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Lapin Kulta

Lapin Kulta

Lapin Kulta

www.lapinkulta.fi

Brewed by Hartwall (Royal Unibrew)
Style: Euro Pale Lager
Lahti, Finland

Lapin KultaLapin Kulta (Lapland Gold) is a Finnish beer brand and brewery from the Lapland town of Tornio. Founded in 1873, the brewery is now run by Hartwell Ltd, a Finnish beverage company, as part of the Royal Unibrew group. 

Even though the brewery was founded way back in 1873, the name Lapin Kulta was not adopted until 1963. The brewery had to acquire a gold mining company with an identical name in order to rightfully use the name. The company still uses the line “prospecting for gold and the manufacture and sales of beer” in their business dealings.

In 2009 the brewery in Tornio was closed and since then Lapin Kulta has been brewed in the southern Finnish town of Lahti. It is the largest brewery in Finland, with its famous beer been exported to over 30 countries worldwide.

Review: 50cl, can of Lapin Kulta: 5.2% vol.

Lapin KultaMy first beer tryout from Finland. The beer uses an original recipe that dates back more than 140 years ago and brewed from the icy water of Lapland. This should be interesting! 

The information on the can makes the beer sound epic! “The golden beer of Lapland. Lapin kulta is a creation of the rugged terrain of Finnish Lapland. Finland’s premium lager comes from the purest spring water filtered naturally on its journey through a land formed by the ice age. Golden barely and pristine water are brewed together according to tradition to produce the true gold of Lapland” 

“Full malts” on the can, good. Can is also interesting in its design, looks more like an energy drink for sale than a beer.

On pour I get a very nice frothy white head with a clear golden colour. Head has a good size, and maintains well. 

Good bit of lacing too. Looks very good, nice and clear. 

A nice clean aroma from the beer, has a typical lagery smell, grainy, wheaty, sweet and malty, Overall it is a nice lovely light smell. 

Getting nice and creamy tastes at the start, also a good bit of malt.

Lapin KultaAlso getting some floral hops in the taste that were a little bit too sweet, kind of giving it a soapy taste, which wasn’t terrible just a little strange!

It is a very light tasting beer, but not like a standard lager.

Very soft n crisp.

Second can was served cold from fridge, not as nice. Nothing particularly wrong with it, but it killed the taste and I got a general blandness to it all. Hops not really noticeable, very light bitter and all thin in the taste.

Overall it did go down the hatch easy enough, solid and drinkable, but nothing amazing. I think I’d like to give it another try………… 

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Cardinal Blonde

Cardinal Blonde

Cardinal Blonde

http://www.cardinal.ch/gl/fr/

Brewed by Feldschlösschen (Carlsberg)
Style: Pale Lager
Rheinfelden, Switzerland

Over 125 years ago, Cardinal beer was born in Fribourg, western Switzerland, famous as a festive beer and popular in the French speaking part of the country.

Cardinal BlondeIt all started in 1788, when daddy François Piller, owner of the “Zum Lachs” inn, in the town of Fribourg, decides to have a brewery built for his son, who just recently graduated as a Bavarian master brewer, a nice fatherly thing to do (if you have the money!).

In 1877, a Paul Blancpain took over the brewery. This is where real change was made, with the brewery developing massively both in technological development and the opening of wider commercial markets. With the introduction of large-scale refrigeration, it was a good time to have a brewery. 

in 1890 something was to happen that changed the company forever. The Pope nominated a Cardinal from the town of Fribourg, something which was a great honour for the very religious region at the time. To celebrate this great occasion for the town, Brasserie Blancpain brewed a festive beer called the Cardinal. Proving to be a real best seller, Paul Blancpain decides to rename his brewery to be now known as the Brasserie du Cardinal. Overtime the beer was synonymous with Fribourg, a local institution well loved amongst the people of the town. 

In 1996 Swiss beer giants Feldschlösschen, in what they do best, took over the small company and in 2011 production was transferred from Freiburg to Rheinfelden, the HQ of the parent company. 

Review: 33cl bottle of Cardinal Blonde: 4.8% vol.

Cardinal BlondeAvailable to buy in Coop, one of Switzerland’s largest discount stores. 

Golden colour with a rather smallish white head on pour.

Some carbonation going on, but head dies and it all goes a bit flat in the end, Not a looker.

An aroma of light lager, light malts, the grains, corn, but not much else, rather faint and disappointing on the nose.

Tastes is ok, nice and smooth is my initial reaction, lovely crisp mouthfuls, wonderful coming cold from the fridge. Very nice, such a shame not much in the bottle.

Cardinal BlondeI like it, very smooth, a nice light bodied lager that is so very easy to drink. But fuck all in the bottle! Lots of malts and barley, grains, all balanced very well, mild hops, no bitterness or offensive tastes. 

Not a huge amount of flavours or tastes, but just so smooth.

Recommended. Just a light bodied lager that does the basics right, keeping you refreshed and happy. 
Will try again, for sure. Very sessionable, and for a light lager it does the business. 

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Arcobräu Mooser Liesl 

Arcobräu Mooser Liesl

Arcobräu Mooser Liesl 

arcobraeu.de

Brewed by Arcobräu Gräfliches Brauhaus 
Style: Helles
Moss, Bavaria, Germany

Arcobräu Mooser Liesl Arcobräu is a brewery in the Lower Bavarian small town of Moos, in South Eastern Germany, close to the Austrian and Czech borders. The brewery has been owned by the Arco-Zinneberg family for 450 years and is one of the larger breweries in the region with annual sales regularly hitting the 20 million Euro mark. 

