somebody's memories

It isn't a beerliday yet, so just a random pick today...something a little more subdued, with less excitement about it.  Well, it's kind of exciting to see a historical beer on the shelf, although you always have to wonder just how close an industrial remake really is.  They have sanitation and health requirements to fill, you know.  At least it's my favorite industrial Spanish beer, Estrella Galicia.  This is their Primera Generación, supposedly a recipe developed by the first generation of beer-making Riveras, but right on the bottle they say the most important thing is the tradition of technique, not so much ingredients.  Of course technique is often a big part of recipes too.  Another reason I like this brewery is their campaign of making themselves look like the underdog beer, the one you need a special sense to really appreciate.  Like I said, it's my favorite industrial beer, but it seems just as silly to emphasize how smallness of your clientele as it is to sniff at drinkers of smaller beers that are just like products your own larger company produces.  No, scratch that, the latter is definitely sillier.  Estrella Galicia's Resistencia and Cerveza para la Inmensa Minoría seem more like gentle jokes in comparison.

It opens with a poof of barroom air, very typical industrial lager smell.  The beer is very light colored, translucent, good looking head.  It's like a super hoppy German lager, it's even a little peppery, which I don't think was particularly desirable at the beginning of the last century, but who knows?  It's flavorsome, malty, a little spicy in the taste too.  The flavor makes you think it's going to be a much heavier feeling beer than it actually is.  Like the color, it's light and fluttery.  The strong taste disappears quickly after the swallow, leaving no aftertaste or feel.  It's very drinkable once it's drunk, since you can easily forget that you just had a sip.  Pretty clever for getting people to keep consuming.  The strong flavor and aroma might give the drinker the impression of a product that was thoroughly worked over and developed, but it's the right kind of feel for the Spanish climate.  Even in Galicia, there's a little sun, sometimes.

lit up

Well, back to lagers, but this is a smoked lager, so at least that's something different.  This is Althaia's Mediterranean Lager Ahumada.  I guess after Spain got smoked out of the World Cup it's a fitting choice for the collection.  I also like how the label shows the grill but the smoke is coming out of the bottles nearby.

I'm used to my smoked beers looking, well, smokey, but this one pours out almost like water.  It does take on color in the glass and builds up a nice fluffy head, as well as having that distinct rauchbier aroma.  It definitely tastes like a rauchbier, perhaps a little sweeter than some of the classics.  It's more of a maple syrup sausage than a bacon or schnitzel flavor.  There's some hint of breading, or maybe pancake crumbs.  It also has an oddly slick feel to it, like the outside of a fatty sausage, sliding over your plate instead of politely sitting for your fork.  It's perfectly pleasant, though, not icky-slippery like you might expect.  While other rauchbiers seem to have their place at the barbecue, this lager feels like it just wants to sit down to breakfast.

central span

It isn't a real holiday today, but it is the middle of the week and bookended by holidays.  It's almost a holiday by default, but some people take Monday and/or Friday to have long weekends and kind of begrudgingly go to work a single day of the week.  Not everybody has the luxury of an "aqueduct", as the Spanish refer to this extra-long weekend (a normal long weekend being a "bridge").  For a working day, we seem to have a normal working beer, Guineu's Latitud 41 lager.

Activity begins as soon as the cap is unsealed, but there's no foam overflow.  The beer pours out with a sour-grain scent and a very fluffy head, settling into the glass with a very clear, slightly ruddy light lager color.  The glass gives off a little metallic aroma too, making me wonder if the beer has gone off in the bottle.  The flavor is at first strongly bitter and tinged with bread, a stronger flavor than I expect from a lager, but the aftertaste also has that metal and green bean bite.  The beer tries to override that bit of weirdness, and it seems like it really is a fine lager, but the aftertaste is a little distracting.

my country

Yes, another beer fair snuck up on me, one that changed location before beginning.  I guess they realized the Metro would be of use after all, since the nearby line reopened their repaired section the very day the fair started!  And of course I went out to IFEMA on the Metro, and everything seemed perfectly normal in the tunnels and stations.  It's been a while since I've been out that way, though, so maybe it was rougher before the repair.  País de Cervezas has gone the Founders Fest route of tokens for beer instead of paying directly, but every beer costs the same token, with a value of €2.50.  You just get more beer from some pours than others.  Actually, a reasonable system, although the tokens themselves are a little bit of an unnecessary step.  Make you think twice before shelling out another €5?  Anyway.

