There is so much more to beer than you see in the offy (Beers - Comments & Comparison)

Member Name: thehonesttruth

Product:	Beers - Comments & Comparison
Date:	04/11/09 (40 review reads)
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I do a fair amount of Beer reviews - I'm not entirely sure how to handle this category, so I'm just going to go with the flow and see what happens !

Firstly, a little bit about my drinking history . When I was a youngster, say 8 or 9 years old, my dad would often relax of an evening with a couple of cans of Strongbow cider, and would often offer me a half in a glass , which I always took. I liked the sweet and fizzy taste of it, and yes, I would get a mild buzz off it . Now, I'm sure there are some people shaking their heads in disgust, saying my dad should have never given me a drink at that age - but I'm glad he did, for various reasons .

For one thing, alcohol was never a taboo in my house. My mum, I should state, never touched a drop , and she was mad as a box of rats. In fact, my mum was violent, abusive, and really extremely hard to live with, something I have previously covered in a past review. She frequentlybeat me and my brother whenever my dad wasn't around and she could get away with it, and she was a tee-totaller.

My dad, by removing the taboo surrounding alcohol, somehoe made it less alluring . When I got to my early teens, I never felt the need to send someone into the shop to buy lager that I would quickly down and then chew a whole pack of mints to disguise the flavour. I knew at the weekend I would get my half pint, and that was enough .

He also taught me the importance of moderation. To save money, he would buy strongbow in 24 can packs - but I never saw him drink more than one or two, a couple of times a week. He explained to me exactly why moderation was important, and the damage that excessive drinking could do - at 14, I knew all about liver diseases, heart problems, and the dreaded red veiny nose - and I was determined to avoid them .

At 16, I got drunk for the first time . Incredibly drunk . When I was younger, I looked older than my years, and when a friend of mine turned 18, I was pleasantly surprised when my local shop sold me a bottle of MD 20/20 without any questions. If I'd only drunk that, I'd have been alright, but my oh so helpful friend decided that since my bottle was getting a little low, she would top it up with vodka. The results were neither pleasant, nor pretty - but they did stop me from ever getting that drunk again . I have never again vomited due to being drunk .

When I got older, I got a job in a pub. This pub was a real pub, serving real beers, and was the first time I had seen any kind of beer other than cider and premium lagers. Now I was seeing beers with strange names - Dogs Bollocks, Fursty Ferret, Black Sheep. As part of my job, I was encouraged to try a little of each so I could comment on the taste - and there and then, a taste for real ales was born .

Back to the present now, passing over a relationship with an alcoholic that further dissauded me from getting rat arsed. I now drink a mixture of lagers, ciders, and real ales . I do probably drink too much - don;t get me wrong, I'm not a binge drinker, and I rarely get drunk (and never stupidly so) but I am one of those people who likes to relax at the end of the day with a nice refreshing beer. And now I'm going to tell you about some of my favourites .

Abbey Beers
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I love abbey beers - not just for the taste, but because there is such a history behind many of the brands, going back centuries. It's lovely to know the history of a brewery with any beer, but with abbey brewed beers you get a whole load of depth - not only information about the abbey itself and of course the people that live and indeed work there, but also an insight into the events of the time .

For the sake of convenience, I am also including Trappist beers in this category. There IS a difference . Trappist when used in beer terms is a controlled term of origin, meaning it refers to where a beer comes from, rather than it's style . It means that the beer is brewed by a Trappist monastery, with the monks playing a key role in it's production, and with profits being channelled back into the monestary or it's outside projects

Abbey beer by contrast, does not have to be actually made by the monks . It can, for instance, be brewed FOR the monastery by an outside brewing company with profits going towards the monks , or it can even just be beer brewed on the site of an old abbey . Many beers commonly referred to as abbey beers , although having roots in monastic brewing, have become large corporations and are no longer made by monks.

My favourite Trappist brewery is Chimay .One of the most famous of the lessening number of monasteries still making their own brews, the art of brewing Chimay beer goes right back to medieval times, where monasteries were mainly self sufficient, providing their own crops, food, and drink. They also tanned their own leather, baked their own bread, and provided accommodation (the medieval B&B) for tired travellers.


In the Middle Ages, it was foolhardy to drink water, as it was filthy, full of human waste and rotting animal carcasses. You risked all kinds of horrible diseases, so it was much safer to make and drink beer, as the brewing process killed some of the nastie's lurking in the water source. The monks having their heads screwed on decided that as their beer was so good, they may as well flog it and went into brewing on a larger scale, and are still at it today. The abbey was the first to sell its beer to the general public and label it Trappist. (Not very friendly when drunk these fellows...as Trappist aren't allowed to talk...stony silence ensues.)

The monks that make Chimay are located at the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Scourmont, which was begun in 1850 and is situated in Belgium close to the border with France. Like all beers, fermenting an extract of sprouting barley creates it, and then seasoning is added along with the hops to create the distinctive taste. Yeast is then added to produce alcohol and the 'fizz'. from the sugar.

I personally would recommend Chimay Rouge which has an alcohol content of 7%. The colour is really quite spectacular; a vibrantly rich reddish brown, and there should be a layer of creamy slightly off-white froth, and although is needs to be slightly fizzy it should not be overly gassy. The colour always reminds me a little of cherries, or perhaps coffee, in its richness and depth . The head should coat the glass as you drink, leaving behind it a lacy cream coloured residue.

The aroma is spicy, yeasty and malty with a sweet and fruity undertones, which makes me think of plums, cherries and raisins. The aroma is not overpowering but it is still definitely there as you take a sniff.

