Tag Archives: World beers

Kühles Blondes, based in Vienna

Kühles Blondes, based in Vienna

Kühles Blondes 

http://www.ottakringerbrauerei.at/de/home/

Brewed by Ottakringer Brauerei AG 
Style: Pale Lager
Wien, Austria

The Ottakringer brewery is a large brewery based in the Ottakring District, Vienna,  Austria. 

Founded in 1837 by Heinrich Plank originally under the name the Plank brewery. It wasn’t until the 1850’s when two cousins took over, Ignaz and Jakob Kuffner, that the operation really began to expand . The two built the small plant into a large brewery.  In no time the brewery became successful.

Kühles Blondes, based in ViennaBut bad news arrived in the form of the World War and the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. Moriz von Kuffner, Ignaz’s son, was forced to sell his business because of his Jewish background. It was sold for a rather low price of 14 million Austrian schillings (about 36 million Euros at today’s values) to Gustav Harmer, who was also forced out of the business for two years after the war. After the liberation by the Allies, the brewery was temporarily managed by the Russians, before the Harmer family managed to legally prove their purchase. The heirs of Moriz von Kuffner, were also compensated for their loss.

In 1986, the Ottakringer Brewery was listed on the stock exchange, and presently the parent company, Getränkeindustrie Holding AG, owns 70.31% of Ottakringer Brauerei AG. 

Today the brewery is still going strong, and are a major sponsor of the Austrian football team SK Rapid Wien for many years now.

Review: 0.51 cl Can of Kühles Blondes: ABV: 5% 

Kühles Blondes, based in ViennaBought cheap in Aldi. Comes in a striking yellow can, which has some interesting lettering, looks like it could be a fruit drink. 

The appearance is one of a very clear, golden yellow colour, bubbling away with some pretty good carbonation. Produced a nice big frothy head, which did die a bit but overall maintains throughout. Had some very light lacing. Altogether, not a bad looking beer.

The aroma is of a nice light beery smell, getting the yeast. Also getting a faint smell of citrus and malts.

Kühles Blondes, based in ViennaFor the taste I got very nice mouthfuls, of light grains and sweet malts.

Smooth and clean to drink and pleasant enough. Very smooth in fact, I found it very nice and easy to quaff.

But I didn’t find any discernible or interesting tastes though, and couldn’t find the alcohol. 

Clean malts for sure, but no hops noticeable in the taste.

Nice for a session, as they go down well, but very light, low bitterness, and no real bite to it. 

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La Chouffe

La Chouffe, a small time brewery done good.

La Chouffe 

http://www.achouffe.be/en

Brewed by Brasserie d’Achouffe/Duvel Moortgat Brewery
Style: Belgian Blond Ale
Achouffe, Wibrin-Houffalize, Belgium

La Chouffe is a Belgian strong golden ale, produced by the Brasserie d’Achouffe located in Achouffe, a small village in the municipality of Houffalize, in Wallonia, Belgium.

La ChouffeThe brewery was founded in 1982 by Pierre Gobron and Christian Bauweraerts, two brothers-in-law, as a hobby. In September 2006, the brewery was bought by the brewery group Duvel Moortgat, this move helping the small brewery to enlarge and also to export to new destinations. 

Brasserie d’Achouffe now produces several different beers, and exports far beyond its borders, 72 countries and counting, but it is its Blonde that is the star attraction, accounting for over 80% of its output. 

The brand is famous for its gnome that adore its bottles, a little gnome with his little red hat, looking all cute and sprity. Legend has it that it was a gnome just like this that passed on the special recipe to the brothers in law inspiring them to get started!

Review: 330 ml Bottle of La Chouffe: ABV: 8% 

La Chouffe is an unfiltered blond beer that re-ferments both in the barrel and from the bottle. 

On pour got a big frothy white head that retained, with a golden appearance that later settled down to an orange hazy cloudy hue. Some small carbonation and some thin lacing. Not bad looking. 

Very fruity aroma which I found very nice, lemon, orange, banana, a variety of fruits on the nose.

La ChouffeAlso found the fresh coriander on the nose.

Smells good, sweet malts on nose too.

Smelled quite strong, with the Belgian yeast also apparent, but overall it was a nice, pleasant smell and well balanced.

Ok, it is another one of these strong tasting Belgian Ales that I find difficult to appreciate. Strong. Has a lot of fruit flavours in it, lime, bananas, peaches, apples……and the coriander that seems to be prominent throughout. 

Found it quite similar to the Delirium Tremens which I reviewed not too long ago. Not quite the same style of beer I know, but, unlike that beer, I found this one much more palatable on the stomach and taste buds. 

Bitter aftertaste, very bitter. Not bad though, grows on you with the gentle floral hops.

A bit of a slow burner, and quite tasty, albeit strong in the alcohol. I definitely do feel the alcohol kicking away. Yeasty! But having said that it is not too overbearing with the alcohol, manageable. 

After the second bottle, I think it isn’t too bad, not great, but ok, a nice crisp taste, but would like to try a few more to give a more definite review. 