The idea was to showcase the cooperation between industrial and craft beers, and many were side by side or sharing stands.  There were a couple of names that I do not recall seeing before, such as Almogáver of Barcelona.  They also had a stout, so that caught my attention right off the bat.  An interesting looking stout too, with several fruits being added in.  The name, Black Pear, makes it almost sound dangerous, like some illegal gardening project.  It looks good, smells like choco-vanilla, maybe there's a little pear in there too.  I might be fooling myself, though, searching too hard for it.  It has a fruit-in-chocolate kind of flavor, not quite sweet at first, but then it comes out with a soft touch of delicate fructose.  The beer is very light for the amount of flavors packed in, although it also leaves an interesting, burny aftertaste.  It's one of those somewhat rare stouts you (not me) could probably stand as a summertime drink.

I couldn't resist upon seeing something was "experimental", but then I saw it was Moritz, oldest of Barcelona's beers still being produced.  They are part of a larger group now, but they do play up their historical association with the city, I'm told.  This is Alkimia, the experimental lager, which is not actually being sold on its on, but used in restaurants for tastings and the like.  The recipe is still being tweaked a little.  It has a very clear color, and good white head, an appetizing appearance overall.  However, I get a whiff of sulfur and maybe seawater, which makes me wonder if I really want to drink it.  I better at least give it a try...and am impressed.  The flavor is quite subtle, blended and refreshing, just a tad bitter at first, then citrus leaps out, very low and grapefruity.  Floral notes also rush by, dragging some other spices behind them.  The aftertaste brings back the sea with a touch of salt, and some cucumber notes also make their appearance.  The aroma doesn't really improve, but in the right conditions it would be a damn fine sitting-back-and-relaxing beer, although it might not go so well with the beach.

I swing back to black beers, unsurprisingly, and picked up a Black Block Imperial Stout from La Pirata.  I wonder if I have tried it before, it seems to have a familiar name.  (Oh, there it is)  I have not had a professional serving of it before at least.  Kind of loose bubbles in a somewhat scanty head, but color's alright and there's a nice stout aroma, toasty and earthy.  There's a much bigger punch than with Black Pear, thicker, rounder feel, even a little oily.  There is a chocolate aspect too, but a hot chocolate powder kind, not rich bar chocolate.  It's a strong beer at over 11%, although it doesn't feel quite that heavy, but it maintains a good balance of flavors and while thick doesn't detour into syrupville.

The pendulum swings back and also a memorable name doesn't hurt.  Antiga of Valencia is offering a hazy IPA called Do You Marry Me?, which...well, do you have to ask?  It's definitely hazy, going so far as to look puddingish, nice white head on it too.  It has the predictable citrus aroma, very orangey.  The flavor is restrained, subtle, not a lot of punch but a gentle caress.  Along with the expected citrus contents is a distinct lack of bitter, making the beer feel soft and friendly-like, although it doesn't quite get to sweet.  It is a fresh, very clean and healthy flavor, something reminiscent of authentic horchata.

I got one beer with my entrance, and I got four tokens because it's an even number and easy to buy, so one more!  I notice that people are really not gathering around the big beer stalls, although a few do go up, which makes me laugh on one and and feel sorry for the people behind the bar on the other.  I don't go to give solace, however, I'm on a craft journey.  For the most part.

So, the last one was Basqueland.  A safe choice in terms of name, I don't think I've been disappointed by anything I've had from them.  No black beers, sadly, but there is What A Life, DDH East Coast Hazy IPA.  A complicated name for an actually not too complicated beer.  I don't mean it has no complexity - first there's the color, which is hazy but not as opaque as Antiga's, and a very bright shade.  In comparison, it's a little heavier in aroma, a little hoppier, the flavor is more upfront, stronger on the citrus hops, sharper in the throat.  It does that little catch thing that some hazys and NEIPAs do.  Overall, a bright and uplifting hazy, not as juicy as some, but it certainly has the basics covered.  It's more snappy and provocative than Antiga, with more prominent hops, a lot of mouthfeel and a demanding aftereverything, to be honest.  It leaves a little bit of sticky and a little bit of bitter/sour so you don't forget what you're drinking.

