Two Word Heap » Taste

Estrella Damm Lager

Blake Kunisch — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:03:53 +0000

Beer No: 93
Page No: 371
Category: Blond

Day 15 of the World Cup and the round-robin round is complete. We now know the final 16, so it’s time for some predictions and I’ll see if I can keep up my World Cup Beer Challenge (picking a beer from a country that plays that day).

June 26 – Uruguay vs. South Korea, United States vs. Ghana – The first game is a bit tough to pick. I’ve been impressed by South Korea’s resilience through the tournament, however, I think that Uruguay is the superior team here and I see them winning 2-1. And of course I’m going to pick the United States. I don’t think Ghana will be nearly as tough as England was and if we can take it to penalty kicks, I think we have the best goalkeeper in the league. However, I don’t think it gets there. U.S. 2-0. Beer: United States something…I’ve got too many U.S. beers to count these days.

June 27 – Germany vs. England, Argentina vs. Mexico – That first game will be amazing. And it’s almost impossible to pick. However, I think Germany has the better team chemistry and we’ve seen that England has been struggling to score. Germany wins 1-0. Argentina / Mexico is pretty tough too. I don’t really recall exactly what the Argentinian team looks like other than Messi. However, they did win all three of their games in the first round and have pretty much dominated Mexico, losing only 4 times in 25 total international matches. So, Argentina 3-2 in extra time. Beer: German something…I’ve got a bunch of them too. Probably will have more than one German beer that day.

June 28 – Netherlands vs. Slovakia, Brazil vs. Chile – I like the Netherlands here. They breezed through their first three matches with 3 wins while Slovakia managed a win, loss, and a draw. NED 2-0. Brazil vs. Chile should be fun, but I don’t think anyone can stop Brazil in this round. Brazil 3-0. Beer: NOTHING…I’ll have to stop by my usual locations to see if I can find a Brazilian or Netherlands beer. Chances are slim, but you never know what new stuff might have arrived since I last checked.

June 29 – Paraguay vs. Japan, Spain vs. Portugal – I think Paraguay / Japan is a pretty tough one to pick like the Uruguay / South Korea. Pretty strange that Uruguay and Paraguay are both facing Asian countries in Japan and South Korea. Like South Korea, I’ve liked Japan’s play through the group play so I think they might have a chance here. So, I’ll go out on a limb and pick Japan to win in penalty kicks. As for Spain / Portugal, another interesting match-up with the two countries of the Iberian peninsula. However, Spain just looks too good and I’ve not been impressed with Ronaldo, so go Spain! Spain 2-1. Beer: Spain Alhambra Negra or Japan Hitachino Nest XH. (probably Japan’s XH so I can save Spain for the next round).

There’s then 2 days off for the teams to recuperate and then we move to the Quarterfinals.

Incidentally, with today’s win by Spain, I finish the first 15 days of the World Cup Challenge with a record of 6-6-3 for the teams I picked to drink from. Not bad, but I wasn’t going for wins, just trying to match teams to beers, which has been fun. As for my predictions on the teams that would advance, I was 3 for 4 today, picking Switzerland instead of Chile. So for the final round of picks, I correctly picked 13 of 16. Not bad, but also, not that great since a lot of the teams were already easily on their way to the next round. We’ll see how my picks above do. Those are much tougher to call.

Today’s beer comes from Spain as I had no beers left from North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal, Brazil, Switzerland, Honduras, or Chile…The Estrella Damm Lager obviously comes from the same brewery as the Estrella Damm Inedit. Unfortunately, the lager is nowhere near as good as the Inedit. Granted, it’s not horrible, but it’s nothing special and pretty much your standard watered-down lager with mediocre flavor.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Estrella Damm by S.A. Damm

Aroma: 3/10
Appearance: 1/5
Taste: 4/10
Palate: 2/5
Overall: 6/20

Rating: 1.6 / 5.0

Pours a clear straw, yellow color with very slight head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is almost non-existent with slight hops and grass. Flavor is weak, watered-down, malty, astringent, hoppy, dry. Boring lager.

