From the label:
Mocne is a uniquely Polish beer, essentially a Polish Strong Lager. Okocim's Mocne weighs in at 7% abv so it fits the description of strong pretty well. My Polish heritage attracted me to this beer when I saw it in the liquor store. It poured a medium golden color with a fluffy white creamy head, which left a nice lacy coating on the glass. The beer has a fuller body than most lagers. The nose is flowery and buttery, with a hint of the alcohol to come. The beer is sweeter than most lagers, probably due to the higher malt content, and again, the alcohol shows itself in the taste. It has a lingering floral hop character. My first sip was a bit underwhelming, but the beer improved as I worked my way down the glass. Okocim also makes a wonderful Baltic Porter, so check that one out too.
St. Feuillien is an Abbey brewery established back in 1125 AD. I'm not sure what it is about Monks and brewing, but they definitely go together well. Tonight I tasted their Cuvee de Noel, which was part of a 3 beer assortment which also netted me the nice glass you see in the photo. There's something special about drinking a beer from a glass that was designed for it. Being a Christmas or holiday beer, this beer has a fuller body than many Belgian ales, and a vinous quality. Alcohol is at 9.0% abv, so it's a nice sipping beer, although it went well with my pork roast too. It tastes of dark fruit and has the traditional Belgian yeast character as well. St. Feuillien also makes a very nice Tripel, which was also in the assortment, and a Bruin rounded out the trio. I'm looking forward to trying the Bruin next.
A short time ago I reviewed Bischoff's Falkensteiner Ur-Schwarze, and found it somewhat lacking. Tonight I tried another bottle of Bischoff - this time it's their Ur-Weisse. It poured a pale golden color with a big white head. The head was more impressive than the one on the Schwarze. The nose on this variety was closer to what I would expect from a wheat beer - some citrus notes, and some banana too. The flavor also had evidence of bananas and clove from the Bavarian hefeweizen yeast. This bottle was more true to the style than the Schwarze was. It still wasn't up to par when compared to my favorite - Weihenstephan, but it was better. It was refreshing and enjoyable with my chicken.
A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed a Schwarzbier from Kulmbacher Monchshof - a marvelous brewery in Kulmbach, Germany. Tonight I had another one of their brews - their Kellerbrau. This is a kellerbier - an unfiltered German lager. I've sampled kellerbiers from other brewers, but this is my favorite so far. It poured a deep cloudy golden color with a frothy white head. The photo makes the beer look darker than it actually was. Even with the big head, the beer was modestly carbonated, which is a traditional feature of a kellerbier. It was very smooth, with a moderate, but obvious Noble hop finish. Unfortunately, Monchshof seems to be hard to find in Florida, but I hope to try some of their other varieties in the future.
Tonight we had burgers for dinner, so I felt like a dark beer was in order. I selected Fuller's London Porter from the Fuller Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, London, England. This porter is a classic example of the brown Porter style. It poured a deep brown with a beige-colored head. The head was small, but lasting. This is a rich, roasty brew with generous notes of chocolate and caramel. I only wish I could make a Porter this good!
World Market had a variety pack of winter brews from Ridgeway Brewing in Oxfordshire, England, but since I had already tried some of them, I decided to seek out the new ones elsewhere. I found "Reindeer's Revolt" at a local beer shop in Orlando. At $5 a 1/2 liter it was pretty pricey, but no more than it would have cost in the variety pack. This is an English Strong Ale, and has an abv of 6%. It poured a medium copper color with a fine cream colored head. It's a good looking beer. It smells mildly fruity and malty, and tastes of toffee, fruit and alcohol. It's a nice ale, but I'm not sure it was worth 5 bucks. The label was hard to resist.
I am always amazed by German brewing tradition. Most German brewers follow the very strict German Purity law - the Reinheitsgebot - which says that beer must be made from water, malt, yeast, and hops. No other adjuncts can be added. Even so, they brew a wide variety of styles, all of which are uniquely different, and many are uniquely German. Tonight's beer is a German Dunkel, brewed by Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg in Kelheim, Germany. This is the 2nd beer I have tried from this brewer - the oldest Monastery brewery in the world. A while back I tasted their Asam Bock and reviewed it here. This dunkel is as impressive as the bock. It poured a crystal clear brown with a lasting off-white head. The aroma is of dark malt and fruit, and the palate is dark malt, a hint of raisins and cola, and some flowery hops. I am eagerly anticipating finding my next variety of beer from Weltenburger Kloster!
This past weekend, I took a trip to Knightly Spirits and spent 1/2 hour perusing their shelves for interesting beers. They always have a "bargain table" set up in the front of the store and in the past I've found a bunch of interesting imports and micros on this table. Tonight's beer came from that table. It's Bischoff's Falkensteiner Ur-Schwarze, which is a dark wheat beer. I confess that when I bought it, I thought it was a Schwarzbier, so I guess my reading skills were on hiatus that day. But that's ok - I like a good Hefewizen Dunkel, so I wasn't disappointed when I actually read the label today. When I twisted off the aluminum cap, there was no sound of escaping CO2, which didn't strike me as a good sign. It poured a chocolate brown, with a 1/4 inch tall head. A good hefeweizen should have a head that fills the glass, but this was far from it. The nose was a bit sour, and the first taste was definitely underwhelming. It was a bit tart, with just a hint of chocolate, and almost no Bavarian hefeweizen character. Whenever I drink a German wheat beer, I always compare it to what I consider the best brewer of these styles - Weihenstephan. Sadly, this doesn't come close. It's not a bad beer - it's simply mediocre.
Tonight's beer is from Belgium, brewed at Brouwerij Bavik in Bavikhove. It's called Petrus Winterbeer, and it's my first winter seasonal this year. It poured a medium brown color with a large fluffy white head that diminished rapidly. It's pretty well-carbonated as many Belgian ales are, and is light to medium in body. It's fruity and spicy, with some sweet malt and raisins coming through at the end. I know it's a little early for winter (even though Wal-Mart is already playing Christmas music!) but I have a weak spot for beer bottles with Santa on them. This was a good warmup for the season, and I'll be looking forward to the rich, malty, spicy, syrupy beers to come!
Who could resist a beer named "Satan Gold" with a picture of a devil on the label? I knew right away it had to be Belgian. The Belgians are the cowboys of the brewing world. This strong golden ale was brewed by Brewery de Block, Merchtem-Pezeigem, Belgium. It poured a hazey gold color with a fluffy white head with huge bubbles. Once the largest bubbles went away, there was an eighth-inch head on the beer for the remainder of the glass. It had a ginger ale-like carbonation. As with many Belgian ales, it was very fruity, both in the nose and the palate. There was also some sweet malt, and a warming alcohol finish. At 8% abv, that was not a surprise. This was a fine Belgian ale, very much in character with other Belgian Goldens.