Surprise encore beer!  I was pestering the speaker at the beer history talk and he took me over to get a freebee from Moritz.  Since I had already had Moritz, I got Ambar's non-Pasteurized IPA, just to have something new.  It's slightly darker than the normal IPAs, with a good strong aroma.  Very standard, light citrus.  The flavor is heavy on the hops, not very bitter, but not your typical midday brew.  Not a bad way to go out, really.  Although it doesn't have many markers of differentiation, it's a perfectly fine beer and one I would not be unhappy to drink in a bar with a little conversational distraction.  It does seem like there's a little hair-care product that starts to come out in the aroma after a while though.  Maybe being a Spanish beer it's not made to be savored.

gold!

On the fifth day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Five malts of gold

Four avian hallucinations

Three French magicians

Two love ya dearlies

And the simplest answer there could be  

I admit, this is another lazy one, but sometimes you might as well take the things that just fit.  This is Gordon Finest Gold, a lager by John Martin Brewery.  It sounds like it should be a British beer, but it's actually made in Belgium.  So a little surprise after all.  I only wish instead of 10 it said 5 on the label, that would have fit absolutely perfectly.  I guess the other option would be drinking five.

Very normal looking beer, transparent, snow head, pretty standard beery smell.  It's actually quite lagery, with a lot of grain being most identifiable.  At first it tastes a lot like a normal beer, just calm bitter, but suddenly a sort of medicinal flavor bursts out, and the beer takes on a thick and round quality.  It feels much heavier than it looks, and the mild scent also didn't give any clues about its body.  It might be the Belgian influence that gives the beer some complexity and fruitiness.  It has that little tang at the end of the drink that so many Belgian styles possess.  It also packs quite a punch at 10%.  That might be like getting a fist of rings to the head if you're not careful.

trickling west

Although La Cervecista might be thought of as a crafty rather than craft store, there are good beers for sure.  Especially in the Czech selection, Primátor is there, as well as Bernard!  I have not seen Bernard for quite some time in the Spanish stores, so I shouldn't let this opportunity slide.  I had a little trouble deciding between the amber lager and the Bohemian lager, but in the end Bohemia seemed best.

A very classic look, dark straw yellow and perfectly translucent, not to mention the head sitting on top like frosting.  The aroma is a little bit cleaner and with less grass than some German lagers, but it's still identifiably in the type.  It's an interesting mix of apply sweet and beer bitter in taste.  The beer is a very light feeling liquid, a good choice for a summertime drink with a view of the street.  While it is incredibly easy to drink, it isn't a nothing beer and not quite like Corona or similar light beers fit for the beach.  I feel this is more of an urban beverage.  After a while I start picking up a little saltiness, kind of a sea-water sort of sensation, but not to an unpleasant level.  It's almost like having a salty dressing on a salad.  It's refreshing and calming at once, and with enough presence to be good company on an evening when temperatures are starting to fade from Madrid summer.

Supplier: La Cervecista

Price: €2.40

it isn't glittering, though

More than halfway through the month, and I need to pick up a few more "samples".  This time I stop by Labirratorium, where I know there will be plenty of unusual choices.  I kind of feel like something a little more traditional, though, so one of my purchases was a German lager.  Now it's a special lager, obviously, but this time I'm not sifting through a dozen flavorings.  This time.  I don't believe I've come across St. Georgen Bräu before, but I'm curious about this Goldmärzen of theirs.  (Oh, wait, here's the last time - also from Labirratorium!)  I don't know if it was one of their original recipes - on the label it says since 1624 - but I'm sure the Bavarian tradition of quality beer will make itself known. 

It has that very classic German beer look, with the translucent gold and frothy, abundant head.  Grains and vegetation are evident in the aroma.  It smells like a full-flavored beer, so I'm expecting something with some weight to it.  I'm a little surprised at the touch of sourness in the taste, although there's plenty of meaty lager almost corn in there too.  It's a nice balance of flavors, making it more interesting than the majority of German lagers in my opinion.  It certainly does have some weight behind it, it drags a little in the throat, almost fighting the swallow.  That robustness is another point of interest for the beer, but I don't think it's strong to the point of distraction.  It does share the feeling of a nice märzen, despite being a blond version, no forgettable beer at all.

