Beer, Food & Liquor Reviews
#14th Instalment of the Beer Tour of the World
Not a great fan of Weissbeer but this is
Dunkel – Dark – and richer than the sharp bitey wheat beers I am not fond
of. Part of the Spaten brewery of Munich
(they combined some years ago).
I like it a lot, but it is for drinking with a winter meal, not around a summer BBQ. Latest convert is my mate Robbie.
Prinz
Brau
Not all that flash. Waste of good tin actually; probably could
have made a whistle from it instead.
Warsteiner.
Nice. Available in LIDL for about 59c per 500ml
bottle. Very common in supermarkets all
over Italy. Decent drop, although the
bottles tend to be a bit sweet occasionally – perhaps this stuff ages
differently? Not sure but cold it’s
good.
Badger
Champion, Badger Tanglefoot and Badger First Gold.
My friend Bernard is a Badger devotee. I didn’t like the First Gold as I thought it
too fruity. The Champion is heading that
way with Elderflower in it but it’s only a hint and is not a bad drop. The Tanglefoot is sharp and bitter. Haven’t made my mind up about it yet. Need more to go on. Bernard, open some more.
Oro Tari
This is a Sicilian craft beer from a very new micro brewery. The website is a bit difficult to navigate but it is quite rich in detail (no language flag for English but the En at the end of the bar will do it)
Another artisan beer. A bit sourish, with not as much head, but nice enough. They do a reasonable range and also have a tasting room. Be worth a visit if you’re in the vicinity
Wonder if they’re related to the Conti’s in Western Australia (Wanneroo)
Trapani
beers
A newish brewery that seems to be part of a
wine-making enterprise. Can’t exactly
identify it on the net. Had two of their
very limited production beers, a simple Classico lager and a Weiss. Both were expensive, at least on the main
drag in Trapani, but both were big bottles for €8 and very nice indeed, and I
don’t normally like Weiss beers. Made by
Donnadicoppe, which is the wine concern, and each with its distinctive beer
coaster, it would be worth trying at least these two if you ever find yourself
in the glorious city of Trapani. p.s. I
could live in Trapani.
86
Red.
Had an 86 before, called Bavaria 86 but it
is from Holland. It was 7.9% and I liked
it a lot, though cautioned one and all about overindulgence at this level of
Alc.
This one is disgusting. Tastes like it has been sweetened with
saccharine. Without a doubt it’s worse
than XXXX or that SA Southwark thing or VB.
Had a couple of sips, Carol had a couple of sips, rest down the sink.
And I’ve taken to Reds lately, too. Not this one.
Just goes to prove that life as a beer taster is (sorry, gross metaphor
coming) “not all beer and skittles”. Had
to say that.
Birra
Messina
Not sure of the history of this but it is a
standard sharpish nice lager. Then I saw
that it was made by Heineken. Surprised
me as it’s not their usual rubbish.
Maybe they bought this brewery and then left it to run itself? Unlike them, but there must be a reason why
it tastes OK.
Not expensive, either. Got it in a small supermarket in Trapani for
about €1.20 for a 500ml bottle.
Birra
Vittoria Grazie Mille.
Semedorato
Big bottle for €1.10. Premium lager. Ok but nothing special. Better value around
if you look but I wouldn’t hand it back if I was offered one.
G..Marabrea
e Figli.
Was very nice indeed, from a family that
has been brewing since the 1840s, To
give a better picture of the offering, it almost qualifies as a major brewery
and can be found in great numbers of restaurants and cafes. Easy to find so no excuse not to try it.
Two Risottos by the King of Risotto - the Marabrea is out of focus because the two risottos are more important.
La Piazzetta - The King of Risotto and his wife.
Rainer
Pils
Not to be confused with the Rainier beer of
Washington state, which has Mt Rainier in it.
You would be surprised at the enormous number of Americans who can’t
spell Rainier. How do I know this? Because searching for Rainer on Google throws
up entry after entry of what is obviously Rainier beer, but badly spelled.
I said all that because I really can’t
write anything nice about this beer. It
was in the closest restaurant to our boat in Roma. The Affligem Red had run out (pity, I am a
big fan of Affligem) and I was assured that the Heineken tap did not contain Heineken. I should have known that Heineken would not
allow one of their taps to be used for a competitor’s beer and sure enough,
this Rainer is brewed by Heineken in France.
Tastes about as good as 1664 or perhaps not even as good as that. A large glass of not much at all. Waste of money.
Affligem
Rouge. (Affligem
Double)
www.affligembeer.com
Yes, back in Bistrot and the Affligem has
been restocked. Nice red beer, not as
in-your-face as stuff like the McFarland Red that Robbie and I had in Rome last
night.* A bit understated and subtle and
very pleasant indeed. Referred to as
Affligem Double, not strictly as Affligem Red
(*not a criticism of McFarland Red, reviewed before.)
Alta
Quota Principessa.
A Latium beer, artiginiale. #1 in their
lists. Quite nice if a little foamy. Maybe the fact that it is about 110° in the
waterbag has affected it. Made with
Spelt, not Malt (con Farro). I liked
this one a lot.
The red version. A little sweet for me. #5 of the Alta Quota offerings.
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