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Fix Hellas

Fix Hellas

Fix Hellas

www.fix-beer.gr

Brewed by Olympic Brewery 
Style: Euro Pale Lager 
Athens, Greece

The brewery Fix was officially founded in 1864 by Karl Johann Fuchs in Athens and was the first major brewery in Greece. Fix is the Greek translation of Fuchs.

In January 1833, Greece had a German ruler in court, Prince Frederic Othon of Wittelswach of Bavaria. He was fond of the old country and so brought along with him many Bavarian troops, civil servants and civilians with him to Greece, in search of the good life and new opportunity. 

Fix HellasOne of these immigrants was a Johann Ludwig Fuchs, a miner. He was the one who had started the Fuchs (Fix) activity of brewing beer in Greece. As he was from Bavaria he had the deep knowledge of what constituted good beer. Unfortunately on the way to pick up his son, who was arriving from Germany, he was robbed and killed, so that it was to be that the young Karl Johann Fuchs was in a foreign country and suddenly in charge of his fathers fledgling business at just 20 years of age! 

First he imported beer from Germany, but later, he decided to produce and sell his home made beer which was popular with the German expats of Athens at that time, a Greek made beer with clear Bavarian characteristics.  

Poor Johann, fatherless, needed a bit of luck. Well with the appointment of the new King of Greece, George Christian Wilhelm Glyxbourg, from Denmark, another beer loving nation, he was in luck. This new royal court – full of beer enthusiasts – encouraged Charles’s efforts, and Fix Company soon became the official purveyor to the Greek Royal Court, which gave them a near total domination in the Greek beer market for about a whole century. Now that was a good piece of fortune for the young fella!

Fix HellasBut the good luck eventually ran out as in 1983 the company fell into bankruptcy, and the family owned business was closed down thus ending the legacy of the Fuchs family, in brewing at least.   

The fix brand started to be reproduced in 2008 by the Olympic Brewery, after they had bought the trademark rights of the old brewery off Hellenic Breweries of Atalanti, who had also tried to reintroduce the old beer. Starting off small, sold mainly in local supermarkets, but concentrating on the patriotism of Greek beer lovers by referencing how Fix is 100% a homemade brew and also a nod to its historic legacy, sales were dramatically boosted leading the beer to make a successful comeback. 

Ιn 2015, the Olympic Brewery merged with the Myth Brewery. Since then, both breweries are majority owned by Carlsberg.

Review: 330ml can of Fix Hellas: 5% vol.

On the blue and white can, it says that this beer has won “38 gold medals and prizes”, so it must be a great beer then, right lets crack on then and see….

Fix Hellas Lager is made from the finest quality hops and is drawn from a recipe handed down from the original brewer.

Fix HellasOn pour I get a very nice and very frothy white headed beer, with a golden colour.

The carbonation is alive and well, and the head is not bad but goes a little flat after a while.  Some lacing.

Starts off looking fine but ends up looking a bit shitty. 

On the nose I get a very faint smell of malts, and an overall general lagery type of aroma, all the grains and yeast, but its all very faint, nearly odorless in fact! 

Get a lot in the can. On the taste, getting nice big mouthfuls initially, showing a light lager that is pretty drinkable, but with no standout tastes. Get the malts and barley, but all on the low level
No real taste at all here, all a bit watery. Smooth but……..dull.

Eventually after a while it turns a bit hoppier and bitter, but it has a sickly feel to it. 

Taste is nothing really, big mouthfuls of nothing!

Bit bitter and “urgh”. Basically this is cheap watery lager swill for the masses. 

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Valaisanne Zwickelbier 

Valaisanne Zwickelbier

Valaisanne Zwickelbier 

https://www.valaisanne.ch

Brewed by Valaisanne (Feldschlösschen)
Style: Zwickelbier 
Sion, Switzerland

Valaisanne Zwickelbier Valaisanne, a small Swiss brewery, that produce exciting craft beers. They produce a range of beers, a Zwickelbier, a Pale Ale, and a Weizen.  

Valais is a canton in southern Switzerland, the French speaking part of the country.

Feldschlösschen, the beer kings of Switzerland, now own the small brewery, further consolidating their strong grip on beer production in the nation. 