Supplier: Labirratorium

Price: €2.40

in preparation

One thing the craft beer explosion has done is reawaken interest in older, traditional beer styles.  Some of the first US craft breweries got their start producing those, capitalizing on a sense of nostalgia, or fauxstalgia, in the public.  Spanish beer is not immune to that.  El Aguila was once the biggest brewery in Madrid, and in fact in Spain, producing almost a quarter of all the beer in the country.  That was about 100 years ago.  Later, they got bought up by Heineken, lost momentum, and ceased production in the '90s.  Then, a couple years ago, somebody thought it would be a good idea to start up the label again.  And they are appealing to tradition, insisting on the consumer being aware of the first years of production; this one is 1900, for example.  The bottle has a bit of a city map of Madrid from 1900 on the neck, with the first El Aguila brewery marked on it.  Nothing else, though.  I'm told by people who were told by former employees that the beer made now isn't quite the same as what they were making in the 20th century, but memories can be tricky, and recipes can be tweaked.  Let's see if it's worth a trip down somebody else's memory lane.

May be a traditional beer, but sure looks like a modern logo

It's on the lighter side of gold, but good head.  It's one of the sweeter smelling lagers, a little bit grainy, but with a very natural and appetizing feeling in the nose.  The flavor is an interesting mix of bitter and sweet, alternating between the two as the beer slides towards the throat.  It's not a thin and inconspicuous beer, although I wouldn't go so far as to call it heavy.  It has a nice mouthfeel, with the sweetness giving it maybe the illusion of more weight than it really has.  There isn't much aftertaste, although there is a little feeling of something hanging around at the back of the mouth.  It's not a bad beer, it gives the impression of a more "nutritious" sort of beverage, one that would sustain workers over long days in the factory.  Of course, that wasn't the marketing fashion in Spain as it was in other places, but they were trying to mimic the beer, so it would have had the same effect, more or less.

by the sea

So it seems we are about to leave the "state of emergency" that has been our normal for some time.  There are still a bunch of restrictions that have to be abided by, though, including limits on the number of people who can sit together at a restaurant table.  It's still a pretty good time to have a good beer all to yourself with the cheesiest of movies, or virtual conversation on historical marketing.  When it's 20th century beer marketing, the best choice is obviously a lager, although I can't resist picking up a good craft instead of slumming with industry.  On the other hand, we don't always hear who gets absorbed into the industry from the craft world, so Basqueland's Santa Clara might have been even more fitting for a later discussion.

In the store it was labeled as a pilsner, and the look is exactly that.  It's a light straw color with a bright, fizzy-looking head.  There's a noticeable standard beer aroma as soon as the cap is removed.  The taste hits with a hard bitter and a lager grain punch, although that graininess stays back from being truly sweet.  It's bubbly on the tongue, leaving a bit of a tickle rather than an aftertaste.  The feeling is very light, a very easy to drink kind of beer, there's almost no weight in the mouth at all.  If it wasn't less than 5% alcohol it might a something to be careful of, but as it is you can't help but feel relaxed with it.  A great start to drinking in summer temperatures!

Supplier: La Cervecista

Price: €2.70

modern specialties

Although there's quite a bit of standard German beer floating around, there isn't very much Czech beer.  Sure, you can find Pilsner Urquell, sometimes even unfiltered, and occasionally Staropramen or Kozel.  I've been told it's because Czech beer just doesn't travel very well.  I guess that's the mark of its delicate quality and natural ingredients, but every once in a while you do come upon something less usual.  I think the first time I had Primátor was with a "Prague Meal" during some beer/gastrofest years ago, although I might have picked one up from Cervezorama even before that.  Well, I got Exklusiv, a "light, strong beer", a while ago, but hung on to it without really knowing why.  I guess my future self knew it would be fitting to go with a talk about 19th century beer and brewing industry development, since that's when Bohemia's pilsner style took off.  Now, Exklusiv isn't a pilsner, in fact on their website they call it a Maibock, but it's an example of good beer and good Czech beer, so that's good enough for me.

It's surprisingly strongly colored, something like an Imperial IPA might come out, with an orangey beige head.  The aroma is slightly appley, but pleasingly tart.  The flavor is bitter, but it has an odd medley of bitters, with a range of notes and depth.  It certainly doesn't taste like chocolate, but that dark bitterness is there, all the way up to citrus pithy pokey bitter.  It's a light feeling beer, dancing over the tongue, and going down easy in spite of the strong flavors.  After a bit some sweetness starts to come out, sugary rather than syrupy as sometimes happens.  It seems like an interesting blend of a craft IPA and a lager, the kind of thing you might expect from a small craft brewery, but not from 19th century industrialists.  Not that they would tell anybody about anyway.

