Category Archives: Beer

Lobkowicz – Dark and Light

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The brewery in Vysoky Chlumec was established in 1466 and was purchased by the Lobkowicz family in 1474. The production was interrupted in 1939 when the brewery was confiscated by German armed forces and the Lobkowicz family was forced to exile to Great Britain. After World War II they returned in 1948 to Czechoslovakia only to vitness the communists take over their private properties and the brewery. In 1992 the brewery was returned to the Lobkowicz family and American born William Lobkowicz took over management of the family’s assets in the Czech Republic.

I bought these beers at a small beer basement shop in Tartu, Estonia. Two 500 ml bottles with a strength of 4,7% for 1,75 Euro each.

The idea is to drink them as it is done in the Czech Republic. The dark and light lager beers are mixed 50/50 or with less of the dark if you do not want it to dominate the light.

Colour is dark, a dark red with the beautiful nuances of chestnut.

The head is thin and very fine.

A weak aroma that does not make much notice of itself.

First tasting reveals a flat CO2 along with a light bitterness from the light beer but after taste is dominated by caramel from the dark beer. When mixed 50/50 the dark beer dominates and a little too much for my taste.

I would like to try it again, but with 75/25 light/dark.

Overall rating is 73 / 100

Indslev Bryggeri – Svane hvede Hefe-Weizen

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Indslev brewery was established in 1897 by Frederik Christian Rasmussen. At some point the brewery was closed down, but in 2005 restored to former glory with brand new production equipment. The re-opening was made possible by Anders Busse Rasmussen, grand grand nephew of Frederik Christian Rasmussen

I bought this beer in a local supermarket in Denmark. Price was 3 Euro for a 500ml bottle at 4,9%.

The colour with a pretty orange glow and the unfiltered beer gives it a great nuance.

The head structure is very fine but fades away a little too quickly.

Aroma is fresh and fruity. The taste can feel a little flat from the low CO2 content but there a good play among the fruit notes and overall it has a great taste. Still a good Weissbier!

Overall rating is 82 / 100

Gruut White

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Gruut is a new and modern brewery that has been built on the site where the old Lely Brewery was placed in Ghent, Belgium. Lely was owned by the Gheeraerde Family, who brewed traditional Belgian ales from 1383 to 1673. The brewery was turned into a grain mill and much later up the 1980s it was a restaurant. Today the building is once again full of brewing equipment and in the cellar can traces of the old milling equipment still be seen. The name Gruut comes from the name of the herb mixture that is used in the original recipies for this kind of beer. 

I bought this beer at a small beer store located in a cellar in the main street of Tartu in Estonia. Price was 2,65 Euro for a 330ml beer at 5%.

The beer is white, atleast as white as a beer can get, and that is just as described on the bottle.

The head structure is rough and will quickly fade away.

Aroma is a fresh light play of fruit. Taste is a bubbly experience, fresh and light fruit, a very light fruit. It is a sprinkling beer to drink but the after taste is gone in a second. I would wish it had a longer finish and a little more kick to the fruit taste.

Overall rating is 76 / 100

Edelweiss Weissbier

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Edelweiss weissbier have been brewed since 1646 and is based on the original recipe from the brewery Kaltenhausen that was founded in 1475,

I found this beer at a local supermarket in Denmark at the reasonable price of 1,5 Euro for a 330 ml can with a strength of 5%.

A bright glowing yellow unfiltered beer fills the glass from a bottle that clucks when poured.

The head is nice, fine and settles into a thinner layer.

Aroma comes off with a good fruity invitation. A very mild taste is not expected from the aroma. Seems to contain very little CO2, so little that it gets a flat feeling.

There is nothing to hold up against this beer except the flat feeling and mild taste, just under average.

Overall rating is 69 / 100

Ørbæk bryggeri – KORS ØØLL

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Ørbæk brewery was founded in 1906 by the Madsen family but was sold off in the late 1970’s. Due to heavy competition from larger breweries the brewery kept changing hands until it closed down for good in the early 1990’s. In 1996 Niels and Nicolai Rømer bought and restored the brewery to its former glory and is today producing organic juice and beers on the original brewery equipment.

KORS ØØLL is made in cooperation with Nyborg castle museum to try and make a beer as the one drank by the Johannenite order.

I found this beer at a local supermarket in Denmark at the reasonable price of 4 Euro for a 750 ml bottle with a strength of 7,5%.

The medium dark beer fills the glass, a heavy aroma of caramel and darkness is apparent.

The head is subtle and just covers the beer.

Taste is heavy, dark, middleage like, caramel and with a flat CO2 as expected from such a beer. It really hides its 7,5% alcohol so well that it goes unnoticed. The after taste have a funny tinkling to it.

Did they succeed in brewing a beer like in the middleages, I do not know. But they succeeded in making a good beer that deserves to be tried out, especially to the price. Not to mention it is organic, a big plus in my book!