Review: 33cl bottle of Valaisanne Zwickelbier, Bière de Cave : 5.4% vol.

A Zwickelbier, also called Kellerbier, the literal translation is “Cellar Beer”, an unfiltered, “naturally cloudy” beer. The term is based on the fact that the beer comes directly “from the storage cellar”, ie drunk or bottled without filtration.

Valaisanne Zwickelbier Comes in a very decent looking bottle that has a well designed label and logo with pretty lettering, stands out. Bought in Coop, local supermarket. 

It is looking cloudy and I see a lot of sediment floating, and that’s from the bottle and even before I crack it open! It is a Zwickelbier for sure, bursting to get out! Wonder would this count as part of my 5 a day, what with all the nutrients on sight?

Looks very good on pour, getting a very nice decent sized white head, which settles very, very well, and a lovely golden coloured beer.

Not so cloudy when poured.

Head maintains very well, some good lacing. All in all it is a very good looking beer, very nice on the eye.

Valaisanne Zwickelbier Aroma of fruits and straw, all light though. Getting a red berry note. 

On the taste I am getting a lot of the grains buzzing around. Also a bit too hoppy and bitter at the front, but then too light in the aftertaste. 

Very light, nearly too soft, nothing really to excite the taste buds. Malty and sweet but all on the low end and very simple in flavour.  

 Smooth and easy to drink for sure, but lacking in anything to excite.

More like a lager, a bad one. Forgettable beer.

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Mahrs Bräu

Mahrs Bräu

Mahrs Bräu

https://www.mahrs.de

Brewed by Mahr’s Bräu 
Style: Helles 
Bamberg, Germany

Mahrs BräuThe Mahr brewery, with a history dating way back to the 17th century, is situated in Upper Franconia, in the city of Bamberg, northern Bavaria, Germany. The name of the brewery comes from a Karl Mahr who purchased the brewery in 1840. The early brewery changed hands a few times but since 1895 it is owned by the Michel family, now into its 4th generation of ownership under the stewardship of Stephan Michel.

They produce all the usual suspects one would expect from a large German brewery….. a Kellerbier, Pilsener’s, seasonal beers, a few varieties of bocks, a hell, and celebratory beers for local and regional gatherings, and a beer to be opened on New Years day. The beers are sold mostly in Western Europe, but also to the USA where they have their biggest market share worldwide. 

Review: 0,5l bottle of Mahrs Bräu Bamberg, Bamberger Original Helles: 4.9% vol.

Mahrs BräuLove the bottle and the logo, a striking light blue winged man, bit strange but stands out.

The appearance of the beer is one of a crisp golden yellow colour with a small white head. A lot of carbonation on the pour, gushing out, but it all quickly evaporates and the head dies a quick death. Bit flat in the look, not great at all.

Get a general lager smell on the nose, malty, grainy, earthy hops but not much of an aroma, pretty much odourless. Disappointing. 

Mahrs BräuA full bodied beer on the taste, nice and crisp is the initial reaction, all smooth and easy to drink, good first impression. Sweet malts and grains to the fore.

There is a slight aftertaste that is a bit “yuck”, but its ever so slight. Afterwards though, it does gnaw at me. 

Got that bitter taste a lot more in the second bottle. Was too much for me to ignore and enjoy this beer. Overdid it with the hops, powering over the malts, overbearing, and lingers. Could be the spiciness too. 

Overall a disappointing beer.

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Rosengarten Maisgold Spezial Bier

Rosengarten Maisgold Spezial Bier

http://www.einsiedlerbier.ch

Brewed by Rosengarten AG
Style: Sweet Corn Beer/Specialty Beer
Einsiedeln, Switzerland

Rosengarten (Rose Garden) is a family run brewery in the small town of Einsiedeln in central Switzerland. The Brewery is going for over a 100 years now and is well known in Switzerland for its specialty beers, most notably its corn beer, its “Maisgold” (corn gold).