Suppler: La Buena Cerveza

Price: €3.29

not quite pushing boundaries

I have a small soft spot for Alhambra in a bottle, better than draft in my opinion.  Although, like so many, the brewery has been absorbed into a much bigger one, there are some interesting things to be found.  A barrel aged lager, for one, kept in rum barrels for a sweet, sweet finish: Barrica de Ron Granadino.

Well, it is a nice ruddy color, almost extra bubbly, keeps only a thin head.  There's a definite whiff of alcoholic barrel.  It also smells a little fruity, but more of a banana or melon than an ale-y citrus.  The rum sweetness comes through, although I find it subdued.  There's a touch of banana in the flavor as well.  It may be the lightness of the lager versus a heavier stout, but the taste is more rum candy flavoring than actual rum.  The beer is not especially heavy by itself - again, lager.  It's a smooth taste, though, no rough edges on it at all.  Nice drinking beer, something a little daring, but not a big surprise.  While pleasant, it's a beer that plays it safe.

Supplier: La Cervecista
Price: €1.90

not a dead issue

Another gift!  It's a premium lager, from Ukraine of all places, produced by Carlsburg.  Actually, I shouldn't be too surprised at its origins, given that country's famed wheat fields.  Still, this isn't a wheat beer.  The label calls it "pasteurized light beer Lvivske 1715" and also has a good bit of Chinese at the bottom.  Another import lager after that calendar last year?

Well, it's got the typical industrial lager aroma, bitter and sharp.  Also, very pale, translucent, light head hangs around though.  Oh yes, it's a regular lager, with that bitter introduction that barely covers the grainy sweetness.  Despite the color, it isn't a thin and watery feeling beer, and in fact has quite a nice texture.  Bubbly, but not prickly.  There is a hint of aftertaste, somewhat bitter, but everything goes down smoothly and without much fuss.  This is definitely what I would expect to get in a pub somewhere, but my snobby palate ever longs for the craft beer bar.

smoke and clocks

I still need something suitable for German films, but German craft beers are like Czech ones in that they do not travel.  There are German beers, mind you.  Just not a whole great many.  Schlenkerla is pretty much limited to the beer stores, and it's not a great wonder.  After the tastelessness of industrial Spanish beer, a rauch would really put you off.  But, there's also Schlenkerla Helles Lager, which is maybe another thing.  The label does warn that it's a little smoky, but that just makes it a unique specimen.  

It certainly looks like most typical lagers, with its light color and near transparency.  It's mostly fields of grain in the aroma, but yes, there is a touch of smoke there too.  At first the taste is like a watered down version of the rauchbier, not with less flavor, just with less robust substance, but a little sourness also seeps out at the end.  The smoke is upfront and tough, but that sort of bacony flavor that rauchbiers have makes you want to go back and make sure it's really what you were tasting.  It's a beer that definitely calls out for a little snack to go with it, preferably something a little salty, maybe greasy.  Actually, fried cheese sounds really good right now...

Supplier: La Birratorium
Price: €2.60
 
spoilers ahead!!