Estrella Damm Inedit

Xingu Black Lager

La Goudale

Baird Angry Boy Brown

Blake Kunisch — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:50:11 +0000

Beer No: 92
Page No: 43
Category: Amber

Day 14 of the World Cup – it really doesn’t get much better than this. Needing a win over Slovakia to advance, most thought Italy would be making it to the knock-out round (myself included), but instead, they come out, play with no intensity until the last 15 minutes and end up losing to Slovakia as Paraguay advances with the Slovaks. Meanwhile, the Netherlands have had a strangle-hold on Group E from the start and they came out today and beat Cameroon to take the group with 9 points. All Denmark needed to do was tie Japan, a feat most thought they could accomplish, but instead, like Italy, they come out with lazy play, allow Japan to score on two free kicks, and lose 3-1, allowing Japan to advance with the Netherlands. A crazy day for sure.

We’ve got one more day of round-robin play to go as groups G & H need to be sorted out tomorrow and then on Saturday, the knock-out round begins. The United States plays Ghana in the afternoon match while Uruguay and South Korea play in the early game. I just can’t wait for the weekend to get here…

As for my predictions, I predicted Netherlands & Denmark (by a hair) and Paraguay & Italy. So just 2/4 today. But after being 8/8 the previous two days, I’m still a nice 10/12. For my World Cup Beer Challenge, I’m now 5-6-3 with the beers that correspond with the teams playing. Two wins in a row now with England yesterday and Japan today. Tomorrow we finish up the round-robin round with a beer from Spain as they play Chile. And tomorrow I’ll try and post my schedule for the next round. Saturday will definitely be an American beer and then on Sunday I can go with a German or English beer. Monday and Tuesday will be much harder though, so I have to see how the games turn out tomorrow to see if I even have any exotic beers remaining to choose from.

Unfortunately, while Japan had a great showing on the field today, I was not impressed with their beer. The Angry Boy Brown from Baird Brewing showed some promise at the start with a nice frothy pour and a sweet aroma, but the taste just let me down. Way too much in the way of alcohol flavors with an almost watered-down feeling to it. This is my last brew in the book from Baird Brewing and I had hoped they’d put forth a better showing. Their Rising Sun Pale is just ok, certainly nothing special, and I think if I have to pick a favorite brewer from Japan right now, it’d have to be Kiuchi (brewers of Hitachino).

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Baird Angry Boy Brown Ale by Baird Brewing Co.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 9/20

Rating: 2.8 / 5.0

Had from 12 oz. bottle from Hi Time Wines. Pours hazy amber brown with huge three finger head. Head dissipates slowly leaving behind slight lacing and bubbly film. Aroma is very malty with hints of nuts and alcohol. Taste is stronger alcohol than in aroma with mostly malts, caramel, and nuts rounding out the taste. Somewhat dry finish, just too much alcohol flavorings and a little bit watered down for me.

Baird Rising Sun Pale Ale

Estrella Damm Inedit

Avery Ellie’s Brown Ale

Yorkshire Stingo (2008)

Blake Kunisch — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:47:42 +0000

Beer No: 91
Page No: 301
Category: Amber

Hello Day 13 of the World Cup. What an absolutely amazing day. First, in the morning games, the United States once again got robbed on a goal where the player was called offsides and clearly wasn’t, but despite being eliminated with a tie, the United States pushed on, and in the first minute of extra time, finally scored a goal. So both the United States and England advance on the back of 0-1 wins. My prediction was 100% correct from a couple days ago.

However, even though my logic doesn’t really make sense when I go back and read my predictions from Group D, I did say that Germany and Ghana would advance, like they did. I really wasn’t expecting Australia to play the way they did though. They beat Serbia, 2-1, and, had a 2-0 lead at one point and was just one goal away from advancing. Unfortunately, they couldn’t push it to 3-0 and Germany couldn’t score a second goal to help out Australia, so in the end, we’ll see United States vs. Ghana and England vs. Germany this weekend. I can’t wait. My two favorite teams are still in it, and now they’re on opposite sides of the bracket, so here’s hoping for a United States / Germany final.

As you can see, I switched up the layout for the 1001 Beers blog. They introduced some new features, including “Pages” so now I have set pages for “About 1001 Beers.net” and “All Beer Reviews by Date.” I think the new layout is also easier to read and a bit easier on the eyes without the yellow. There’s another layout I really liked, but I’m probably going to stick with this layout for a while now.

