I'm not a big lager fan.
Most of the stuff brewed in the UK 'under licence' tastes pretty insipid. Sam Smith's is okay and some imported lagers I've tried have been quite drinkable. Better in hot weather I suspect. Now the people that invented this lager stuff, the Czechs, are damn fine brewers, it has to be said, Budweiser, Herold, Lobkovicz are all fine beers, but I've recently tasted a lager that, in my opinion rivals the best of the Czechs. Zywiec from Poland:
This 5.6% pale golden beer with it's white foam head has the smell of malt and pea pods. The initial taste offers a complex mixture of sweet maltiness with a not unpleasant hint of grassy/hoppiness. The after taste is both slightly bitter and slightly metallic which helps to accentuate the other flavours rather than detracting from it.A couple of Polish lads (I use the term in a colloquial sense - we don't serve the under-age) who come into our shop think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. They claim it tastes good because of the mountain water that's used to brew it.
[Ed.: Here's what the advocatonians are saying. We have a great experience with this brew having worked in northern Poland in 1991. In those days supplies may not have been what they are now and I recall a batch of this which had cloves in it rather than hops. Yeesh!]
Comments
Alan - February 27, 2005 8:23 pm
Wouldn't that be the original Budwieser which is now sold in the USA as Czechvar I think.
Ale Fan - February 28, 2005 6:54 pm
I only recognise one beer called Budweiser, like I only recognise one Elvis as having talent. Neither of them originate in the USA
myrick - March 8, 2005 11:00 am
I'm also not a big lager fan, so I didn't sample the Zywiec lager when I had the chance. I regret that. But, as I noted in the previous post, the Zywiec Porter was one of the finest I've tasted; I'm not surprised to hear of other splendid stuff from them.
You're wrong about only one Elvis having talent though. Costello is by far my favourite Elvis, but in my old age I have started to smewhat appreciate the King. Also, Elvis Ramone (Clem from Blondie) provided a nice fill-in on drums while Marky was in detox.
Mike - March 13, 2005 8:05 pm
I tried a Zywiec last evening ~ I agree with the recommendation. Very tasty.