold, so let it warm up a bit.

Cheers !

Laurent

I've got it in mind to go on an extended beer-tasting tour of Germany one day - if my wife ever lets me have the time off. Düsseldorf would of course be a definite stopping point on the route. I know of Uerige, but Füchschen is not a name I'm familiar with.

I recently got myself a copy of John Conen's Bamberg and Franconia book and I really want to go there most of all.

d.

davek a écrit :

Beware, you might get bogged down by all the good beer to be tried in the Cologne / Düsseldorf area, and not be able to get much further. ;o)

Another small brewery in the centre of Düsseldorf, a few hundred metres further north. Very decent Altbier, which had a nice cherry-like fruity edge when I got there.

Indeed, a city with 70,000 inhabitants and nine working breweries is quite an amazing playground for a beer lover... although the place is definitely not recommended for vegetarians or people having to watch their cholesterol level ; pork, sausage, pork pork and more pork. ;o)

BTW a good source for beer travellers to Germany is Ron Pattinson's website :

Cheers !

Laurent

Belle Vue kriek tastes like cheap sweets, it's actually quite nasty. I think they must use synthetic flavouring instead of cherries.

In "What's Brewing", Kronenbourg 1664 brewed in the UK was better then the French stuff in a blind tasting involving Michael Jackson.

When I was in France last year I was confused to see bars selling both "Kronenbourg" and "1664" as separate beers, almost separate brands.

Martin

There are actually 2 'Kronenbourg' beers widely available in France, and British 'Kronenbourg 1664' has nothing to do with either of them AFAIK. Most cafes sell 'Kronenbourg', a nondescript industrial pilsner. Some also sell 'Kronenbourg 1664' on draught or in bottles, which is stronger and much better (and much more expensive).

French mass market lagers are pretty grim and are certainly no better than British ones. I remember '33' as being particularly awful.

Best regards, Paul

-- Paul Sherwin Consulting

Martin a écrit :

Yet they are separate products. Kronenbourg is the run-of-the-mill lager, and 1664 is the "luxury" beer, whaterver that may mean... The packaging is coherent enough though, with similar graphics.

But they /are/ separate brands!

Kronenbourg is the bog-standard light lager, 1664 is the 'premium' brand.

(Look at and click on the 'brands' tab)

d.

davek a écrit :

And there's more, there's a low-alc kronenbourg, an alcohol-free one, a "primeur" using fresh hops, even a "tradition Allemande" (german tradition" and a "Tradition anglaise" (english tradition). The latter does not taste a bit like the beginning of anything traditional brewed un England, but then the average French beer drinker doesn't know either... :o(

Don't forget the Premier Cru that's just come onto the market in the UK.

-- Simon M.

Simon Mason a écrit :

Indeed. It might be the less evil of the lot... haven't tasted it yet, though.

I've tried the Kronenbourg Blanc.

Drinkable by keg-beer-in-British-pub standards, but tasted bizarrely like orange squash.

Not worth the £4.20/pint pricetag, when there are so many micros brewing tasty cask wheatbeers at half the price.

BTN

I tried a bottle of this but wasn't too impressed. Surprisingly dark for a lager (perhaps the reason why it's packaged in opaque bottles) and I can't see it appealing to either lager drinkers or ale fans.

--

PeterE a écrit :

Lagers, ie. technically speaking bottom-fermented beers, can be any colour, including a nice jet black... think of Schwarzbier or Czech "Black Beers", for instance. Some Urbocks / Doppelbocks can also boast pretty dark shades of brown.

Cheers !

Laurent

Nah, since the UK term "lager" doesn't correspond to any recognisable version of beer but does correspond to horse p***, then pale yellow would be the expected colour. :-)