Back to the beer though. Generally, I’m not the biggest fan of Samuel Smith breweries in England, but there’s just something about this Yorkshire Stingo that I enjoyed. It wasn’t really the explosion of malts as I’m not the biggest fan of malty beers, but I think the complexity gained from aging the beer in oak ale casks really enhances all the flavors and makes this 8% beer really enjoyable and flavorful. The aroma is very strong with fruits, raisins, and malts while the taste balances the fruity sweetness with nice malts and a subtle oak flavor. It’s really a great, interesting beer you should try and track down.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

Had from 550ml bottle from BevMo. Pours hazy amber with thick two-finger head and ample lacing. Aroma is lots of sweet fruits, raisins, toffee, and malts. Taste is complex with the alcohol just coming out at the end of a complicated sip of malty sugars, raisins, prunes, subtle oak flavors, and caramel. I was very surprised by this beer and really enjoyed it. A rare exceptional offering from Samuel Smith.

Kostritzer Schwarzbier

La Goudale

Estrella Damm Inedit

La Goudale

Blake Kunisch — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:46:22 +0000

Beer No: 90
Page No: 431
Category: Blond

Day 12 of the World Cup…the first day of eliminations. The day got off to a great start with a great France vs. South Africa game while I watched Mexico vs. Uruguay on my second TV. When South Africa whent up 2-0 and Mexico down 0-1, I thought…there just might be a chance. South Africa just might pull this amazing comeback off. But unfortunately, it was not to be. France scored, and Mexico and Uruguay advance. In the late games, nothing too special. For a second there I thoguth Greece might actually have a chance, but then Argentina turned it on as expected and S. Korea fought to a tie to advance. So, based on my predictions from yesterday, I got the 4 teams advancing correct – Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina & S. Korea. So in the knock-out round, Uruguay will play South Korea and Mexico will have to battle Argentina.

Next up, Groups C & D. Tomorrow morning…7am…United States…win and advance. Go U.S. Afternoon games…Go Germany!

Today’s beer comes from France and it’s another ‘biere de garde.’ If you’re unfamiliar with the style, I just went over it a few days ago with my other French beer, 3 Monts. The La Goudale was a good beer, better than the 3 Monts, but nothing special. I liked the malt sweetness that balanced well with the hop citrus flavors, but ultimately, in the end, the malts overpower the other flavors and you’re hit with a bit of alcohol on the tail end. Maybe I’ll get something better from tomorrow’s England pick. Maybe I’ll have a Samuel Smith tasting tomorrow…I know I’ve got a bunch of them ready to taste.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Gayant La Goudale by Les Brasseurs De Gayant

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.3 / 5.0

Had from 750ml bottle from Hi Time Wines. Pours a golden orange with slight head and good lacing. Aroma is mostly malts, slight funk, a bit of yeast, and some bready flavors. Taste is malty, floral, slightly hoppy, alcohol, and citrus. Pleasant aftertaste lingers. Not a bad beer, unfortunately, nothing special. Fairly simple and one-note with the malt sweetness.

Estrella Damm Inedit

Cucapa Barley Wine Ale

Estrella Damm Lager

Estrella Damm Inedit

Blake Kunisch — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:45:09 +0000

Beer No: 89
Page No: 571
Category: White

Day 11…the final matchups of the round robin round begin tomorrow! Just 2 days until the U.S. plays…so, might as well take a quick look at what’s coming up over the next 4 days.

Tomorrow: Groups A & B

Group A – Uruguay and Mexico – 4 points, France & South Africa – 1 point. With Mexico playing Uruguay and France playing South Africa, theoretically, any team could make it. France and South Africa need Uruguay or Mexico to win so the other gets 0 points and with a win, France or South Africa could end up with 4 points and we would then go to goals. I imagine Mexico and Uruguay will probably end in a tie though so both can advance. Neither team needs to go out and win, so they’ll play defensively.

Group B – Argentina 6 points, South Korea and Greece 3 points, Nigeria, 0 points. Nigeria plays South Korea and Greece plays Argentina. This will be a tough game for Greece and I see Argentina winning and I would think South Korea can beat Nigeria, so I pick those two teams to advance. But Argentina doesn’t need the win, so they might play for a tie and if South Korea ties Nigeria, it could come down to goals between Greece and South Korea. Could be interesting tomorrow.