 
The second film for me this year was Cleo - If I Could Turn Back Time, which purported to be an exploration of urban legends in the city of Berlin while the characters looked for treasure with an old map.  Cleo is another woman with bright red hair who dresses in bright colors through most of the movie, and is also surrounded by blue in a number of scenes.  She is born in front of the Berlin Wall, about to come down, where the crowds prevent her parents from getting to a hospital and her mother dies during her birth.  Her father does his best to maintain a joyful life with her, taking her on magical adventures in the city, but when they are digging for a time machine they hit an old WWII bomb, which explodes, killing her father and leaving her alone in the world.  From then on she makes a rule for herself never to get close to anyone because it will kill them.  She ends up working as a tour guide, and when a man comes in asking for somebody to guide him through a treasure map, she can't help herself and dives back into the world of secrets and hidden fun that she had with her father.  Her elderly neighbor, who is always asking her to visit, authenticates the map, and Cleo promises to visit her.  She also starts to get closer to the man with the map and his exuberant spirit for adventure.  They pick up a couple of strange thieves/misfits he knows to break open an old safe, and later to break into an abandoned spy station that was built over the burial site of the treasure.  Before they know where exactly the treasure is, Cleo has a vision of the makers of the map, a pair of bank robbing brothers from the 1920s, and they give her the code to reading the map after she promises to make sure everyone remembers them.  When they finally read the map and finalize the plan to break into the mountain, Cleo goes home and finds her neighbor has died, and she realizes she never visited her, even though she meant to.  Her feelings have killed another person in her life, and she starts pushing the map man away.  In the depths of the mountain they separate and she finds the treasure, but the space it's buried in starts collapsing.  She manages to drag the trunk up the tunnels to the map man, but the tunnel collapses on him, killing him.  Cleo frantically goes back to save her mother even if it means she herself will die, which apparently happens because everything stops and disappears.  She is in a void, alone, except for a version of her younger self, which tells her if she isn't born nobody can find the time machine to save her mother, therefore nothing can happen.  If she chooses to save herself pain, nothing will ever happen, but if she chooses to feel, the world and all the joys and pains of everyone will exist.  She returns to the moment of finding the treasure, but when the collapse begins this time she leaves it behind.  Without the trunk, she and the map man get out alive, but he is so hurt by her past rejections that he disappears with plans to leave the city.  Cleo realizes she wants to risk pain in order to feel love and finds the map man at his houseboat, and projects a video onto the bridge to admit her feelings.  The end of the movie is a little too heartstring-tuggy for my taste, but I guess it's fine for people who really want that happy ending.  Cleo is giving tours still, but to children, who are doing treasure hunts all over the city, learning about the people who made each part famous or interesting, including the bank robbing brothers.  Then, the map man shows up with his daughter, and it's clear that he and Cleo are together.  The ghosts of past residents of the city look on approvingly, including her parents, together in the afterlife.

The main actress and the director were in town for the showing, but the actress had to leave before the film was over to catch a plane.  She told us before the showing that she was very proud of the film and it was a project that was close to her heart, and we all applauded and settled in to watch.  Then, as she left she waved and said, "Adios!" to the audience, and we automatically replied and waved too.  Some people next to me said she seemed so nice, what a shame she had to leave.  The director did have time to talk a little at the end, although he also had a plane to catch, and he even spoke Spanish.  Not perfectly, but quite well, although he said he had forgotten a lot of words.  Asked about the genre of the film, he proudly said it wasn't easy for anyone to classify, although he would settle for it being a romantic comedy.  German audiences found it a style suitable for children's film, which occurred to me as well at several points in the film.  I also thought there was a touch of Amelie, with the colors, the fantasies from Cleo, and some of the quick cuts.  It turns out the director's wife is French, so maybe that's where that came from.  Although I was hoping for an adventure or fantasy movie over a romance, it's an enjoyable film, with a sort of quirky indie feel to it.  And if there's anything to take away, it must be have no regrets.

Dec. 22 - Faxe

Well, not appointed to the Danish court, but it appears Faxe is a truly Danish beer.  Thor in his winged helmet glares out from the can, maybe wondering why he's attached to a lager instead of mead or ale.

Still transparent, bubbly, quickly diminishing head, perhaps a darker shade of gold, though.  Thin, beery smell, something kind of floral poking around.  It's a bit sour at first but quickly descends into bitterness, more like a "proper" beer.  Something about it is tough, a mouthful of flavor, but not exactly unpleasant.  It has some rustic quality, a beer that you might be drinking around a bonfire on a snowy camping trip.  Still waiting for one more black beer, though.

Dec. 21 - Bear Beer

I'm not quite sure what to expect from Bear Beer.  It looks pretty slick, and it is a lager, so maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up.  Now, it is a beer "by appointment to the Royal Danish Court", so maybe I'm being a little too judgemental up front.  Only one way to find out, I guess.

Very standard beer appearance, light gold color and white fluffy head.  Like with pretty much all these light beers, the head fades quickly.  Very slightly sweet scent, but hardly detectable at all.  Not as sweet as some lagers, a little hard to pin down what it really is.  There is an initial sweetness, with a very light touch, and no weirdness beyond that.  There is practically no aftertaste at all, certainly no change to sour or bitter.  Once more, it's an acceptable drinking beer, but I'm such a demanding asshole that I'm not satisfied with that.

Dec. 15 - Ureich

Well, it's back to lager, but this is a luxurious lager!  Says so on the can.  There are some nice hops on the side to make you think it's well flavored, but we'll see.  Ureich, you have a challenge ahead of you.

