Great long chat with the very passionate and excited Souhail Khmira, who, amongst other things, is convinced that Tunisia will make the second rd…………lets see
We had a good long talk about Tunisia’s upcoming participation in the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia. We discussed their chances, the philosophy of their manager, the football scene in the country, the passion of the fans, and an overview of the domestic league, amongst other things.
Check out Souhail’s stuff on football in Tunisia
Great long chat with Marc Boal from the excellent Icelandic Football Magazine
We had a good long chat about Iceland’s upcoming participation in the Fifa 2018 World Cup in Russia. We discussed their chances, the reasons behind their recent successes, the football scene in the country, the scramble for tickets or not, and an overview of the domestic league, amongst other things.
Check out Marc’s stuff on football in Iceland
Brewed by Stuttgarter Hofbräu Brau AG & Co. (Oetker Group)
Style: Radler/Shandy
Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
http://www.stuttgarter-hofbraeu.de
Established in 1872, Stuttgarter Hofbräu is a brewery located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany not too far from neighbours France and Switzerland.
As of January 1, 2010, the Radeberger Group, a division of the Oetker Group, those of the cheap beer variety, took complete control of the company, but with Stuttgarter Hofbräu Brau still retaining its sense of clear city and regional identity, albeit as the small wheel in the cog of a large brewing conglomerate. It is still viewed as the traditional beer kings of the city of Stuttgart.
The new takeover has definitely produced results as production is up, market share has increased and the brewery is expanding.
Stuttgarter Hofbräu brew Pilsners, Exports, Radlers, non-alcoholic beers, wheat beers and the occasional seasonal and festive beer.
Review: 0,5l, a nice colourful can of Stuttgarter Hofbräu Naturtrübes Radler: ABV. 2% vol
The logo looks well funny to me, as the “Stuttgarter” looks like “Gtuttgarter” to me, with a big fat “g”, but I have no idea why it looks like that.
Anyway, I thought I would try something new, a little bit of a light tasting beer for a change. Apparently this is made up of 40% beer and 60% natural lemonade, according to the label.
The aroma is as you’d expect, full on lemony, very nice though, very nice. I do love the smell of lemons and citrus. Pleasant on the nose, tops marks here.
As for appearance not so good. Looks shite, light yellowish colour, looks like piss to be perfectly frank with no head but to be fair is there ever for a radler? Looks shit, but there u go, par for the course for a radler.
Found the taste to be very, very nice, a very nice sweet taste. Of course it was all lemon, a very nice lemon taste. But not so sweet as it was very manageable, and very smooth and easy to drink. Exactly what I was after during the hot weather we were having.
Got a LOT in the can.
A thumbs up for the taste, albeit I am not so sure there is even alcohol present. Is it possible to taste 2% alcohol anyway?
Citrus/lemon flavoured, lovely to drink. On their site they say it is free from artificial sweeteners and preservatives, I’d well believe it. Didn’t feel metallic or chemically influenced.
Tastes like a lemon n lime but it is a radler that did the trick. Free from artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Liked it, and if i have to drink a radler again then hopefully I can pick this one up. A big thumbs up.
Brewed by Warsteiner Brauerei
Style: German Pilsener
Warstein, Germany.
http://www.warsteiner.com/our-beer/premium-beer/
The Warsteiner Brewery was founded in 1753, and today is one of the largest privately held breweries in Germany and in the top five of the country’s best selling breweries. Its most popular beer is Warsteiner Premium Verum or also known as Warsteiner Premium German Pilsener, which is one of Germany’s leading premium pilsener brands.
Warsteiner beer is brewed in the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park outside of the town of Warstein, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Warsteiner has been privately owned by the Cramer family since 1753, and is now in its 9th generation of family ownership under the guidance of Catharina Cramer.
The company also sells Premium Cola, Premium Lemon and Premium Orange drinks, to appeal to the kids, you know! For beer, apart from its flagship Pilsener, it also sells the usual Dunkels, Hefeweizen’s, a special seasonal beer for the Oktoberfest, and non alcoholic drinks. All beers are brewed in strict accordance with the Germany Purity Law of 1516, naturally! The non alcoholic beer is interesting as they brew it as a Pilsener and then proceed to extract the alcohol content. There has to be better ways of doing that?
Warsteiner is the official beer of Lufthansa and served on all flights, which is great so long as the pilots are not on it.
