Fri 19 Jun 2009
Posted by All Beer Blog under Beer Reviews
1 Comment
EB Natural Premium Quality Beer
EB is another Polish beer produced by Elbrewery. Elbrewery is the largest in Poland and is owned by Grupa Żywiec. They make many other beers including some beers I have reviewed (Leżajsk beer, Tatra beer and Żywiec beer). They have the biggest market share in Poland and have some of the best beers.
EB beer was pretty good. Apparently it is marketed to younger beer drinkers in Poland. It poured a nice golden color, a bit on the darker side for a light Polish beer. The smell was of grains and malt, similar to most Polish beers. The taste was the same, very good when cold. Very refreshing. At 5.2% alc/vol, it wasn’t too heavy and didn’t taste like alcohol.
As you can see, the head was pretty prolific. I have read other beer reviews that stated this beer didn’t have head, this is untrue. Maybe those who had EB with no head got old bottles or stale beer(?). If anyone knows why a beer wouldn’t have head, please leave an explanation in the comments section. Back to the beer, the head stuck around for a minute and dissipated but never disappeared. It had a nice mixture of large and small bubbles; good carbonation, not overbearing. It sat well in my stomach when I was done drinking it.
All in all, I give this beer a 6/10. Not the best out of the Polish beer ratings and it wasn’t the best Polish beer I’ve ever had but it also wasn’t the worst. In Chicago, you can find it pretty much anywhere where there are a lot of imported beers sold; find a good liquor store. As I mentioned, it was pretty refreshing when cold. I assume if it were lukewarm or not cold it would be a bit hard to drink, grain isn’t the best taste. I suggest you try it if you are looking for a relatively new Polish beer to drink.
Regards!
Na zdrowie!
Tue 16 Jun 2009
Posted by All Beer Blog under Beer Reviews
[4] Comments
Capital Brewery: Island Wheat
Capital Brewery is a Wisconsin brewery located in Middleton, just outside Madison, the capital of the state and making it yet another Midwest beer. They have been in production since 1986 and offer about 20 different beers. According to their website, “Capital Brewery was named the #1 Brewery in America at the 1998 Beverage Testing Institute’s World Beer Championships in Chicago, IL.” Pretty nice award, I can’t comment on it since I have only had one of their beers.
Island Wheat was a pretty good wheat beer, not unlike all others. Apparently it is made with wheat grown on Wisconsin’s Washington Island (hence the name). It poured a hazy yellow color with a pretty nice head. The smell was of wheat and hints of yeast or grains along with some citrus. The taste was the same with added floral characteristics, from what I don’t know.
As you can see, the head is pretty prolific for a lighter beer. It is very white and there is a good mixture of large and small bubbles. The lacing on the side of the glass was minimal. The head receded quite quickly and reduced itself to nothing.
All in all, I give this beer a 7/10! It was pretty good but it was too similar in comparison to most other wheat beers; it wanted to be more but ended up being the same. I think I bought this at my local liquor store, it is probably easy to find throughout the Chicagoland. If you like wheat beers, give it a try!
Regards!
Wed 10 Jun 2009
Posted by All Beer Blog under Beer News
No Comments
Molson has stopped giving free beer to its retirees. Apparently the 2,400 people who used to work at the Molson brewery were receiving free beer, not anymore. Current employees still receive free beer but the amount has been drastically reduced.
The Examiner explains that for cheap beer these days, you have to brew it yourself. Apparently it only costs big brewers about 5 cents for ingredients to brew their beer. Why do we have to pay so much? Brew your own, I am starting this weekend, I will have pictures!
The National Beer Tax threatens small breweries all across the United States. The Examiner reports that a drastic decrease in the choice of beer could be the case if we do not act soon.
Support your local breweries, contact your Senators now!
Mon 8 Jun 2009
Posted by All Beer Blog under Beer Reviews
[4] Comments
Leżajsk Beer
Leżajsk is another Polish beer. I couldn’t find much information about this beer other than it is named after a small town in southeastern Poland. The brewery is located in the town and it is a very small operation. They don’t even have a website, but they do have a Facebook. I bought a four pack of 500ml bottles at a Polish deli on the Northwest Side, Gene’s Deli and Shop (Belmont/Long), they have a lot of imported beers.. If you haven’t been to or heard of this deli, I suggest you go; you won’t be disappointed, they have every possible Polish food product you could want (especially sausage)! Go with a Polish speaker otherwise you won’t be able to communicate very well.
Back to the beer, it was pretty average. Nothing special, but I will say that it was quite refreshing because it was the first hot day here in Chicago in a while. As you can see, it poured a somewhat hazy gold-colored lager. The smell was like most Polish beers, some grains and malt were present. It tasted the same, surprisingly very light. At 5.5% alc/vol, it didn’t taste bad because of alcohol content. I mentioned I bought it at a Polish deli, I also bought some Kielbasa Wiejska. It went great with the sausage.
You can see it poured a pretty nice head, very white and a good mixture of small and large bubbles. It lasted a few minutes and dissipated to a very thin layer on top of the beer, which didn’t stick around. Like I mentioned earlier, this beer was lighter than it appears, this allowed me to drink a couple 500ml bottles.
All in all I give this beer a 7/10! It was definitely not the best beer I’ve ever had but if you are looking for something not out of the ordinary, try Leżajsk. It was rather light and had a pleasant taste that sat well in my stomach. Not a bad beer rating but you could choose to drink something a little more flavorful. I also suggest you drink it while eating some Polish food, specifically Kielbasa Wiejska.
Regards!
Na Zdrowie!
Fri 5 Jun 2009
Posted by All Beer Blog under Beer Reviews
[4] Comments
Barley Island Brewing Company is another brewery located in Indiana. I couldn’t find that much information on the history of the brewery itself but from their website I gathered that they have a brewpub and about 10 beers they brew, they alternate which beers are on tap at their brewpub seasonally. Apparently they are the only brewpub in Hamilton County, Indiana. They state that the name Barley Island comes from an old 17th century name for the room in an alehouse that beer is consumed. Neat.
Brass Knuckles Oatmeal Stout was pretty good. I am starting to really like stouts and this is the first one I have chosen to review. As you can see the appearance is very dark; you can’t see through the beer at all. The smell was that of roasted malty chocolate and a little hint of oatmeal. Chocolate was definitely the dominant smell. The taste was the same, definitely tasted roasted chocolate. With an alcohol content of 4.9% alc/vol is was hard to taste; the beer itself is what you taste, not alcohol.
The head, as you can see, was not very large. It poured a darker, seemingly chocolately head. This dissapated to a thin layer that stuck around until the beer was fininshed. For a stout, this was not as heavy as I thought it was going to be and sat well in my stomach.
All in all, I give this beer a 7/10! It wasn’t the best stout I’ve ever had but it was definitely something you should try if you are interested in stouts. It wasn’t as heavy as others so it would probably be a good starter to see if you have the taste for stouts. I bought this beer in Indiana and have never seen it anywhere in Illinois (or anywhere else for that matter), so if you want it you will probably have to go to the source.
Regards!
