Category Archives: New Posts

New and exciting posts from the best half decent blog around

Kitchen Brew

Kitchen Brew Everyday Pale Ale

Kitchen Brew 

www.kitchenbrew.ch

Brewed by Kitchen Brew 
Style: Blonde Ale
Allschwil, Switzerland

North American craft beer scene implanted in Switzerland, that is what Kitchen Brew are all about. Fabian Ehinger, brewer and founder of Kitchen Brew, inspired by the craft beer revolution in the USA, drinking imports from the States made his mind wander……what if!

Finally, in spring 2012, Fabian moved to North America. On a six-month trip across the USA, he was inspired by what he had seen, from small home brewing startups based in kitchens to mega bars with 100 plus taps on the go, Fabian took it all in……. and not all industrial beers too, he discovered a wide variety of specialties of all beer types imaginable . 

Kitchen BrewAs a barman and manager of a small bar in Basel, North Switzerland, Fabian could get a birds eye view of the US craft beer imports and see what made them click with consumers. He started to create a few of his own beers with highly aromatic hops and made with innovative brewing techniques such as dry hopping. He worked from an empty kitchen hence the name of the brewery……Kitchen Brew! His customers were kind of like his guinea pigs, testing his new beers and seeing if North American craft beer trends could catch on in this part of the world. 

After guest brewing for local breweries, in and around the Basel region, Fabian finally got to open, with the support of Peter Oppliger, his new factory and event hall in the small suburb of Allschwil, near Basel, in November 2016, becoming one of the youngest microbreweries in Switzerland.

In 2013, a Cascade Amber Ale was their first real foray onto the scene. The initial beer got off to a great start, proving very popular amongst the great Swiss drinking public, and also going on to win numerous awards for its taste and quality. After that came other beers, Kölsch style brews, wheat beers with Belgian yeasts, the usual IPA’s that are the connoisseurs oh so love, a variety of beers but all well balanced and pleasant to drink. 

Review: 33cl bottle of Kitchen Brew Everyday Pale Ale: 5.2% vol.

Kitchen BrewBought in Swiss supermarket Coop, bottle comes with nice big lettering which stands out, showing that sometimes simplicity does work, no flashy logos or silly imagery, plain and simple, I like that. Calls itself a Swiss craft bier.

On pour I get a nice clear golden coloured beer with a massive frothy white head. A good bit of carbonation making this beer appear alive!

Not much comes out of the small bottle, but when it all eventually settles it looks good.

Head maintains well, a good bit of lacing and a decent looking beer.

On the nose I am getting a faint whiff of the light wheaty malts and barley, faint though. A lagery smell overall, citric and light hops.   

The initial taste is one of a lagery feel, wheaty and all the hops detected. 

With the hops very prominent this isn’t just another boring lager, there is some clear character in this brew. On the light level but enough to stand out. A little sour perhaps but manageable all the same.

Overall its an enjoyable beer, easy to drink, the taste is smooth and crisp, and I am enjoying the nice big creamy mouthfuls I am getting. 

It is a beer to relax with, and light enough to enjoy. Will buy again, and look forward to trying out their other varieties.

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The Power of Forgiveness with Lucy Witts

The Power of Forgiveness with Lucy Witts

Good discussion with Lucy Witts about The Power of Forgiveness 

We discuss her documentary, Dragan’s Lair, where she bravely confronted her father who sexual abused her when she was very young. 

The link to the documentary: Dragan’s Lair – Paedophile Documentary on Child Sexual Abuse: 

Check out Lucy’s blog:

https://thedraganslair.wordpress.com/

The Power of Forgiveness with Lucy Witts

Facebook:

The Power of Forgiveness with Lucy Witts

 

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Monyo Flying Rabbit American IPA

Monyo Flying Rabbit American IPA

Monyo Flying Rabbit American IPA

www.monyobrewing.com

Brewed by Monyo Brewing Co.
Style: American IPA 
Budapest, Hungary

Monyo Flying Rabbit American IPAEstablished in 2014, in the centre of Budapest, Hungary, Monyo Brewing Company set about creating one of the countries craft beer revolutions, a new wave of brewing. Founded by friends Pein Ádám and Németh Anti, both sick of the stale beer scene in the capital at the time, decided to do something about it, first by trying out some home brews with their friends, then, by contract, playing around with their own recipes in various more established breweries in the country. Over time their beers were becoming madly popular. They both finally went all in and took their assets and energy and they built MONYO Brewing. The goal in the first minute was the same as today: the production of uncompromising beers for consumers.