Review: 0,5l, a nice can of Warsteiner Premium German Pilsener: ABV. 4.8% vol
Can also be known as Warsteiner Premium Verum, it is Warsteiner’s most popular beer, and exported to over 60 countries.
In a nice light brownish coloured can with the famous and striking Warsteiner logo of the crown with the slogan “Eine Königin unter den Bieren” (“A Queen amongst Beers”).
On pour got a nice decent frothy white head of beer with a light golden colour, a nice looking beer. Not a bad looking beer.
A very beery lagery smell, malty but light enough on the nose.
Good initial soft taste. Very smooth, very easy to drink. Slight grainy taste.
Bit of an aftertaste that is apparent in the back end. Light enough though.
Very smooth, nice and clean, easy to drink.
Would be nice to have a kick or a stronger taste though as it is a little too mild for me.
2nd can.
Slight grassy taste. Creamy and malty. Frothy mouthful. Very smooth.
No real kick, little alcohol to be tasted. Very watery too.
After an initial flurry of excitement it all got a little bit boring and generic in the end. Ok beer, could be better.
http://www.maredsousbieres.be/
Brewed by Maredsous (Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat)
Style: Abbey Tripel/Pale Belgian Ale
Denée, Belgium.
Maredsous is the name given to both the abbey beer and the Benedictine abbey, found near Denée, in the province of Namur in southern Belgium. Founded in 1872, Maredsous Abbey was one of the first Belgian abbeys to re-establish its links with the country’s rich monastic past, after the destruction of the French Revolution (1789-1799) where many abbey and monastic communities were wiped off the map.
The Abbey still stands and has a number of monks who live the lifestyle dictated to them by St Benedict, ‘ora et labora’ (pray and work). Nestled in a beautiful forest, the abbey is a bit of a tourist attraction and cultural retreat theses days. Visitors like to marvel at the Gothic church, walk in the gardens or do some schooling in the creative arts on offer. The Bible Centre has over 400,000 books, manuscripts and other important artifacts all relating to the monastic and spiritual way of life. But if that doesn’t take your fancy you can always have a beer and cheese tasting tour. I know which activity I would choose!
The Abbey have three beers: A Maredsous Blonde (blonde ale, 6% ABV), a Maredsous Brune (dubbel, 8% ABV), and a Maredsous Triple (trippel, 10% ABV). Its tripel ale is recognized as a Certified Belgian Abbey Beer by the Union of Belgian Brewers.
Unlike the Trappists though, this abbey no longer has a brewery within its walls: Belgian brewery giant Duvel Moortgat, best known for its iconic Duvel (which I liked a lot albeit it was quite strong!), have got a license from the monks of the Maredsous Abbey to produce their trio of beers, the Blonde, Brune, and Tripel ale. They have done this since 1963 so its not a new thing for them, and so they cant be accused for jumping on the craze for Belgian abbey beers, I guess! But it must be said that the recipe comes from those of the original Benedictine beers, passed down over the centuries, in case of any doubt! And in keeping with the wishes of the monks, a large proportion of the profits made from any beer sales must be passed onto various charities.
Review: 330ml, a nice stubby brown bottle of Maredsous 10 Tripel: ABV.10% vol
Really dig the small brown bottle and the label, looks lovely. Simple enough but well designed and appealing. The beer is bottle conditioned as well, all adding to the appeal.
Has on the label it is an “extra strong beer”. Well it is a Tripel, so ok, lets see!
On pour we get a nice frothy white head and an orange coloured beer. The head is great, pretty big and very frothy, perhaps too much so. This all leaves some good lacing.
Colour goes cloudy, very cloudy. Head maintains. Decent enough on the eye.
Found the aroma was very strong on the nose, a fruity smell that was piercing and intense but a very particular fruit, banana I guess, is a nice smell, pleasant.
Taste, get the “particular” taste of a tripel straight away, a bit sour and hits you at the start.
Typical Belgian taste. Very hoppy and sweet.
Nice, I like it, very tasty. Has all the typical tastes, very clearly the coriander, cloves, the malts and fruits, particularly banana.
I know as a tripel its meant to hide the alcohol content but fuck me I found it a very strong beer, and its just as well I only had the two small bottles or I’d be well drunk after a few.
Strong and yeasty but it is well balanced, tasty and easy enough to drink.
Not bad for the style, but that style, a tripel Belgian with high alcohol content and full of great flavours, yeah! A good clean beer with a full bodied taste, didn’t have a head the next day! I will return!