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Grimbergen Blonde, burned but not destroyed

Grimbergen Blonde 

www.Grimbergenbeer.com

Brewed by Brouwerijen Alken-Maes (Heineken)/at Kronenbourg (Carlsberg)
Style: Belgian Pale Ale/Blonde Ale
Alken, Belgium

Grimbergen is the brand name of a variety of Belgian abbey beers. Originally brewed 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 recipe 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 brandname “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 brews 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 many 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. 

Review: 33cl Brown Bottle of Grimbergen Blonde: ABV: 6.7% 

The appearance was of a clear golden colour with a big frothy white head.

Good sized head, with good retention and very good lacing. Not a bad looking beer.

Nice beery smell, very nice. Smells of clove, fruits, Belgian yeast. Smells fantastic in fact. 

Taste is quite strong but not bad, very manageable.

Very nice and pleasant creamy mouthfuls. Very quaffable. Like it.
Creamy taste.

Fantastic tasting beer with a lot of nice flavours. Very creamy. Very crisp and refreshing mouthfuls

I like this very much. Easy to drink. Good tasting. Lots of tastes and all well balanced, of sweet malts, of barley, of wheat, of Belgian yeast, citric fruits. Get all the usual tastes working together here, perfectly balanced with both sweet and sour tastes combining well. 

One of those beers after a long day you can relax with, very refreshing, excellent
6.7%, not too overbearing. As good a beer as I have had in a while…..

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Oettinger Export. The cheap beer with added value

Oettinger Export. The cheap beer with added value.

Oettinger Export

https://www.oettinger-bier.de

Brewed by Oettinger Brauerei GmbH
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Oettingen, Bavaria, Germany

Oettinger is Germany’s best selling beer brand since the early 1990’s, made by Oettinger Brauerei headquartered in the small town of Oettingen, in Bavaria, Germany

They also have breweries located in Gotha, Mönchengladbach and Braunschweig.

Oettinger Export. The cheap beer with added valueNicknamed “Oetti”, the brewery is well known for producing vast amounts of cheap beer which can be easily got in all the major supermarket chains. Basically it is a German version of “stack em high sell em cheap”, and for people with only coppers in their pockets and students, well….. this is the perfect beer. They dont do draft and its rare to find in a pub. But in case you are worried, all of the Oettinger beers are brewed in accordance to the “Reinheitsgebot”, the German purity law of 1516, the standard used to maintain good quality beer in Germany.

Oettinger uses several ways to keep beer prices low: It does not advertise, it delivers directly to the stores and shops, and has a highly automated brewing process that uses as few employees as possible to brew vast amounts of beer.

Oettinger Export. The cheap beer with added valueAll this has made the brand a runaway success, easily becoming Germany’s go to beer for getting pissed on the cheap. It is also exported as far away as Australia and closer to home in Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Italy. 

The family-owned company was founded in the picturesque Bavarian town of Oettingen, way back in 1731, as it says on the can, but the brewery really began to change when it was taken over in 1956 by Otto and Günther Kollmar. These two set up a direct marketing strategy aimed at the price conscious consumer and in the era of supermarkets in the 70’s they had the perfect distribution network to flood the German market with their produce. 

Review: 50 cl Can of Oettinger Export: ABV: 5.4%

The cheap beer with added value. 

On pour a lot of carbonation producing a very clear golden colour.  A big bubbly white head appears which does die a death pretty fast to leave a small flat head. No lacing. Appearance is ok, nothing special. 

Oettinger Export. The cheap beer with added valueHas a good beery smell, a bit faint but good all the same, yeasty, grainy….

Bit of a biting metallic taste, but goes and once you get over that the beer is quite enjoyable. 

Can taste the malts, the grains and the yeast.

All in the front taste, nothing remarkable in the back end which is a little bit dry.

Not bad. Smooth and filling, getting nice big creamy mouthfuls. 

Strong bitter hoppy taste might not be suitable for everyone, but it doesn’t hang around and I found it bearable.

Beery. I like it. Sessionable enough though, especially for the price. The beer to price ratio in this beer is excellent, Cheap beer equals good session.

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St Gotthard Original Swiss Lager

St Gotthard Original Swiss Lager

St. Gotthard Lager

http://www.ramseier-suisse.ch/

Brewed by Ramseier Suisse
Style: Pale Lager
Hochdorf, Switzerland

St Gotthard Original Swiss LagerBrewed by Ramseier Suisse, one of the major beverage producers in Switzerland, was formerly made by Unidrink Getränke. Brewed in Hochdorf, a small town in the canton of Lucerne, St Gothard Lager is brewed for Aldi Suisse. 

Review: 50cl Can of St. Gotthard Lager: ABV: 4.8%

A Swiss Aldi special

Very, very clear golden colour with a massive frothy head on pour. All looks pretty good, head nestles nicely on top. Does die as expected for a cheap lager. Slight lacing.

Smells good, of faint malts, and the yeast 

St Gotthard Original Swiss LagerTaste is not too bad, some very nice mouthfuls. Malts mostly. And that’s as much as you are going to taste really.

Very easy to drink, a very smooth beer

A bit metallic in the end.

Good but a bit acidic/stringent in the aftertaste

It is ok as lagers go, smooth and not bad for the cheap price from Aldi

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