Today they brew over 80 different brands and types of beers, and export all over Europe to further afield to the likes of China, Mexico, and Canada, making them one of the fastest-growing breweries in Hungary.

Review: 33cl bottle of Monyo Flying Rabbit AIPA: 6.5% vol.

Flying Rabbit is Monyo’s signature beer, the ace in the pack!

Funny quirky cartoonish logo, of a crazy rabbit riding a beer across the mountains,
it is funny but kind of normal of IPA’s these days.

Monyo Flying Rabbit American IPAFor the appearance I get a decent sized white head and a dark amber looking beer. Not a bad looking beer, with a good head on the pour but it does die a quick death.

Bit of sediment floating about too, not much but there.

A typical IPA aroma, very nice, hoppy, spicy, notes of caramel. The tropical fruits are very apparent on the nose. Very strong, very fruity, very nice!

Taste………oh dear, it’s one of those IPA’s then, hopped to death, overdone and far too sweet.

Like medicine, a bit “urgh”, stringent and off putting. Hops are citra, which shows as you can definitely get a taste of the tropical fruits but on the extreme level. 

Not nice at all, this is an IPA that the “normie drinkers” will not like. Too bitter and over hopped to fuck, YUCK. One of those IPA’s that are hard to down.

They are strong in the alcohol, and I was fairly pissed after them.

No balance to this beer, the aftertaste is puke and way off kilter, hard to stomach.

Pity as was drinking very good beer upto this point, drinking this I end the night with a downer……… 

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Kenya Tusker Lager

Kenya Tusker

Kenya Tusker Lager

www.tusker.beer/

Brewed by East Africa Breweries Limited (Diageo)
Style: Pale Lager
Nairobi, Kenya

Tusker is a best selling beer owned by East African Breweries from Kenya, the largest African beer brand in the Diageo group.

First brewed in 1922, shortly after the founder of Kenya Breweries Ltd, George Hurst, was killed by an elephant during a hunting accident. His brother Charles, who took charge of the company, decided to name their first ever lager, Tusker, in memory of his sibling, since large, male elephants indigenous to East Africa, were called Tuskers.

Kenya Tusker LagerIn 1935, Kenya Brewing Limited acquired Tanganyika Breweries and in 1936 these two companies were merged leading to the creation of the East African Breweries Limited.

The beer soon gained popularity both inside and outside its borders, selling to Tanzania, Burundi, the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda, all of Kenya’s immediate neighbours, making it one of East Africa’s most popular beers.

By 2000, Diageo acquired majority control of EABL. Operating out of Nairobi, East Africa Breweries Limited now own a vast portfolio of African breweries, do charity work in the region and is also involved in football in Kenya, sponsoring the country’s premier league while also running its own successful team in the division, Tusker F.C.,

In early 2008, the UK supermarket chain, Tesco, began selling Tusker, followed soon after by Sainsbury’s.

Kenya Tusker LagerTusker is brewed from 100% African ingredients that are all locally sourced: the barley grown in The Great Rift Valley and the spring water is from the Aberdare Mountains. 

Apart from its flagship brand, Tusker Lager, the brewery also produce a 5% Tusker Malt Premium Lager, a 4% Tusker Lite, a 4.5% Tusker apple Cider, and a wide range of other beers from its subsidiaries including Serengeti Lager, White Cap Lager and Uganda Waragi (a 40% liquor), to name but a few.