Wedneday: Groups C & D

Group C: Slovenia, 4 points. England and United States, 2 points. Algeria, 1 point. This is a crazy bracket. Basically, it comes down to if the United States beats Algeria, they are in The U.S. ends up with 5 points and if Slovenia / England ends in a tie, Slovenia advances. But look for England to go all out. If they win (which I think they will), they also end up with 5 points and advance. If the U.S. ties, they only end up with 3 points and then Slovenia and England will probably advance. I see the United States and England winning though and both teams advancing.

Group D: Ghana has 4 points, Germany and Serbia have 3, and Australia has 1. Germany plays Ghana and needs to win to get in. A tie really does them no good. But I see Germany coming out strong on Wednesday and winning to advance. That means that Serbia has to win to advance, or tie and score a few goals to leap over Ghana and well…Australia is pretty much out. I predict Germany and Ghana advancing.

Thursday: Groups E & F

Group E: Netherlands 6 points, Japan & Denmark 3, Cameroon: 0. Denmark plays Japan and with both teams at 3 points, they’ll be fighting to advance. Netherlands plays Cameroon and will advance with 9 points. So that just leaves the winner of Japan / Denmark. This is a tough game to call and could go either way. I’d like to see both teams advance, but pick Denmark by a hair. If they tie, Japan advances.

Group F: Paraguay 4 points, Italy & New Zealand 2, Slovakia 1. This is the closest group, other than Group C which has the same point structure. Paraguay plays New Zealand and I think they’ll take that game which leaves Italy in with a win or tie. Anything could happen in the game vs. Slovakia, but I think Italy can muster the tie or win, so I’m putting Paraguay and Italy through.

Friday: Groups G & H

Group G: Brazil 6 points, Portugal 4, Ivory Coast 1, North Korea 0. This is the only bracket that has a team eliminated. There is no way North Korea can advance. Luckily for the Ivory Coast, they play North Korea while Portugal has to play Brazil. Unluckily for Ivory Coast, Portugal scored 7 goals against North Korea and Ivory Coast is down two goals overall. So they have to get 9 goals more than Portugal scores vs. Brazil to advance. Slim chances. Brazil and Portugal advance.

Group H: Chile has 6 points, Spain and Switzerland have 3, and Honduras has 0. Switzerland plays Honduras while Chile plays Spain. I like Switzerland’s chances of advancing. With a win over Honduras, they have to hope that Spain beats or ties Chile. A Chile win over Spain sounds improbable, so it’s just up to Switzerland to win. I will take them and Spain.

So in the end, I’ve got the U.S. and England advancing from group C and Germany and Ghana in Group D. It will be interesting to see what happens since both the U.S. and England have the same goal differential. So if one team wins by 2 while the other wins by 1, the team that wins by 2 is the winner of the bracket and plays the second place team from Group D which I think will be Ghana. While the second place team out of Group C has to play Germany. So I’m hoping the U.S. can win the group so we don’t have to play Germany as the Germans are the other team I am rooting for in the cup.

The beer, you ask? Awesome. I first has the Estrella Damm Inedit at a Beers Around the World Party and loved it then as I do now. It’s a very nice white beer with a good blend of citrus and spice. Perfect for a hot day, a lovely import from Spain.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Estrella Damm Inedit by Damm

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.4 / 5.0

Had from 750ml bottle from Hi Time Wines. Pours cloudy yellow/orange with one-finger white head and good lacing. Aroma is pleasant, but weak – mostly citrus, yeast, and spice. Taste is similar, mostly the ctirus and hints of the yeast in the finish. Mouthfeel is slightly watered down with fizzy bubbles. A nicely balanced white – easy to drink and flavorful with citrus.

Estrella Damm Lager

La Goudale

Baird Angry Boy Brown

Grado Plato Chocarrubica

Blake Kunisch — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:43:56 +0000

Beer No: 88
Page No: 655
Category: Dark

Day 10 of the World Cup…nothing too outrageous today other than Italy being forced into a tie with New Zealand. The commentators were comparing it with the massive upsets of years past, but they just tied, didn’t lose, so I don’t really think it was that big of an upset. Now if North Korea upsets Portugal, that’s a big one, but a New Zealand / Italy tie? Eh. Paraguay beat Slovakia like they were supposed to and Brazil beat the Ivory Coast like they were supposed to. So nothing too special. I’m just getting all geared up for the final games on Tuesday through Friday of the round robin round. I’ll look at the match ups tomorrow for those.

