HOLSTEN MAIBOCK ~ HOLSTEN BRAUEREI

7% from Hamburg, Germany

This maibock (helles bock) was sampled from a 500 mL tin. It is advertised as being brewed under the German purity act and only contains four natural ingredients (water, malts, grain and yeast). The beer poured a clear medium amber yellow with an average size bright white head, which disappeared fairly quickly and left no lacing to speak of. That aroma in mostly pale malts, but there are also traces of cereal, bread, alcohol, corn, hay, honey and a little herbal/floral hop. The taste was somewhat sweet, with lots of malts and cereal. The alcohol makes an appearance mid swig and the finish has a light herbal/floral hoppiness to it. The body is medium as is the carbonation. This beer reminds me of an amped up adjunct lager - perhaps not the best example of the style. That being said, it is cheap and cheerful.

TATRA ~ GRUPA ŻYWIEC 

Tatra is a Euro Pale Lager made by Grupa Żywiec, a subsidiary of Heineken. Sampled from a tin, the beer poured clear golden amber with a thin head. The head left quickly leaving patches of lace. Nose is fairly mild with bready grains, light sweet malts, hay, and a tiny hint of lemon and very mild grassy hops. Flavour follows as expected: it tastes like a light Euro Lager. Sweet grains, pale malts, slight earthiness with a hint of hops. The finish is quick and has a strange sweetness about it. The alcohol is barely noticeable. The mouthfeel was fairly light and the carbonation was lively. Overall, I would prefer this to an American Macro; it had a little more backbone. The beer is drinkable, but it is very innocuous, and average.

5.5% from Żywiec, Śląskie Poland

TSINGTAO ~ TSINGTAO BREWERY 

青岛啤酒股份有限公司

Tsing Tao is China’s second largest brewery. It was founded in 1903 by German occupiers and settlers. It is a Euro lager. Sampled from a green bottle, the beer poured a very clear light golden yellow with a small white head, that had little retention. Mild malt, slight earthiness and rice and grains met skunk on the nose. The taste, which is very mild, included a tiny bit of graininess and some funky skunk. The finish was crisp, mouthfeel watery and carbonation was prickly. I am not a fan of the style, which I find less than mediocre but I suppose that a non-skunky bottle would pair well with some Chinese food.

4.7% from Qingdao, Shandong, China

GUINNESS DRAUGHT ~ GUINNESS

The first time I ever had Guinness (a very long time ago) I did not like it and avoided stouts for many years. It wasn’t until I had Dieu de Ciel!’s Aphrodisiaque that a new appreciation of the style began to develop. Sampled from a tin with a widget, (imported from Ireland) on a hot afternoon, the beer poured a dark brown-black, with a classic pillowy creamy beige head. The nose was quite mild with roasted barley/lightly charred toast, perhaps a little coffee, and a touch of malt. The taste was much lighter than I had remembered and followed the nose closely (mostly roasted malted barley and light hop bitterness). The beer is smooth and creamy, thanks to the nitro, but I still found it thin and watery. One of the best-known beers in the world – certainly not unpleasant, but doesn’t knock my socks off either.
4.2% from Dublin, Ireland

GROLSCH ~ GROLSCH 

BIERBROUWERJI N.V.

I drank these lots when I was younger but haven’t had one in years. I always loved the corked bottles – I even remember when they were porcelain- but this one was sampled from a tin. Sampled from a tin, the beer poured a clear golden straw colour with a moderate off white head. There was no lacing but lots of visible carbonation. Its smell was subtle, containing grainy malts, cereal and hay. The taste was light and contained notes of bread and cereal with a touch of caramel malt. A hint of lemon appears before light grassy hops rap things up. It has a crisp dry finish and a slight bitterness that lingers. The carbonation is moderate and the body is light. I would have this over an American or Canadian Macro any day, but overall, nothing to write home about.  Grolsch was founded in 1615 in Greoenlo. It was bought out by the deGroen family in 1895 – they held a large stake in the company until 2007. It now belongs to SABMiller Group.

5% from Enschede, Netherlands

DOS EQUIS SPECIAL LAGER~ CERVECERÍA CUAUHTÉMOC MOCTEZUMA S.A. DE C.V. a.k.a. HEINEKEN

Sometimes your lovely kind neighbour offers you a beer when you have been in an un-air-conditioned room in sweltering weather for what seems like an eternity. It doesn’t taste like much, no hoppiness, not much malt, thin body, vaguely sweet – but it is cold and wet and appreciated.

4.45% Monterrey, Nuevo León Mexico 10 IBU

HEINEKEN LAGER BEER

MACRO BREW ~ The local bar was giving out six packs as a prize, which how I ended up drinking Heineken – at least they were imported from Holland, not the ones made on licence in North America. Sampled from a bottle this Euro-lager poured a clear golden yellow with a thin white head. It was highly carbonated and the head left thin lacing around the top of the mug. The aroma is very mild as is the taste . There are faint grains and very mild unobtrusive floral hops. The flavour consisted of light grains, cereal, grass and pleasant noble hops. This is a really inoffensive beer that goes with a ton of foods and would be good for a backyard BBQ. Compared to Bud and Coors, I would pick this any day. Interestingly enough, Heineken was the first European import after prohibition was lifted in the US. Now the Heineken group owns numerous breweries around the world and is sold in more countries than any other beer. They produce well over 16 and a half billion litres of beer annually.

5% from Zoeterwoude, Holland Netherlands 19 IBU

STELLA ARTOIS ~ N.V. INTERBREW BELGIUM

A good friend has this theory about imported beers, the ones that are really popular in North America are the ones that the Europeans refuse to drink, so marketers tart up the image and try selling it In Canada and the U.S….he may be onto something. Stella Artois is marketed as a premium beer with lots of history, but the quality that may have contributed to its making is now gone. Stella is one of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (the largest brewing multi-national) largest sellers. Stella Artois was originally launched at Christmas in 1926. By 1960 one hundred million litres was being produced and after the takeover in a new fully automated plant, in 2006 production was over a billion litres. (According to wiki). The beer poured a translucent yellow with a thin white head. The aroma was light grains, light hops and light malt. Taste is a little sweet with light hop bitterness and a slightly metallic taste. The beer was highly carbonated and had a light body. It is inoffensive and still better than many macro brew lagers. In the land of so many great beers, I don’t understand why anyone would choose this first.

5.0% Leuven, Belgium