Chimay is a fine beer and as such it should be sipped and savoured rather than swilled down. The first taste that hit my tongue was an overpowering (but not unpleasant) taste of malt, which soon gave way to the delicious, subtler fruity flavours that make Chimay red so distinctive. It has so many flavours it's almost like drinking a wine, in that tasting it I can detect many other flavours, particularly caramel and honey. It's slightly sweet and the more the drink warms the more flavours and aromas become apparent. It's soft and smooth drink, with a subtle but nonetheless crisp fizz to it, and leaves a dry fruity aftertaste in the mouth. There is a hint of lemony bitterness in the attack, but this dissolves relatively quickly and the overriding quality is spicier, slightly cinnamon.


Real Ales
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'Real Ale' is a very hard to define thing . Everyone has a different interpretation of what 'real ale' actually means . If I were in a pub, I would classify real ale as a hand pulled beer, served ideally directly from the cask without any addition nitrogen or carbon dioxide to give it pointless fizz. If I were in a supermarket however, I would define real ale as something that comes in a hefty bottle (preferably brown to stop sunlight getting in and affecting the taste) and that doesn't neccessarily need any chilling.

I am aware that some people will disagree with my definitions, and there isn't a lot I can do about that . I am not a beer purist, nor do I claim to have any exceptional knowledge, other than that I have tried a wide variety of beers.

I particularly like to sample beers from breweries that are still independantly owned - one I tried recently was Harveys Christmas Ale , which, sadly, is only easily available in the sussex region .


Pouring it from the bottle into a glass , the colour is a rich dark reddish colour, and there is very little head to speak of. A sniff of this smells a little horlicks-like , with undertones of brown sugar, caramel, and spiced fruit . In fact, I would say it definitely has rather a festive scent to it .

Taking a sip, the first thing that is noticeable is that this beer tastes 'thick' somehow - there are a lot of flavours here that seem to coat the tongue.The first flavour I get is a strong sweet flavour, a little like black treacle, that slowly fades to a slight burnt caramel, before surging back with a fruity flavour . It does taste alcoholic, and although very flavourful I don't think I could drink an awful lot of this

For those who like a slightly sweeter tastem my recommendation would be Wells Banana Bread Beer , a relatively potent brew a 5.2 % ABV . I'd picked this up because I love Banana, and a swift glance at the label showed that as well as the obvious Malt, Barley, and Hops, this beer contained real banana. As well as, oddly, banana flavouring . Was I in for a double dose of banana joy ?

Well, I wanted to get stuck in and have a taste, so rubbing my hands together and gleefully grabbed the bottle - only to hit a pitfall . I'd forgotten to get the bottle opener out on the table ready . After a brief hunt around the house, it was located in the bathroom, and I returned downstairs to sample my beverage .

Taking a hearty sniff in the manner of the best wine gurus, I detected a whiff of something rich and sweet . I woudn't say the fragrance of banana hit me immediately in the face , more that it snuck up behind me in the manner of a furtive mugger, and somehow, before I could run, it was there .

It wasn't an overpowering scent, and slowly other scents crept in, a kind of caramel smell, which matched the amber toffee colour of the beer well . Pouring it into my glass, it didn't froth much. That didn't really concern me too much though, I want to drink refreshing wet beer, not annoying fluff.

On the initial sip, it just tasted beery and hoppy at first, but slowly, a mild banana taste danced along my tastebuds - but it didn't seem like real banana, more like the aftertaste left in your mouth after drinking a banana milkshake . It didn't have much of an aftertaste, and the little it did have didn't taste specifically of banana, I just knew I'd had a drink for a while .

The beer slid quickly and easily down my throat, no fizziness or anything, just a nice wet drink. It didn't seem to last me very long though - probably because I did like it an awful lot - after all, it comes in a pint bottle. I think it's definately an occasional treat though, rather than a session beer, and think this beer would benefit from being drunk on its own rather than with food, as the flavour is mild and could easily be obscured by flavours in food.

Lager
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Lager is so under appreciated. While I am mostly a real ale drinker, I can't deny that the cool refreshing lager has it's place . I have to admit I don't favour any particular brand here - but I do have a word of advice . Many supermarkets offer a really dirt cheap 'value' lager . I know times are hard, and we are in the middle of a credit crunch, but I really would not recommend drinking budget lager .

It generally comes unattractively packaged, with a harsh, somewhat soapy taste. It might put on a show with the initial fizz, but it always falls flat very quickly, and it normally has a percentage of around 2%.

I like my lager - in the correct setting . Generally, Lager for me is a drink I drink when I want to DRINK, when I want to neck vast amounts wuickly to get the buzz. It is not something I savour. But if you must drink lager, stick to the premium brands . If you're in a supermarket, then Carling, Fosters or Carlsberg are all decent brands, and are frequently on multi buy offers .

If you are in a pub, take a second to have a look - in the world of Lagers, there are some hidden gems , such as Staropramen , a really very lovely Czech beer that comes in at 5% . Not too strong, but not too weak either, it offers a crisp refreshing dance across the tongue, and is worth buying a pint of.

Whatever you drink, there is no reason to stick to any one brand . Any good pub will, if you ask, give you a small taster of a drink, so long as it is on tap , especially when it comes to real ales . This is a good way to try new things . Sadly, this does not work with bottled beers , and in this area you do have to sometimes just suck up a loss.

Don't be scared to try new things . Beer is a word that covers such a wide range of drinks, and it would be a real shame to limit yourself too much. Be brave, try something new!

5 *

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