DUVEL

Duvel (Devil to me)*

Country of origin: Belgium
Brewed by: Duvel Moortgat Brewery
Brewed in: Breendonk, Belgium

Very strong lager, 8.5% ABV, so has a very strong aftertaste which is not to everyone's liking, this is down to the brewing process which is still occurring after the beer is bottled. Also has a 7 step recommended pouring technique, that shiz floats my boat!

Scores a hefty 8.5 MWB purely based on strength, aftertaste is like a slap in the face with a ruler that you strangely want to try again.


Producers info

"Duvel is a natural beer with a subtle bitterness, a refined flavour and a distinctive hop character. The unique brewing process, which takes about 90 days, guarantees a pure character, delicate effervescence and a pleasant sweet taste of alcohol.
A team of beer specialists checks the process daily by means of taste analyses. It is only after 90 days, when it has achieved its rich range of flavours, that Duvel may leave the brewery.
Thanks to its surprisingly high alcohol content (8.5 %), enormous head, fine effervescence and silky smooth feel in the mouth, Duvel stands out clearly from other Belgian beers."

*just found out its Brabantian, Ghent and Antwerp dialect for devil, so there!

Pacifico Clara

Papa Pete brings home the bacon again!

Country of origin: Mexico
Brewed by: Cerveceria del Pacífico Brewery
Brewed in: Mazatlán, Mexico
Alc: 4.5% Vol.

Never seen or heard of before....perfect.

Pale and full of life, very palatable and easy to drink. Could slot into the 'session beer' genre so scores 8.3MWB for taste and uniqueness.

"Cerveza Pacífico Clara, better known as Pacífico, is a Mexican pilsner-style beer. It was first brewed in 1900 when three Germans opened a brewery, the Cerveceria del Pacífico in Mazatlán. Cerveza Pacífico is named so because the Pacífico brewery is located in the Pacific Ocean port city of Mazatlán, in the state of Sinaloa, México. Its label includes a picture depicting a lifesaver"

Cotswold Premium Lager

Country of origin: England 

Brewed by: The Cotswold Brewing Co.

Brewed in: Bourton-on-the-Water, England.

Alc: 5.0 % Vol

.


Very typical micro brewery style lager, golden in colour, very strong aftertaste of malt with minimum carbonation.

Definitely not a session beer but definitely worth a try.
Scores 8.2 MWB due it it's uniqueness and locality. 

Waterside Cafe, Bourton-on-the-Water. 18th march 2014 with Pete, Pauline, Amy, Iz, Mikey & Me.

Singha

Singha Premium Import Lager Beer

Country of origin: Thailand
Brewed by: Pathumthani Brewery Co.
Brewed in: Pathumthani, Thailand

Very pale lager with a sweet taste, not too unpleasant. Like most Thai women this beer's got some balls and scores 8.1 MWB

"Rich, yet refreshing, Singha is the perfect accompaniment to Asian cuisine. Brewed exclusively in Thailand since 1933."
 

Tennents Lager

Tennents Lager

Country of Origin: Scotland
Brewed by: The Wellpark Brewery.
Brewed in: Duke Street, Glasgow.

The Bell Tree Pub, Broughty Ferry, Dundee. 12/03/2014

As much as it pains me this is actually a surprisingly nice lager, much nicer than the usual 4% draught beers you get our side of the wall. Nice and lively with a bit of taste, they must also be respected for being the brewers of Tennents Super (tramp juice) which is soon to be tried.

Scores 8.1MWB as a tidy session beer for when you're on the 'Pish!'

Brewers Quote

"Our dedicated brewers at the Wellpark Brewery use the water of Loch Katrine, hops and barley to bring you a pint with a crisp taste and refreshingly clean finish. "

Asahi

Asahi 'Super Dry'
Country of Origin: Japan
Brewed by : Asahi Breweries
Brewed in : Sumida, Tokyo
Founded in : 1889
Asahi Dry was introduced in 1987 and by 'Dry Beer' they mean Pale lager.

One of the Japanese powerhouses.