As for this Italian beer, it certainly is unique, unfortunately, I just didn’t find it that appetizing. 1001 Beers states that the “moment of inspiration” for this beer came when Sergio Ormea, the founder of Grado Plato was watching a documentary about the Allied landings in Sicily during World War II. The sight of American soldiers throwing chocolate bars to the Sicilian children, whos only sweets until then had been carobs, stuck in his mind. So we have this strange mix of chocolate and carobs in a dark ale that tastes more like unsweetened cocoa than anything else. The aroma and taste start out well, but unfortunately, the finish of the beer just drags it down. I had hoped for more, but was left wanting.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Grado Plato Chocarrubica by Birrificio Grado Plato

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 4/10
Palate: 2/5
Overall: 8/20

Rating: 2.5 / 5.0

Had from bottle from HiTime Wines. Popped swing top cap and immediately had foam over the edge. Caught quickly in a tulip, pours dark brown/black with a surprisingly small head after it gushed over. Aroma is heavy chocolate, spices, sugar, and malts. Taste starts nice, ends poorly. Get big time chocolate and malts, hops are pretty well hidden and some alcohol at the end. Taste and finish is almost like unsweetened cocoa – dry, bland, just something seemed off. Kind of a watered down chocolate / cocoa blend that just doesn’t sit right. I’ll pass on this one in the future.

Mikkeller Black

Avery Ellie’s Brown Ale

Hitachino Nest White Ale

Hitachino Nest White Ale

Blake Kunisch — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:42:43 +0000

Beer No: 87
Page No: 582
Category: Blond

Woohoo, Day 9 of the World Cup. A few interesting games today, but no downright good games. It started with a tie between Ghana and Australia, a Japan loss to the Netherlands, and Denmark’s comeback from 0-1 to beat Cameroon 2-1. Tomorrow, for Father’s Day, we have Slovakia vs. Paraguay (yawn), Italy vs. New Zealand (eh), and Brazil vs. Ivory Coast (Brazil dominates I will guess). Tomorrow’s beer will be coming from Italy, but today’s comes from another losing team, making me 2-5-2, Japan.

The White Ale from Hitachino Nest is based on the popular Hoegaarden White, but the brewery also found that because it contains fruit and spices, it’s also taxed at a lower rate than beer in Japan. Finding the right formula was a pretty long experiment according to 1001 Beers. But they finally settled on a wonderful mix of flaked barley, flaked wheat, and pilsner malt. Then, for some added good measure, they toss in some coriander, nutmeg, orange peel, and a hint of orange juice. It doesn’t quite matter how it’s made, this is a refreshing beer, but I thought it could use just a bit more carbonation. Also, I thought the fruit flavors overwhelm the wheat and malts a bit. Overall, an enjoyable beer though.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Hitachino Next White Ale by Kiuchi Brewery

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 12/20

Rating: 3.3 / 5.0

Had from 12oz. bottle from Hi Time Wines. Pours hazy yellow with very slight head that dissipates to nothingness. Carbonation is slight, but lasts throughout. Aroma is citrus, flowers, lemon, and grapefruit. Taste is a very nice white with orange, lemon, spices, and floral tastes. Finishes sweet with citrus lingering. A nice white that could maybe use a bit more carbonation, but overall easily drinkable and refreshing.

Baird Angry Boy Brown

Sprecher Hefe Weiss

Allagash Curieux

Kostritzer Schwarzbier

Blake Kunisch — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:40:18 +0000

Beer No: 86
Page No: 722
Category: Dark

The fun continues…sort of. As the World Cup moves on, the games are becoming more and more important. And fresh off their 4-0 beating of Australia, Germany goes out and…lays an egg. Not only do they miss a penalty kick to tie the game, but they suffer a bad red card (two yellows) and let Serbia win 1-0. It’s not all doom and gloom for Germany though. A win in their third game and they advance to the next round.

