Oh my god , they Kilkenny... My favourite Cream Ale

This is one of my favorite beers, mainly because it is so readily available(year round) and very affordable. It is a lovely change from all the "Tripel" and pale ales that so many stores are ready to recommend.

Now to the beer: 

I prefer the can, simply because it chills faster for me and pours smoothly, with a small cascading effect into the 50cl glass I use. The color is a nice copper red, and you get just enough head so that you don't have to wait to drink it. The taste itself is quite "caramelized" , with no hints of hops. The smell is "malty", and the carbonation is hardly noticeable, which makes this beer somewhat unique considering it is  nitrogenated.


The beer is very low in alcohol and makes for a pleasant and light starter, especially  if you plan on doing more drinking later in the evening.  No bias here, but this beer gets the four pint rating, simply because it is drinkable all year long. 

Price: 2,50€

"When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to Heaven."

Just a small update folks

I recently started a new job as a teacher at an engineering school in Paris. I have not had a lot of time to write anything , let alone drink a beer and review it. I will, however, be doing one next weekend, so stay tuned!

Iki Beer with Green Tea and Yuzu- a Belgian brewed, Japanese luxury surprise.

So, when I think of Japanese beers, I know a couple of well-known brews , such as Asahi, and Kirin Ichiban. Both of the aforementioned beers are pretty damned good, so when I saw this one, I wasn't expecting anything near what I experienced. The bottle is stylish as heck, and after opening, you are greeted by a very small  head, and light-yellowed effervescence . You can immediately notice the redolence of citrus, grass, and even a bit of "tea", and that is because this beer is infused with the aforementioned ingredients(green tea and a citrus fruit called "Yuzu"), and the taste is very light and refreshing. After I was half-way done, the flavors seemed to meld together perfectly and it wasn't too much, nor did it overwhelm the palate.

This beer is one of the better ones I have tried this year, and I highly recommend it as a precursor to any white meats, fish, sushi, etc. for the best combination. You could drink it without an accompanying meal, but I don't know that the experience would be as enjoyable.



Fun fact- this brew is actually made by a Belgian brewery called "De Proefbrouwerij", and they are known for brewing pale/dark ales. This beer appears to be an experiment for them, and it is a damned successful one in my opinion.

Price: 2,50€






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Lapin Kulta- Ei tippa tapa eikä ämpäriin huku

This is my first Finnish beer. While it was a tad expensive for the size-I spent almost four euros for a 33cl bottle-I can't really complain as the beer, for me ,was a fresh surprise. The head was very small, the taste didn't overwhelm the palate(very sweet , honey mixed with a "malty" taste), odours were very common, quite redolent of Heineken and a typical Belgian Lambic( somewhat fruity and grainy all at once), and the color was a nice golden yellow.


It's a decent beer for Summer barbecues and chilling, but not for the price. Unless I am in Finland and can get the beer at local price, this was my first and last one.

Price: 4€


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Fun Facts:
Lapin Kulta (in English, Gold of Lapland, arguably Lapp Gold) was a brewery in the Lapland town of Tornio, Finland. It was founded in 1873 under the name Torneå Bryggeri Aktiebolag (Tornio Brewery Limited Company in Swedish).

La Montreuilloise Blanche- un chef-d'œuvre organique( An organic masterpiece)

Whenever I hear the words "organic" and "beer"mentioned in the same breath, I usually run the other way. I'm not sure how much more organic a beer needs to be , at least in regards to how organic most beer already is(at least here in Europe, save of course for cheap water in cans that passes for beer, Budweiser and Coors, *cough*) . However, I had recently been presented with this beer at our last BBQ by a friend, and was expecting to be underwhelmed. Boy was I wrong!

I won't dive into why I dislike "organic" foods, let alone the labels, but this beer was truly a surprise. Upon opening the bottle, I was immediately overtaken by the smell of yeast(the cloudy pour with various particles, easily visible, prepared me for such) and a different tasting variety of hops(not sure where they came from, but they tasted slightly bitter sweet, almost "pickley" ). It had a lively, slightly fruity taste, with a mix of citrus and light floral notes, and was so smooth that, thanks to the mixture of heat, heavy eating , and the excellent taste of this beer, I was able to quaff a 75cl bottle in under ten minutes ,with the help of my brother in law of course.  I'm still wary of organic, but this brew is definitely worth a try.

Price:  €3,50

Rating:  

3 Monts Flanders Golden Ale: Une véritable bière ( A real beer)

The first thing that stands out about this Belgian style beer is the  ABV of 8.50%. I say this, as this is usually off-putting to me in regards to beer.  I like to keep it around 6-7% max so that the alcohol doesn't mask whatever flavor the beer may have. This is not the case here. The beer pours a nice golden yellow with a pinky finger nail sized head, plenty of small bubbles, and a nice misty after fizz. Upon taking your first taste, your nose is greeted by an aroma of anise, cloves, and yeast. The taste is somewhat fruity and bitter at the same time, with accents of lemon, pineapple, pear, and maybe even white grapes. This beer is definitively better with a big meal, as again, the abv is surprisingly well-hidden. Definitely a tasty Bière de Garde worth a try.



                                                 






Price: 2,65 €  for a 75CL bottle




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Interesting fact: The name of the beer refers to three hills in Flanders, Mont Noir in Belgium and Mont Cassel & Mont des Cats both on the French side of the border.

Liquid gold : Marks & Spencer Sussex Golden Ale

This is a wonderful, low ABV(3.8%) golden ale marketed as a traditional Sussex bitter. The beer pours a light-golden color with a 90 second lasting quarter-inch head. Plenty of yeast sediments can be seen on the bottom( a good thing in my opinion), and the aroma is quite "grassy", with hints of floral, lime, and malt. The taste is a nice mix of grapefruit, light orange , and minimally sweet leaving a perfect "bitter" aftertaste in the mouth.  This is one of my favorite beers from M&S's, though it is a bit on the expensive side.

Price: £2.29 per bottle(about €3,49)

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