I love this lager as I do all of the big Nippon 3, all have a similar yet unique taste, very light but refreshing, very good on the headache/hangover front. Standard 5.0% ABV if an imported beer.
Cheeky 8.8 MWB

Brewers facts

"Since its debut in Japan in 1987 as the first ”KARAKUCHI”(dry) beer,ASAHI SUPER DRY has set a new de facto standard in Japanese brewing. Over the years ASAHI SUPER DRY has continued to expandits popularity while offering refreshing good taste and drinking pleasure. Behind its overwhelming popularity among people regardless of age, as well as among those restaurateurs and professionals who keenly discern good taste, lies the story of the three secrets of ASAHI SUPER DRY:"

These 3 secrets are the yeast, the ingredients and the technology. 

Baltika No.7

Country of origin: Russia

Brewed by: Baltika Breweries in St Petersburg

5.5% ABV

Scores a very average 7.7 MWB, uninspiring beer but a tidy ABV up's it's score. 

No.7 is their pale lager, I'd quite like to try No.3 (wheat beer).

I do like the ring pull cap tho so I'm upping to 7.8MWB

History

Brewery opened in 1990 in St Petersburg. In 2008 became part of the Carlsberg group which might explain its bland, generic taste as Carlsberg seem hell bent on owning every boring lager on the planet. 

I'm going to call it a 'generic lager', you heard the phrase here first!

Kronenbourg

Kronenbourg (old Kronie)

Hard to judge this one as I drank bucket loads of this starting out on my lager journey as young man.
More memory taste than genuine taste and that memory's huge hangovers, vomit and fag ash.
5% ABV and a very chemical aftertaste.
Scores 8.0 MWB as it's one of the lager giants and made me think I was being sophisticated 25 years ago.

Update: ......and the headaches, I now remember the headaches!


Facts:-

Kronenbourg Brewery is a brewery founded in 1664 by Geronimus Hatt in Strasbourg as the Hatt Brewery. The name comes from the area where the brewery relocated in 1850. The company is owned by the Carlsberg Group.....Quelle surprise! 

Pilsner Lager - A brief History

Pilsener Lager (Pils)

The City of Pilsen began brewing in 1295, but until the mid-1840s, most Bohemian beers were top-fermented. The taste and standards of quality often varied widely.

The officials of Pilsen founded a city-owned brewery in 1839, called Měšťanský pivovar Plzeň (Citizens' Brewery - now Pilsner Urquell), which should brew beer according to the pioneering Bavarian style. Brewers had begun aging beer made with bottom-fermenting yeasts in caves which improved the beer's clarity and shelf-life.

The Pilsen brewery recruited the Bavarian brewer Josef Groll (1813–1887) who, using new techniques and paler malts, presented his first batch of modern pilsner on 5 October 1842. The combination brighter malt prepared by English technology, Pilsen's remarkably soft water, local Saaz noble hops from nearby Žatec and Bavarian-style lagering produced a clear, golden beer that was regarded as a sensation.

Improving transport meant that this new beer was soon available throughout Europe, and the Pilsner style of brewing was soon widely imitated. In 1859, “Pilsner Bier” was registered as a brand name at the Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Pilsen. In 1898, the Pilsner Urquell trade mark was created to put emphasis on being the original brewery.

Carlsberg Lager

Carlsberg Lager

My favourite 'Session Beer' due mostly to it's lowly 3.8% Alcohol Volume and the fact that out of all the other run of the mill Lager's it tastes the least of chemicals and it's relatively hangover free.

Brewed in Northampton it's about as English as lager gets, everywhere else in the World it's known as Carlsberg Export and has a higher 5% ALC VOL.

No great taste to talk of but still scores a respectable 8.0 MWB because it does a great service to mankind i.e me.

The History Bit:- In 1847 J.C. Jacobsen founded Carlsberg, named after his son, Carl and the Danish word for hill, bjerg, on which the brewery was built, and set out to follow his dream to brew the perfect beer.

Jacobsen's journey first started in 1836 when he tasted his first bottle of Bavarian lager. Convinced that this beer would pioneer the market, Jacobsen made the long journey to Munich, successfully returning with a pot of lager yeast in his hat box. Back home he used his mother's bath tub to experiment with making his new style of beer and after many attempts he decided to open the Carlsberg Brewery."