Rosengarten Maisgold Spezial BierThe Obermühle Steinen mill wanted a beer to celebrate its anniversary, so they approached Wäfler, a Lucerne based brewery, with the idea of producing a beer made from corn, as a gift to its customers. Unfortunately, over time, the brewery went bankrupt and so was the end of the special beer. But there was a clamour from the public who had got found of this unique beer. So a new brewery was needed to continue this production. Not least the beer was a financial hit for the mill too!  In 1978, the Rosengarten brewery was asked if they would be prepared to produce a specialty beer with the maize from the Obermühle Steinen, and they agreed, and so in 1980 , the brewery launched the Maisgold.

It is by no means their only type of beer that they produce, as they also make lagers, wheat beers, and bocks, but it is their Maisgold that is their number one seller and what they are widely known for. 

Review: 33cl bottle of Rosengarten Maisgold Spezial Biere: 5% vol.

Rosengarten Maisgold Spezial BierThe beer is brewed with a share of about 30% corn from the Bruhin mill and from the Linthebene, barley malt and hops. The corn causes it to be tasty, light and rather sweetish.

Intriguing beer, never seen a sweetcorn beer on offer before so just had to buy it. Nice logo of a sweetcorn, making no doubt to whats the major ingredient here.

On pour we get a golden colour with a very disappointing white head. No head at all really, very slight, overall a very flat look. Doesn’t look great at all. 

Get a good whiff of barley malts in the smell, also it is quite wheaty and with corn on the nose. Smells like a regular lager. Not a bad aroma. 

Rosengarten Maisgold Spezial BierInitial taste is that its a very light beer, with a lot of malt.

Can taste the sweet corn for sure, it is there! It is very sweet and inoffensive, nothing to get too excited about either way. A strong taste of cereal and grains too, which wasn’t pleasant. 

The hops came to prominence after a while, and I found them a little too intense and not particularly nice to drink. Bit of an “urgh” aftertaste.

Overall I thought this beer was rather bland and nothing special, with or without the corn, big deal. Boring.

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As Juschts Amarillo Dark Ale

As Juschts Amarillo Dark Ale

As Juschts Amarillo Dark Ale

https://www.fleischundbrau.ch/

Brewed by Fleisch & Brau (Seisler-Bier)
Style: Dark Ale/Black IPA
Düdingen, Friborg, Switzerland

Fleisch & Brau run a small in-house brewery brewery in Alterswil, in the canton of Fribourg in western Switzerland, where the Seisler bier is brewed, stored and bottled or drunk. 

Fleisch & Brau stands for “Meat and Brewing” in English. So they also offer quality local meat and sausage produce and have a catering service on demand. A great mix of artisanal drinking and food culture. 

They take great pride in that all their meats are from the Fribourg region, with carefully bred animals on local farms dotted around the region. Added to this are food formulas that are more than 100 years old and made to a traditional style. 

They produce a few different varieties of beers, from a Hells, an Ale, an Amber, an Amarillo, a Weissbier, and a few festive beers, a Christmas beer or a “As Júscht’s Benichon” to commemorate a local Fribourg festival. At the moment Júscht’s is distributed by two major distributors and several Sensler retailers and hopes to expand in the next few years, all the time promoting a Fribourg drinking and eating culture to the masses. 

Review: 33cl bottle of As Juschts Amarillo Dark Ale: 4.8% vol.

A top fermented dark ale with hops coming all the way from Texas (Amarillo). 

Colour is one of a deep looking dark amber appearance, with a white head that doesn’t stick around too long.

As Juschts Amarillo Dark AleNot a whole lot in the bottle too which is a bit disappointing. 

Overall a bit of a flat look, not a great appearance it has to be said.

On the nose I get a very piercing fruity citrusy smell, and a real ale porter kind of aroma, of the dark malts and the caramel and toffee. The smell is nice enough and pleasant.

Smell is ok but toffee notes shine through for me.

The initial taste is like a coca cola, not bad, showing its Black IPA styles en masse, pleasant enough, with all the toasty malts fizzing around the taste buds. 

Nice and soft on the tongue, I like it, smooth and the hops don’t dominate, light bodied.

A slow burner to enjoy for sure, I like it, but not enough came out of the bottle!

Got some toffee flavours, dark malts, caramel which was particularly nice to taste, also got a hint of grapefruits or some similar fruits. All the flavours are very well balanced, albeit they are on the low level in terms on hitting the spot, all very light. 

Not a bad one overall and a beer I might return to in the future for another tryout. Nice. 

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