Charger's Wine (and Beer) Club

[Charger]

^^^
Now that I can believe. And no...I have not read that book...only parts in school gazillion and 30 years ago.


This time we have a pale lager from the Czech Republic called (and I just hope I'm getting this right) Postrizinske Bogan.

This amber brown colored lager has flavours of caramel and some herby hopps with a bit of maltiness at the after taste.
All in all a very fresh and well balanced lager which is something that the Czech people know very very well. Nothing overly fancy or weird or complicated just good basic drinkable beer.

But man is it a hard name to both write and pronounce...which is also something the Czech people know very well..


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[Charger]

Wow..been a month since my last update....YIKES!

This time we have a beer from our southern neighbours Estonia (!!) called Alexander.

This traditional Estonian Lager has some mild flavours of fruits, grassy hops and it has a bit of a yeasty aftertaste.

Something of a rather basic lager but with a bit of a twist. This is quite different from let's say german lagers or finnish lagers...clearly the estonians have their own way of making a good lager.
Over all I'd say this has very nice balance and has no trickery to it.

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[Zzzptm]

So what would be the biggest differences? Locality of the grains/hops, or a regional difference in the processes used?

[Charger]

So what would be the biggest differences? Locality of the grains/hops, or a regional difference in the processes used?

Hard to say really...I think it might have more to do with the yeast...german lagers very rarely have any real yeast flavour in them...that I can taste anyways...this one had some in the aftertaste. Also surely the hops might make a difference...I don't know exactly what hops were used on this one.

[Charger]

This time we have a german IPA called STEAM BREW Pale Ale.

This murky golden brown IPA has quite a bit of citrus with some grassy maltiness and hoppy finish.

As typical for IPA's this has a rather muddy flavour, like you poured some real beer in a mud pool swooped it back up and squeezed a little lemon on top.
There is very little character in this. It's bit watered down tasting, which is odd for a beer with 4.9% alcohol content, but again that's a bit of an IPA thing.

The can looks really pretty and groovy so I'll give a star and a half extra for that...but the stuff inside...lets just say the can is worth more than the liquid.


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[Zzzptm]

Mud really isn't a flavor I'm fond of, either...

[Charger]

This time Charger's Wine Club Beer edition is a rerun, but it's also a tribute:

Charger's Wine Club Beer Edition!

This time we have something very speical...We have a Lager all the way from Thailand called LEO.
I'd like to dedicate this Wine Club post to my feline brother Leo who has fallen ill a bit.
Naturally when I saw this beer at the store shelf there was no way I would not buy it. And sometimes these kind of purchases really surprise you...and sometimes even postively...like this one.
Leo is a very nice golden brown lager with a very nice soft taste. This is not an aromatic explosion in your mouth type of a beer but a very nice solid basic beer...something which I quite enjoy.
Under normal circumstances I'd give this one a three star rating but because of the name I'm giving this one a happy

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[Zzzptm]

Always good to have a way to jog the memory of a loved one.

[Charger]

Been a while since I've tried a new beer so the Beer Club has been on a break...

But now inspired by Hawaii 5-0 I thought I'd give this one a go.


So this time I am trying my first ever beer from the islands and it's called BIG WAVE Golden Ale by the Kona Brewing company.

It's very different for sure. Not your average beer, very fresh and very fruity, I am certain I'm tasting pineapple there...but then again we're talking Hawaii here, and they put pineapple in everything! And yes as most of you know I HATE pineapple, but the taste here is not that overpowering so I can sort of live with it.
I can almost imagine myself sitting in front of Kamekona's food truck eating some of his shrimps and having a bottle of this beer while McGarrett and Danno are blowing something up somewhere.
But that's about it. This isn't what I call beer for enjoyment. Too fruity for that. I like my beer tasting like beer and I'll have my fruit juice on another time...in fact there is very little of actual beer in the taste...reminds me slightly of that horrible Two Dogs thing from Australia, but this has a more variety of fruits not just lemon.

The exotic nature of this does deserve some points though but I cannot for the life of me recommend this to anyone who likes BEER...But if I'd ever go to Hawaii and sit on a beach or have something from a shrimp truck I might have this again...but otherwise...never ever never again.

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[Zzzptm]

Beer + Wine = Brine + Wee

I've always associated fruits with wines, so the idea of a beer with dominant fruit flavours seems like the beer is getting out of its lane. As a hint of flavour, sure, that makes sense in any preparation, be it food or drink. But to have it take things over is a dangerous thing to do, especially if you set expectations with saying, "this is a beer." If they had said it's a fermented pineapple juice, maybe that would turn away the unadventurous buyer, but would have less of a chance of not meeting expectations of the person having a go at it.

[Charger]

^^^
Couldn't agree more. I've always found it very strange why the need to mix beer with all kinds of fruits anyways...if you want fruits drink cider for heaven's sake!


This time we have a Lager from the Czech Rebublic called Bakalar Premium Lager Or Pivo Svetly Lezak as it seems to be originally called what ever that means.
This golden amber colored lager has a rich full flavour with hints of honey, some herbs and even some sweetness.

This is bit more rich in flavour than some other more basic Czech beers but it has nothing gimmicky about it though, very nice honest lager, which is something the Czech beer makers sure know how to brew. Very easy to drink and easy to enjoy. And most importantly there are no artificial fancy pantsy citrus flavours or anything of the sorts.

Very good lager indeed.

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Damn just found out that the camera liked to focus on Summer's face instead of the beer...which ofcourse is understandable but not desired for this in particular occation.

[Zzzptm]

Lol, Vyn is your man for a fuller Czech translation. All I know is that Pivo = beer.

[Charger]

Oh yes...he is.

[Charger]

This time we have a stout from Swannay Brewery in the Orkney Islands in Scotland called Sneaky Wee Orkney Stout.

This dark, near black, brown stout has flavours of mild coffee, sweet chocolate and some hoppy finish with a roasty aftertaste.

Overall a very enjoyable stout, the hoppiness isn't too overpowering and the sweetness creates a nice easy to drink feel right from the top.
The alcohol content is bit low with just 4.2% but that isn't too uncommon for a stout...and there is enough flavour in this to avoid anykind of watery taste.

And ofcourse it gets an extra point for the name...and as an added bonus it most certainly does not taste like wee either.


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[Zzzptm]

Yes, it's always preferable for one's beverages to have as few notes of urine as possible.

So much for the old saw about drinking pee to survive... ya don't!