Having a recorded history dating way back to 1567, but it was not until the merger of various family-owned breweries in 1960 that today’s company Arcobräu with its headquarters in Moos was built. In the early 1990s, Arcobräu took over a number of smaller breweries in Eastern Bavaria. From 2014 to 2016 they continued this habit of acquisitions, taking over the brewery Irlbach, and the Eschenbacher private brewery, and in cooperation with the Grünbacher brewery based in Erding. Reminds me of that gag in Only Fools and Horses about Triggers old broom which had 17 new heads and 14 new handles!! 

Review: 0,5l bottle of Arcobräu Mooser Liesl: 5.3% vol.

Arcobräu Mooser Liesl Cool looking blue logo, woman with a pitcher on the nice brown bottle. 

On pour we get a light golden yellow colour, with a small whitish head appearing. Looks not too bad at all, pretty good on the eye.

Head maintains well, some good lacing.

Colour went a bit hazy after a while, but still a looker overall. 

Typical fruity aroma on the nose, very malty, lots of grains and wheat, grassy smell. Not bad.

Arcobräu Mooser Liesl Tastes citrusy and grainy, and very light, clean and easy to drink.  
Get an awful lot in the bottle, which is always good. 

Slightly hoppy, but light and not a bother, and well balanced with the malts and fruits.  

An enjoyable beer without been anything amazing, very easy to drink.

Taste is sweet malts, light hop tastes, mild bitterness, all blended well to give a very well balanced beer. 

Not bad, refreshing and enjoyable, clean and soft on the tongue, and smooth enough. Inoffensive but did the business. Might buy again!

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Vergina Lager Beer, Macedonian beer.

Vergina Lager Beer, Macedonian beer.

Vergina (ΒΕΡΓΙΝΑ)

verginabeer.com

Brewed by Macedonian Thrace Brewery 
Style: Euro Pale Lager
Komotini, Greece

Vergina, as I am sure all you history buffs have spotted, is the ancient capital of Macedonia, and where Alexander The Great was proclaimed King.

Vergina Lager Beer, Macedonian beer.Like Alexander, the beer has had to fight and battle its way to the top. Unbelievably by the mid 1990’s a nation as old and great as Greece didn’t even have one 100% authentically Greek owned beer that was produced in the country!!

Step forward a Mr. Politopoulos who had a dream and ambition to rectify this, quite frankly embarrassing situation and, with the help of his brother and father, a brewery was set up. The very first bottles of “Vergina” went on sale in 1998, to a market that was 90% dominated by Heineken conglomerates crowding out the competition, sometimes illegally. A tough battle for the new brewery in a country with notorious corruption and anti competitive practices. 

But, like Alex the great, the brewery have battled hard, and inroads they have made, as they now have roughly a 6% of the Greek market, behind only Heineken and Carlsberg, and are expanding all the time. They now also produce a host of other beers, from a “Vergina Red”, to their own version of a Weiss, to a host of seasonal and specialty beers, while all the time expanding to newer markets such as to New York and Australia. 

Review: 500ml can of Beptina Lager Beer: 5% vol.

Vergina Lager Beer, Macedonian beer.On pour we get a light yellow coloured beer with a small white head.  

Head maintains a little, and there is some lacing present.

Overall its an ok looking beer, not bad.

Aroma is one of light malts, some barley, not strong on the nose. 

First impression on the taste is positive. Lovely crisp initial mouthfeel and taste. Nice and cool straight from the fridge, very crisp, nice light lager tastes, very smooth and with mild bitterness.

Vergina Lager Beer, Macedonian beer.Very malty for sure. Also getting the fresh grains and some fruit. 

Ok, overall it is a bit of a light beer to chug with not much depth to it. No need to think too deeply about this beer.

Goes down easy, with a light finish. Taste is pure grounded malt, Not bad, refreshing with a very lagery taste, does the business as I watch the sun go down on a lovely Corfu beach side setting. Keeping it simple sometimes works.

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ALFA Hellenic Lager

ALFA Hellenic Lager

Alfa (Αλφα)

www.athenianbrewery.gr

Brewed by Athenian Brewery (Heineken)
Style: Pale Lager
Athens, Greece

ALFA Hellenic LagerAthenian Brewery SA was founded in the 1960’s by a group of Greek entrepreneurs and is a member of the Heineken Group. One of the oldest brands of beer in Greece, since 1961, and plays on its heritage with its authentic Greek name and origin proudly on display. 

The brewery also make Amstel, the Greek version you see everywhere on the holidays islands. 

Review: 330ml nice green bottle of ALFA Hellenic Lager: 5% vol.

Another beer I got in Corfu while on my summer holidays.

The green bottle stands out for sure in the supermarket with its big fuck off red “A” logo, but its hard to figure out its name as its all Greek to me, literally (Αλφα)!

ALFA Hellenic LagerOn pour I get a golden coloured beer with a desperately disappointing head. No head really to speak about. Some carbonation going on, but not enough to give the beer a decent head.

Overall it looks really bad. Not at all appetizing. A flat look.

An aroma of malts, but light on the nose. Not much to smell at all. 

It is a light lager to taste, with no real flavours. Far too light, boring and bland. In fact it barely tastes like alcohol at all, a very flat taste and lacking in character.
No real taste. Malts and grains on the low level here with no hint of hops.

Smooth water with a hint of alcohol!

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