another down under

It's always nice to find something new at the beer store, a new style or a new place represented.  Of course, when we're talking craft beer a lot of breweries aren't in the position to send their beer very far from home.  Imagine my surprise to see a Chilean beer up there on the shelf!  It's Kunstmann Torobayo pale ale (das gute Bier! says the cap).  In spite of the name it promotes itself as a British style, "popular in the times of Queen Victoria", and both things make perfect sense for a Chilean beer quite honestly.  Hopefully this will take the edge off the rising temperatures at evening lately.

For a pale ale, the color seems awfully dark to me.  Still, very typical beer, slightly bubbly and good white head.  It has that German style aroma, a blend of bitter and sweet grassiness.  The flavor is sweeter than I expected, even a little malty, but again it has a very standard feel to it, a beer that you'd have in the cooler on a summer outing.  It's rather thicker than I expected for a pale ale, sort of oozes down in an ambling way, not the zippiness of an IPA or even a sour.  Although the sweetness is pleasant, it's on the heavy side, not as refreshing as I'd hoped on a warm summer night.  On a cooler evening it would be fine, or in a strongly air conditioned bar.  It's also a beer that begs a snack to compliment it, something salty would be great right about now.  My kingdom for a bag of pretzels!

Supplier: Espuma
Price: €3.50