So then we move on to Slovenia vs. United States. And unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple days, you know the horrible outcome of this one. First the U.S. comes out playing sloppy soccer like they did versus England and goes down early in the 12th minute. They then allow another goal right before half in the 42nd minute. But, they storm out of the half time break, score quickly in the 48th, and then pick up another goal to tie the game in the 82nd minute on Bradley’s amazing goal. And then…well, they score again in the 85th minute, however, this referee, officiating his first World Cup game ever, waves it off. WHAT? WHY? Well he certainly won’t tell anyone what the call was on the field, but after the game it comes out that he called offsides. So…he calls offsides from behind the play, when his assistant on the sideline with a perfect view of any possible offsides calls nothing? Great. So here we sit with 2 points and slim chances of advancing.

And then it happens…England scores no goals against Algeria and can only manage a 0-0 tie. How pathetic. England can still advance with a win next week. And the United States advances with a win as well, but how sad for England to win and still get 2nd place in the bracket? With the United States taking the first seed with a win (assuming England doesn’t go out and score 5 or 6 goals, of course). Should be an interesting Wednesday next week.

Back to the beer though, today’s beer comes from Germany, which lost, putting me at 2-4-2 overall with my beer picks. This Schwarzbier (Black Beer) comes from Kostritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei (so obviously, this is their specialty beer). Stating on the bottle it’s the #1 black lager in Germany, I can see why. It’s clean, crisp, and easy to drink. Which then means that it really has no flavor. It’s a watered down lager without any complexities and just the slightest hop and malt flavors. It certainly is a refreshing beer, and better than it’s Brazilian counterpart, Xingu, but it’s nothing special. Hopefully the next two beers in the lineup perform better – one from Japan, and then Italy.

As an aside, I’m keeping my rating from 2003 when I initially rated the beer. If I had to re-rate it, I might move my overall rating down a couple points, leaving the final rating around 3.1 or 3.2, but a 3.3 isn’t far off, so I’ll just leave it as is.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Kostritzer Schwarzbier by Kostritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei (Bitburger)

Aroma: 5/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.3 / 5.0

Had from bottle at Stuffed Sandwich on July 25th, 2003 – Day 25 of Blake’s Beer Month™
After looking through the multitude of beers available at the Stuffed Sandwich, I asked Sam for a Xingu – he told me I had to try this beer first – no reasoning, just to try it. Oddly enough, this was my first Black Beer – didn’t really know what to expect – and was pleasantly surprised. The beer pours black (duh) with no clarity and a small amount of carbonation. The head is light brown with good lacing. The aroma was faint – yeasty, malty, but faint. The flavor was lagerish – a bit dull – nothing too special. The beer was easy to drink and was just what you would expect from a black lager – lager-like taste with a completely black appearance. On with the Xingu!

Xingu Black Lager

Yorkshire Stingo (2008)

Estrella Damm Lager

3 Monts

Blake Kunisch — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:15:58 +0000

Beer No: 85
Page No: 304
Category: Blond

Day 7 of the World Cup. We’re now a full week in and teams have started playing their second games of the round robin format. Argentina thoroughly destroyed South Korea today, Greece won their first World Cup game in the country’s history, beating Nigeria, and France lost 0-2 to Mexico. So alas, my record drops to 2-3-2 with the French beer I selected today. 1001 Beers notes that the 3 Monts beer from the St. Sylvestre brewery utilizes locally grown hops along with malts from Northern France. The beer ferments for a few days and then is “garded” for between three to four weeks.

Now, I’ve heard of the style “biere de garde” before, but never really knew what it meant, so let’s go to Wikipedia for the answer:

Bière de Garde, or “keeping beer”, is a pale ale traditionally brewed in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. These beers were usually brewed by farmhouses in the winter and spring, to avoid unpredictable problems with the yeast during the summertime.

The origins of the name lies in the tradition that it was matured/cellared for a period of time once bottled (and most sealed with a cork), to be consumed later in the year, akin to a Saison.

So, basically, it’s a cellared beer, which really doesn’t mean much these days as many beers are cellared before release and then bottle conditioned. But what Wikipedia doesn’t mention and 1001 Beers does, is that a ‘biere de garde’ usually is a “classic amber malt bomb.” So, I’m glad that St. Sylvestre strays away from tradition as this golden, hoppy, 8.5% ABV beer is definitely anything but a malt bomb.

