Barbe Torte 

http://www.brasseriedebretagne.com/

Brewed by Brasserie de Bretagne 
Style: Blond beer
Trégunc, France 

Barbe Torte is an award winning Breton beer brewed by Brasserie de Bretagne in the small town of Trégunc located in western Brittany. Brittany, of course, is the Celtic part of France, situated in the North West of the country. The beer is apparently named after a Duke of Brittany, Alan II  (“Barbe Torte”  à la française or his much more interesting nickname, “Twisted Beard!”) who expelled the Vikings from Brittany and ruled the kingdom until his death in the year of 952.  The brewery, not as old, was founded in 1988 and was known as Brasserie Britt.

The brewery produces about fifteen different types of beer all catering for the upturn in demand for quality beer in France.

The brewery is certainly innovative and eager to try something out of the ordinary.

They launched a beer in the colours of French League One team, FC Lorient, a first for a Breton club.  They also branched out with their own version of cola, Britt Cola, adding to an American classic a Breton twist. With the World Cup in Brazil, they produced a fruity “Britt Do Brasil”, for the Sochi Winter Olympics they produced a vodka flavoured beer, and the brewery is the main partner for the famous sailing event Route du Rhum where boats test to see who can travel from Saint-Malo to Guadeloupe in record time. They certainly like to get their brand about.

Review: Bottle of Barbe Torte: ABV: 6% 

Bought in Lidl

On pour looks lovely, has a real full body, a lovely light yellow colour. When it settles it does become a bit murky with a lot of carbonation, not as good looking.

A small head that dissipates

Smell is very strong and full of nice flavours, nice citrus smell, hoppy and all the rest.

Even though it is 6%, you cant really taste it. Nothing too strong, not very bitter
A nice slow burner, one to relax with and enjoy rather than guzzle down
A very very tasty beer, I liked it
Everything blended well, hoppy and malty…

Will try again.

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Asahi Super Dry

https://www.asahibeer.com

Brewed by Asahi Breweries Ltd
Style:  Japanese Rice Lager
Tokyo, Japan

Asahi Super Dry is the most popular beer in Japan, produced by Asahi Breweries Ltd, a leading brewery and soft drinks company based in Tokyo, Japan. Asahi Breweries Ltd is the largest beer producer in the whole of Japan.

Asahi (“Morning sun) was founded in Osaka in 1889 as the Osaka Beer Company .

In 1987 Asahi introduced Asahi Super Dry a product that was extremely successful in Japan, making the Asahi brand one of the leading lights in the Japanese beer market.

Review: Bottle of Asahi Super Dry: ABV: 5% 

Asahi Super Dry, dry as in crisp with no sweetness in the taste, light and not much aftertaste. Super dry as in more of all that. I guess. The labeling on the bottle is very stylish I must say, shiny silver background with a black printed “Asahi”  catching the eye

On pour got a lovely clear light golden looking beer, with a nice big white foamy head, which unfortunately did die quite quickly.

Lots of carbonation which was very crispy looking, can hear it bubbling away, was lively

Slight lacing all over, but not much

Overall, looks very good and refreshing, and nice carbo…

Has a lovely beery smell, very, very sweet and some lemon and grass found. The lager yeast, and the rice coming to the fore.    I liked the smell, faint aroma but not bad…..

On tasting didn’t pick up anything of note, no flavours, nothing, didn’t taste anything at all!

Also very light, is there really 5% in this!
Ok there was some sweet rice,  as you’d expect from an Asian beer, some grains and malts, and a bit of an aftertaste, but nothing to shout home about.
Was a very slight taste in the back end, minimal hops

Generally tasteless, not great at all. actually feel cheated. It says on the label beer, but this tastes like bottled water. And the fact it looked good and smelt ok, was very disappointing that the end product was so bad. A shite feel to the beer, very flat. One to avoid in the future!

Looking at reviews online there seems to be some who say that in Japan it tastes so much better. Perhaps that is so, but I bought mine in a Chinese supermarket and can only go on that. Big beer companies should expect some flack when they put their name to bad exports and poor imitations……..

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Birra Peja Pilsner Original

http://www.birrapeja.com

Brewed by Birra Prizreni 
Style: Pilsener
Pejë/Peć, Kosovo

Birra Peja Original from Kosovo, an Albanian speaking disputed territory that is part of the Balkans and only just recently recognized as an independent state. And lately they have got their football team playing with Fifa in the World Cup qualifiers, which is all the recognition I need! (Their first game was a very respectable one all draw away to Finland)

Birra Prizreni, a new brewery in a new country, but already with the most popular beer in the land, Birra Peja, which is some feat considering that it is up against all the main international players, Heineken, Becks, Miller, Corona, Peroni, Urquell Pils, et al.  The company is hoping that with Kosovo getting more involved in international affairs, and closer ties with Western Europe, that the beer might branch out to more foreign markets in the future, and not just selling to ex-pats living abroad.  Watch this space, this beer is on an upward trajectory no doubt about it.