Overall rating is 80 / 100

Jacobsen – Weissbier

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At the age of 24 J.C. Jacobsen starts the brewery Carlsberg in 1847 on Valby bakke. In the pursuit of brewing the best beer he develops breakthrough methods for refining the yeast in his laboratory. In 2005 the Carlsberg group opens up a small experimental brewery in the old original buildings used by J.C. Jacobsen, a small brewery made to experiment with developing new types of beer.

I found this beer at a local supermarket in Denmark at the price of 4 Euro for a 750 ml bottle with a strenght of 5,9%.

A delicate yellow going to orange colour fills the glass and is with the right look of unfiltered beer.

The head is big, rough and fine on the top. It will sadly disappear within minutes.

Aroma is very delightful and good fruit, a slight hint of banana can be smelt.

Taste is wonderful, sprinkling and have a nice and long aftertaste. A really good beer, but it is no weissbier as it is not brewed according to the german purity law, glukose have been added to adjust the taste.

The label uses words like it was a french wine taster describing it, I have no desire to see this trend to spread to beers too. Since it is a Weissbier brewed with other ingredients than described in the german purity law it will stay in the range of average beers.

Still a very enjoyable beer!

Overall rating is 79 / 100

Benediktiner Weissbier

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Ettal Monastery was founded by Louis IV, Emperor of Bavaria, on 28 April 1330. In the 15th and 16th century, the monastery had its own brewery in nearby Oberammergau. The brewery was established at Ettal Monastery in 1609.  Beer has been brewed here on a continuous basis for more than 400 years.

I found this beer at a local supermarket in Denmark at the reasonable price of 1,5 Euro for a 500 ml can with a strength of 5,4%.

A thick mass of orange glowing beer fills the glass as this unfiltered is being poured, it is actually a joy to pour this heavy

flowing weissbier.

The head is big and leaves a fine thick layer of foam.

A less fruity but fresh aroma and taste gives the beer a nice touch, the hint of yeast and alcohol gives itself away as the taste

fades out.

A well balanced weissbier that will always be worth buying.

Overall rating is 79 / 100

Jacobsen – Forårsbryg

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At the age of 24 J.C. Jacobsen starts the brewery Carlsberg in 1847 on Valby bakke. In the pursuit of brewing the best beer he develops breakthrough methods for refining the yeast in his laboratory. In 2005 the Carlsberg group opens up a small experimental brewery in the old original buildings used by J.C. Jacobsen, a small brewery made to experiment with developing new types of beer.

I found this beer at a local supermarket in Denmark at the price of 4 Euro for a 750 ml bottle with a strenght of 6,3%.

The beautiful red colour is as described when it is poured into the glass.

The head quickly disappears into almost nothing and it is hardly a cream like foam as the label promisses.

The aroma is revealing notes from the hops and is generally inviting.

The taste starts out with a fresh bitternes sprinkling the tongue, light caramel aftertaste that resembles candy on wooden sticks. The high alcohol percentage can be a little too dominating.

The label uses words like it was a french wine taster describing it, I have no desire to see this trend to spread to beers too.

Overall rating 72 / 100

Bryggeriet Skands – Humlefryd

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This beer comes from a private owned micro brewery located at Brøndby in the Denmark. The micro brewery is from 2003 and is run by Birthe and Morten Skands that also own it. They try to target a small market with their special beers and especially their focus on making good beers by the hand from their small 1500 Litre equipment. Birthe comes from a long career at the Carlsberg breweries.

I bought this beer at Hjerting Badehotel in Denmark at 8 Euro in their restaurant for a 500 ml bottle with a strength of 5,5%.

A bright yellow beer fills the glass and have a good regular look.

The head structure is light bubbles that soon disappears into a thin layer.

A very well balanced pilsner with a delicate aroma. Taste and aroma goes so well hand in hand when drinking it that one can only want to drink more. A expensive beer that is certainly worth to try and enjoy, only problem is that you will want more and that will cost you.

Overall rating is 92 / 100

A. Le Coq – Alexander

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The A. Le Coq brewery is the oldest continuously operating brewery in Estonia. It was formed from the two breweries B. J. Hesse of 1800 and J. R. Schramm of 1826, in a joint venture called Tivoli Ltd. In 1913 the owners renamed the brewery A. Le Coq.

The biggest market was for many years the Russian market and over the latest 200 years it have changed hands to new owners many times. During the Soviet era the name changed to Tartu Õlletehas (Tartu Brewery) but was renamed back to A. Le Coq in 1997, as the brewery was privatised by the Finish company Olvi.

I bought this beer at a local supermarket in Tartu, Estonia. 500 ml bottle with a strength of 5,2% for 0.75 Euro.

A yellow beer fills the glass and have a bright regular pilsner look.

The head structure is light, big and fine bubbles that soon disappears into a thin layer, it seems to have a heavy CO2 going off.

The aroma can seem a little bitter in the start, but as it gasses off and the head disappears it regains a light pilsner aroma. Taste is a bit too much on the light side, it quickly taste like water. It is remarkably less sparkling than I would expect from the pouring. Overall a good regular beer.

Overall rating is 78 / 100