If you have a chance to try this fine French beer, give it a shot. The alcohol is hidden well and the citrus and yeast flavors dominate the palate. Just another great selection from 1001 Beers - opening my palate up to many a new flavors and my knowledge up to new and unique beer styles. Oddly enough, I have had one other ‘biere de garde’ – the New Belgium Lips of Faith (which I rated at a 3.6 vs. the 3 Monts 3.0).

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

St. Sylvestre 3 Monts by La Brasserie de St.-Sylvestre

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 11/20

Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

Had from 750ml bottle, corked, strange cage, then wrapped in plastic. Pours golden yellow with good carbonation, head, and lacing. Foamed out of the bottle slightly, but quickly caught in tulip glass. Aroma is floral with citrus, bread, and yeast. Taste is grassy, almost lager-like. Alcohol is present along with bread and citrus flavors. Drinkable, enjoyable, but ultimately, nothing special.

La Goudale

Sprecher Hefe Weiss

Barons Black Wattle Seed Ale

Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (2006)

Blake Kunisch — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:49:26 +0000

Beer No: 84
Page No: 902
Category: Specialty

World Cup Day 6! Now that all 32 teams have played at least one game, it should start to get a little more interesting. Teams will know if they need to win to advance or if they can just play for a tie, so expect teams that have nothing to lose to be ultra-aggressive, while those that just need a tie to stay in it sit back and play defense. Either way, this second week of games should be a lot better than the first week.

Today’s beer hails from Switzerland. It was the only Swiss beer I could find, a 2006 vintage of Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien. And, even though I could have had a Spanish beer today, I picked Switzerland, and they upset Spain 1-0. So, that got me thinking – how are my beer picks paying off for the teams I pick?

Day 1: Mexico – tie with South Africa
Day 2: United States – tie with England
Day 3: Australia – loss to Germany
Day 4: Denmark – loss to Netherlands
Day 5: Brazil – win vs. South Korea
Day 6: Switzerland – win vs. South Korea

So I’m 2-2-2. Not bad, but not the best. If I had picked Germany on Day 3, I’d be 3-2-1, which would be very good. But since I already made all my picks in advance, I’m sticking to them. If I can pick and choose the round 2 teams as I go, I’ll try and pick more winners. Up tomorrow – a French beer as France plays Mexico.

Back to the Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien, I really loved the start of this beer. I just didn’t like how it finished. However, as I type this, the beer is warming, and the finish seems to be mellowing out a bit. Either way, I found the finish to be a bit dry, chalky, and astringent, but the initial flavors were quite wonderful. This oak barrel aged beer has a wonderful aroma of tartness, sweet malts, sour fruits, and wine. The initial flavor also has that same tartness and vinous undertones. Which is to be expected – founded in 1997, the head brewer had his start as an oenologist (which is the study of wine-making). Given this background, the beers put out by Jerome Rebetez are remarkably refined and I’d love to get my hands on one of the Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Crus. The non “Grand Cru” blend mixes the aged beers from a bunch of different casks, but the few casks that stand on their own are labeled Grand Cru.

I really need to figure out a way to get ahold of the brewery’s La Meule as well. Their only other brew in 1001 Beers, this Belgian inspired beer is a strong spiced dark ale with prunes and sounds pretty good. It also feagures a strange twist – sage leaves. So I’m really looking forward to it if I could ever find it.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2006 by BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 13/20

Rating: 3.7 / 5.0

Had from bottle from Hi Time Wines – 750ml. 2006 Vintage, Blended in April, 2007. Pours a reddish brown with slight tan head that dissipates over time to nothingness. A bubbly mouthfeel accentuates the first taste. Aroma is tart, with nice oak / wood undertones. Aroma also consists of a bit of white wine and malty sweetness. Flavor is very vinous with a tart, sweet, fruity flavor. I love the way this beer starts, however, I’m not a fan of the finish. Finish is dry, chalky, and astringent. I really loved how the beer started – from the magnificent bottle, nice pour, good color, and sweet aroma – but the finish just put me off. The finish lingers for a bit too long and is just too astringent for my tastes. I wanted to rate it higher, but after consuming the bottle, just had to lower it a bit to account for the strange aftertaste.

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