Review: Can of Birra Peja Pilsner Original: ABV: : 4.2%

Kosovo’s most popular beer, coming in a nice colourful can

On pour got a nice light clear golden colour beer with a good decent sized white head that is thin but maintains
Small bit of carbonation present, not much though

Some lacing

Looks like a decent beer, appearance is good

A good beery smell, nice lager aromas of grainy malts. Nothing extraordinary, but not bad either

On taste can get a good mouthful of flavours buzzing around. Sweet grains, malted barley noted
I like it, it is very smooth, light and clean, and easy to drink
Wheat, grains, barley
Cant really taste the hops in the aftertaste
Very malty

Nice and smooth, not a bad lager, does the business, and considering it comes from Kosovo, not an area renowned for beer making, I am quite impressed.

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Birrificio Italiano Vùdù

http://www.birrificio.it/beer/vudu/

Brewed by Birrificio Italiano
Style: Dunkelweizen
Lurago Marinone (CO), Italy

Birrificio Italiano, began in 1996 by a couple of friends with a love of beer and a dream. Starting with experimentation of home brews, developing later to opening a brewpub in Lombardy, and with it, the highs and lows to be expected in the brewing industry to 2000,  when their brewing plant expanded as the brand grew in and out of Italy’s borders.

Vùdù started in 1999, and is brewed in Italy in the Birrificio brewery and distributed in Germany by Braufactum. It won a Gold medal at the prestigious World Beer Cup in 2010, in the category of “German-Style Dark Wheat Ale” (Dunkel Weizen!), which was a bit of a shock win for an Italian brewery over its German rivals!

A Dunkelweizen is a wheat beer brewed as darker versions (Dunkel means “dark”) and produced with top-fermenting yeast and not filtered. Most are brown and strongly brewed, and some use special yeasts that produce a pronounced fruity character. Popular in Germany

Review: 75 cl Bottle of Birrificio Italiano Vùdù: ABV: 6% 

An Italian craft beer, coming in a pretty cool looking 75 cl bottle, with an over-sized cap. The label oozes class. Vudu spelt out in dramatic colouring and surrounded in stylish iconography. With a price range between 11 to 13 € this beer better be good!!

On pour, light brown colour, with a large tan head

Decent head, that maintains, very good lacing, looks good.

Very strong smell, very strong but very appealing, can smell lots of flavours, lots of fruits from banana (and lemon), very sweet. Wheaty, toasty malts, very very earthy.

Great on the nose. A very rustic earthy smell with lots of fruits. very appealing…..

First reaction from the taste is that this is a strong beer, very strong, can definitely feel the 6%. Has body and can get the taste all in the back end, the wheat and hops noted. Earthy.

I liked this beer, not very sweet, but bitter, but not overbearing. Dark chocolate/caramel tastes, like a stout, but not quite. Roasted malts and fruit (Banana mostly), creamy undertones

Is a slow burner, definitely one to drink while relaxing in front of the box, or over a meal. In fact it was so full of delicious tastes and very filling that it was like a proper meal!

Loved it. Strongly recommended! Has character, style and taste, is rich in body, and one of the better beers I have had in a long time. Will definitely buy again, no matter the price tag of 11€!..

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Jelen Svetlo Pivo 

https://www.jelenpivo.com/sr/vesti

Brewed by Apatinska Pivara A.D. 
Style: Euro Pale Lager 
Apatin, Serbia

Jelen Pivo is the major lager brand in Serbia. It has been brewed in Serbia’s leading brewery, Apatinska Pivara, for over two and a half centuries now in the small town of Apatin, located on the Danube, in a very fertile area called Vojvodina, where the quality of the barley is known to be one of the best in the region.

Review: Can of Jelen Svetlo Pivo: ABV: : 5%

My introduction to Serbian lager

On pour we get a lovely clear golden colour, with a nice frothy white head forming, bubbling along, good retention.
Some great carbonation and a decent head, this really is a good looking beer
Some lacing. Excellent on view…..

Smell was very slight, couldn’t really tell you much about it as it was so faint, nothing!…….

Taste: Don’t believe it, absolutely NO TASTE!!  No bitterness, no taste of the malts or hops, nothing. Quite amazing really. Very watery with no character
Its definitely smooth and light, but has a very flat taste. Just bang, nothing. What a poor excuse for a beer.  Basically mineral water with minute traces of alcohol, I guess!

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