I think it's even weaker in color than yesterday's, again with a resistant head.  Barely any smell, though, just the tiniest hint of bitter and a whisper of pepper.  I swear I think I'm getting pepper.  That would be something of a luxury.  The taste, however, is regular lager, with a big round start that flattens out into a grainy sweetness, and trails off with a dash of bitterness down the throat.  Even flavor from start to finish, a good drinking lager, but the pepper is lacking in the taste, and it's not what I would call luxurious.  A good stout, now that's luxury!  Or even a strong IPA.

Meh, not quite

Dec. 12 - 5,0 Original

5,0 is back in a can reminiscent of Coca-cola.  It looks like the same red anyway.  The can makes a lot of promises about saved costs and preserved quality, and emphasizes its export status...which does not bode well.

No polar bears here

Man, it's even lighter and thinner looking than yesterday's.  Pretty good head, though, doesn't disappear too fast.  I'm not even sure what it tastes like; there's something there, but it's so subtle and so delicate that precise description fails me.  If anything it's on the sweet side, absolutely not bitter.  No aftertaste either, goes right down.  Out of mouth, out of mind.  I could compare it with (shudder) Mahou, if pressed.

Dec. 6 - Stephans Bräu

Oh, now it's a premium lager!  I wonder if it will have more weight than the wheat beer?  Definitely expecting more than with the pilsners.  The can flashes four different writing systems, so it's definitely meant for export.  This is Stephans Bräu Premium Lager, from Mammut Getränke.  Weirdly, I cannot find the connection between the beer and the company, which I believe is an exporter, not a brewery.  Or maybe it is?  Some information says Stephans Bräu is made by Eichbaum, already a contestant in this game.  Anyway, let's get on with the lager tasting.

Couldn't find one with St. Nikolaus?

Well, it's back to lightly scented, lightly colored, glassy beer.  The head's alright, not real long-lasting, but it has a cling like the wheat beer.  It's oddly sour for a lager, taking a few seconds for any bitterness to come out.  Deep down there's some sweet grassiness, but it could easily go unnoticed with that sour on top of it.  While the level of sourness does diminish, it never really gets very bitter or that mildly sweet that many lagers tend to.  Again, not a bad beer to sit around on a sunny day with, but not what I would choose on a dark December night.  Actually, with a good meal it would be okay, since it doesn't have a striking flavor of its own to interfere with the taste of the food.  Right up there with Kingfisher!

Dec. 3 - Eichbaum

Number three is a lager, so getting away from the pilsner for the moment.  I do not know Eichbaum, of Mannheim, but they have a snappy promise on the front of aromatic hops.  It is a lager, not an ale, so we'll see.

I really see no difference from the last two in appearance, although the head isn't quite as resistant.  It's the same light yellow and transparent liquid.  Beerier smell, though.  Promise of a little more bitter.  Indeed, there is a heavier flavor than that Darguner especially, although it isn't especially strong.  The bitterness is extremely mild, and there is just a itty-bittiest tang in the aftertaste.  It's slightly more perky than the previous pilsners, but not nearly as in your face as what I've become accustomed to.  It's not such a bad beer, but sort of forgettable. 

one more saturday night

I have yet another bottle spirited onto my check-in in my fridge.  This one's a lager, so a nice laid-back kind of beer for a rainy evening I expect.  There's a stout waiting, but with any luck it will be chilly next week.  Probably not, though.  This Ostroff is a half-dark lager, made by Falkenštejn in collaboration with Hotel Ostrov in "Bohemian Switzerland".  It's a fairly standard sounding beer, not quite 5%, so a nice thing to have after an afternoon of hiking around mountains and woods.

Very slightly sweet aroma, a little bit sour in there too.  Mostly, it's lager smell.  Fluffy head, dies back pretty quickly, but keeps a little fuzzy cap over the top.  Although the beer is unfiltered the color is clear, with no cloudiness at all, and a warm coppery dark gold.  The taste hits with sour first, but a toasty graininess comes up from the depths.  It seems like there's some bittersweet in the background also, but they're fighting it out to see who gets to be noticed.  The bitter starts to gain ground after about half the glass.  Towards the end, though, the beer gains some weight and dials up the sweet.  It becomes more like a typical central European lager in flavor, with a touch of that grassiness, although the sour never goes away completely.  Not an especially demanding beer, could be very nice for an evening drink, all-day hike or not.