Review: 500ml big brown bottle of Kenya Tusker Lager: 4.2% vol.

My first beer from the country of Kenya,  a nation more known for its long distance runners less so for its beers ok let’s see how this goes.

Available in bottles, cans and on tap in selected outlets.

Big brown bottle featuring the iconic logo of an African elephant, with the theme “together forever” printed. Stands out, no doubting this is an African beer. 

On pour I get the standard lagery look, creamy white head that looks good on the pour but fizzles out quick, and a light golden coloured beer. Just the look of a regular lager, ok

The aroma is very faint but can pick up a sweet malty grainy smell, but nearly odourless.

The taste is very grainy and malted barley, but all on the faint thin level.

It has the feel of a regular lager, but not going to set the world alight, and truth be told it is a little boring to drink, light and thin, and has an overall flat taste to it all.

Novelty factor in having a beer from Kenya but nothing else at all there for me to return. A light lager that is boring. Definitely not worth entertaining again. 

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Grimbergen Rouge

Grimbergen Rouge

Grimbergen Rouge

www.Grimbergenbeer.com

Brewed by Brouwerij Alken-Maes (Kronenbourg (Carlsberg))
Style: Red Fruit Ale
Alken, Belgium

Grimbergen is the brand name of a variety of Belgian abbey beers. Originally brewed solely by Norbertine monks in the Abbey of Grimbergen since the 12th century, it is now brewed by two different breweries in Belgium and in France. Brouwerij Alken-Maes Brewery located in Alken, north of Brussels, Belgium, and the Kronenbourg Brewery in Strasbourg, France.

The abbey was well known for giving shelter for pilgrims and lost souls and also providing nice home-brewed beer to warm peoples spirits. The recipes used by the brewery today is apparently the same recipe used all those years back, over 900 years old and counting!

In 1958, Brouwerij Maes contacted the monks at the Abbey with a proposition. For some support with the restoration of the Abbey, in return Maes, under the brand name “Grimbergen”, could sell their special centuries old beer.

To further feck things up big nasty Heineken took over Alken-Maes in 2008. As part of the takeover the brand name Grimbergen was transferred to the Carlsberg Group, but Heineken was given a long-term license to use the brand name in Belgium. As a result of this messing around, Alken-Maes brew the beer for the Belgian market, while Carlsberg is responsible for the marketing outside Belgium of the beers that it brews under the Grimbergen name at its Kronenbourg Brewery located in France. So in essence you can find two Grimbergens, just depending on which side of the border you are. I am not sure if they taste similar or not, but I’d wager they do.

The beer has the mythological Phoenix as its symbol, and when you know the story it is not hard to see why. Grimbergen Abbey, founded way back in 1128, was destroyed by fire three times, but from the ashes the abbey was rebuilt again and again, and is still standing today. Burned but not destroyed (“Ardel Nec Consumitur”) is the motto of the legendary beer.

Not my first try out with a Grimbergen, had their iconic Grimbergen Blonde which was simply FANTASTIC, “as good a beer as I have had in awhile”. So looking forward to this the Red……..

Review: 25cl very small bottle of Grimbergen Rouge: 6.0% vol.

Grimbergen Rouge with a red cap, comes in a very small bottle, 25cl! Bought in discount store, very cheap. Also comes in 33cl, 75cl and in 500ml cans and on draught in the odd place in France and Belgium. 

On pour getting a lovely red raspberry coloured beer with purple streaks, and a very nice frothy white head, looks good, very appealing on the eye.

Very good lacing on the glass.

Smell is of strong strawberries and cherries. Very nice, oh man it is very good on the nose, very pronounced. Love it.

Initial impressions on the taste is this is a very light beer, very light and faint, and a bit watery too. 

Getting a strong strawberry flavour with cherries and peach, and a slightly astringent taste that seems artificial. 

Small bottle, but got a decent amount out of it all the same. 

Overall it is like a fruit juice, relaxing after a while and it did grow on me over the time sipping it, but not really anything special and won’t be buying again.

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