It’s been about a year since the last post on my “beer travels”, so I suppose it’s high time for an update. I’ve added a new country (maybe two) to the list, and I’ve tried a few nice brews from more familiar places recently.First, the newest country: Lithuania. Quite unexpectedly, I came across Švyturys Maksimum at a local package store. A little research after the fact reveals that this brewery, along with one in Latvia, is part of the same consortium that exports the Russian Baltika label to the U.S. The brewery has been around since 1784, reaching back impressively to a time when it was still controlled by Prussia! This brew is a hefty 7.5% abv, and it comes in a 500 ml bottle, so be prepared to take one on the chin if you haven’t had enough to eat beforehand. I think this is why I found the website so positively mesmerizing!
Maksimum is not bad. It’s a very pale staw-colored malt liquor, with a big creamy head and nice lacing. The mouthfeel is heavy, and it reminds me of nothing so much as an ancient Northern mead. I can imagine a group of kolbítar — Norse, I know; but give me a little longitude here; my Lithuanian needs brushing up! — gathered around the hearth, passing bottles of this back and forth to keep warm. It’s a little on the heavy side, like a “chewier” European version of Dogfish Head’s Palo Santo or Midas Touch. It’s maltier than it looks, but overall, not bad.
Much nicer was a French beer from the Alsace region (pictured above right). I had to try this for two reasons: it’s from Alsace, hence it’s sort of a German beer in France, or vice versa; and it’s called Fischer Amber! This is a 6% abv brew, in a 1 pt 6 oz bottle. The brewery is younger than Švyturys, dating to the year of Napoleon’s death (1821). A short creamy head tops off a lovely amber ale. Lightly carbonated, with strong herbal and mineral notes, resembling a Dortmunder-style beer. More yeast than hops, and almost no malt. Very dry and crisp, with quite a nice, refreshing flavor. This is only the second French beer I’ve gotten hold of (the other is the ubiquitous Kronenbourg 1664).
The second new (?) country I’ve visited is Singapore. The question mark indicates that I may have tried this before. I can’t quite recall. Singapore is on my list, but it left absolutely no trace in my memory. Anyway, I just tied — again? — Singapore’s Tiger Lager (est. 1932). A serviceable, medium-bodied lager, pale amber in color. Very drinkable, but not particularly memorable. (Hence why I’m not altogether certain the beer is new to me.)
Other recent brews I’ve sampled include several from Rio Blanco, a microbrewery in Texas, including a wonderful rye pale ale; new seasonal ales from Magic Hat in Vermont (including Spring ’10, Lucky Kat, Vinyl, and one or two others that escape my memory); and Fröst, a new (and coincidentally) Dortmunder-style ale from Shiner, also in Texas. If you ever visit Texas, Shiner is the beer to try. We have several good breweries here (including also Rahr in Fort Worth, and St. Arnold in Houston), but Shiner is king, and for good reason.
I once knew a guy who claimed to be a beer connoisseur, but who tended to look down his nose at foreign beers. He'd write "reviews" that read like this:
ReplyDelete"This beer came from Denmark. It should have stayed there."
Funny. There are a lot of good American beers, but to dismiss foreign beers is a bit like saying one prefers the joints in New York’s Little Italy to the trattorie dotting the Tuscan countryside, or the pan-Asian lowest-common-denominator restaurants in San Francisco’s Chinatown to those in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Such people certainly exist, but that kind of preference makes little sense to me. Let them have their Coors and Miller and Budweiser; it just leaves more Hoegaarden and Spaten and Smithwick’s for me! :)
ReplyDeletesvyturys maksimum is really good, i accidentally ran to it last week, brought it home and was pleasantly surprised, ejoyed every sip of it ! :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Mike. I thought it was pretty good, but not my favorite by a long stretch. But everyone’s tastes are different. :)
ReplyDeletewell, you see, i was wisiting baltic countries, last summer, and allready tried svyturys there,and i can say it's the best beer in baltics, so beside taste, all good memories came back :) there is also svyturys wheat baltas, it's kinda light and refreshing, medium head and cloudy.Pleasant aroma and traces of fruit, lingering bitterness . You should try it ;)
ReplyDeleteThe Švyturys wheat beer sounds good, but I haven’t seen it for sale here in Texas. I’ll keep my eyes open. While in the Baltics, did you try anything from Latvia or Estonia? Michael Jackson (the late beer guru, not the late singer) has recommended some Estonian beers in his books, but I’ve never come across them in Texas.
ReplyDeleteyeah, i' ve tried few estonian beers, Saku Kuld - Euro pale lager, very little aroma, kinda bland, not impressed at all, the consistency is rather sweet and round, but all too watery... A. Le coq premium also nothing special, Latvian Bauskas, a small traditional brewery, still made in Bauska by an ancient master brewer. And it tastes halfway between a light beer and a dark beer. it's interesting.Brengulu beer has a nice honey taste .But in conslution i could say that Lithuanian beer is the best, especially svyturys ;]
ReplyDeleteBut in conslution i could say that Lithuanian beer is the best [...]
ReplyDeleteIf that’s the case, then I don’t really think I’m missing too much. :)
If we're talking about Svyturys you should definitely try Svyturys Baltijos if you'll find ir around - it's dark sweetish caramel taste beer. Pretty amazing i could say.
ReplyDelete