Beer of the Month October - Lech

 October was a great month for the Delmark Crt Beer of the month club.  For the first time, we actually got a donation for the Beer of the Month.  Co-Founder Buzz's workmate, a native of Poland, bought back what she says is one of the world's finest beers.  This isn't a beer that we bought at the LCBO, this is a beer that was smuggled over all the way from Poland!  Is it illegal?  Are we going to go to jail for being an accessory to the crime?  Who knows, but FREE BEER!!!!  Always our favorite kind!

About the beer:

So this beer was first produced in 1629 by the Lech brewery.  Since then, tons of shit happened and this company merged with 100 other companies to form SAMiller.  They brew all kinds of stuff from Lech to Miller Chill to a beer interestingly named X-Cape.  

The Packaging:

Lech is a nice looking can.  It gets bonus marks for its educational value.  Buzz and I learned at least two Polish words that we did not know prior to tonight.  Want to know what is in Lech beer?  Well just look at the can and you will find out.  The ingredients are as follows:  Water, Barley Malt and Hops.  That's it.  Nice and simple.  So to all the pregnant women out there...  Did you ever wonder if it is okay to drink Lech beer while you are knocked up?  Well if you did, there is an excellent warning label to stay away for the duration of your pregnancy.  Have a look.

 Kinda hard to see but basically it is a picture of a pregnant woman (Probably as a result of a night at the bar drinking one too many Lech's) with a big don't sign around it.  Very nice!

There is also a website listed on the can.  Unfortunately it isn't a link to Delmark beer of the month (yet).  The website is http://www.talkingalcohol.com/.  If you follow this link you will get a wealth of information such as studies suggest that 25% of young adults in the U.S engage in binge drinking.  The other 75% are virgins.  Another interesting fact is that you can recycle and return and  If you happen to live in Sweden, you get 50 ore per can!  That has to be good.  We are going to pull the Kramar and Newman Michigan scam in Sweden.  The final thing we want to mention is there is a very nifty logo of two rams banging into each other on the top.  What does that mean?  Who the hell knows!

Package Rating:

The Pour:

Beer poured nice and easy.  It produced the desired amount of head (No joke this time).

Pour rating:

The Taste:

Now this is what we are talking about.  After several questionable beers, we have finally found a winner.  What we have here is a crisp, clean tasting beer, with no undesirable aftertaste.  This is the kind of beer you want to have after a tough day at the office/trade/welfare cheque came in and you can finally pick up your six pack.  Our only concern is that this beer might not be available in Canada.  We have determined that most foreign beers are in fact brewed in Guelph (more on that later) but we are not sure if that is the case for this one.  If it is not available here, the welfare people will have to save up at least 6 months of cheques to make the journey to Poland (we kid).  welfare people rejoice!  I have just discovered that this beer is available at your local LCBO store.  I am sure you are on a first name basis with them.

Taste Rating:

Summary:

Country of Origin: Poland (given to Buzz from a co worker who visited her hometown)
Capacity: 500 ml our half a litre
Cost: FREE as it was donated
Where: at any in home or external location
Smell: No Skunky overseas smell, very easy smelling when sampling
Foods: This would be great will Perogies, Calamari, Onion Rings and the REAL expensive $7.99 chicken fingers
Apparel: The best outfit when consuming LECH Brew is you should be wearing your best sweat shirt , short and wool socks with sandals for comfort and enjoyment.

Barry's Final Say:

Originally, I thought that this beer was the total package.  It had great packaging, nice pour-ability and a great taste.  Not only that, I learned from the can.  However, there is one thing that made me degrade its final rating.  The picture at the bottom with me with my tongue out....we took that at the end.  While taking it, a few drops of beer (the dregs if you will) landed on my tongue.  And it was not pretty.  In fact, it tasted quite bad.  So because of this, I am going to give in a final rating of 4 out of 5.

Barry's Final Rating:

.

Buzz's Fianl Say:
Well firstly it was a honour to have a co worker bring back from her homeland her genuine brew, Thanks Anna !! but in a nutshell I was very impressed with the overall taste, pour and most importantly after taste. No matter the season hot cold mild medium it would always be good tasting. My final rating is a 5 for 5 hive five score !!

Buzz's Final Rating:

Yours in Beer Drinking,

Barry "Lights Out" Flynn                                           &                                Robert "Buzz" Bezzant

Beer of the Month September 2010 - Bavaria

This month's beer comes from us all the way from Holland.....or The Netherlands....or the Dutch....they seem to call themselves something different every week.  It says Holland on the can so we will go with that.  So let's see, what is Holland famous for?  Well Amsterdam is the weed capital of the world.  At least according to Harold and Kumar.  They went there in the second movie.  Awesome film too.  Check it out if you get a chance.  Where was I again?  Oh yeah, Holland.  They have a good soccer team.  Too bad they choked in the world cup though. 

I looked up Bavaria on wikipedia and discovered that the brewery was founded all the way back in 1719 when Buzz was just 3 years old!  It is currently owned by the Swinkels family.  And the Swindels are a family I have never heard of.  Up until the 1970's, Bravia concntrated specifically on the Dutch market.  Today they are concerned with global beer domination as it is available in over 100 countries.  Should we be glad that the Swinkels shared their brew with the rest of the world?  Well let's find out!!!

The Beer Drinkers:



Barry "Lights Out" Flynn



Robert "Buzz" Bezzant







  

The Packaging:

I don't know about you, but this can looks an awful lot like Holland's more popular export beer....Heineken.  Same green colour scheme...similar lettering....very similar indeed.  There is an interesting logo on the lower part of the can.  It is half "S", half snake, all attitude.

The logo on the bottom earns a few points but Bavaria - come on - this can looks like Heineken 2.0!  But what's this?  Heineken was founded in 1873, over 150 years after Bavaria?  Who cares?  I still say it is copying Heineken

Packaging rating:

The Pour:

The beer did not pour smooth at all.  There is more head here than a Ron Jeremey film festival.  When I originally tried to pour the beer, it ran all down over the side.  My hands got all sticky from the spillage.  Probably the same way Ron Jeremey's hands get.....ah forget it!

Pour-ability rating:

Taste:

Dear Swindel family:

What have I ever done to you to deserve having this foul tasting abomination to touch my sensitive taste buds?  This beer is by far one of the worst beers I have ever tasted.  Buzz is perhaps the greatest beer drinking machine I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing.  And even he struggled to put this crap down the hatch.  If you think the taste is bad, wait until the after taste.  It stays with you FOREVER.  It makes you want to take another sip just so the agony of the after taste will stop.  Then you remember had bad it tastes.  And then the cycle repeats itself.  Maybe I am exaggerating here but in all honesty, this is not a very good tasting beer that has a nasty lingering after taste.  The taste did slightly improve with each swallow but really, how could it get any worse?  As bad as it was, Buzz and I managed to drink every drop because one of the rules of beer club is YOU DO NOT WASTE BEER!

Taste Rating:

Summary:

Beer name:  Bavaria

Style: Ale
Origin: Holland
Price Point: $2.50 CDN
Capacity: Tall Boy ml
Taste / Flavour: Too Strong
Body: Large
After Taste: Too much of an after taste
Foods to be have with this style of Brew: Maybe some ketchup chips or dill pickle to help balance the after taste
Where: Downtown alley
Retailers: LCBO

Purchased by: Buzz

Buzz’s Final Say:

The beer as soon as it hit my taste buds, left a sour puss expression on my face, the after taste was definitely not appealing to the pallet and buds. It was a sweet but sour combination when you took each sip. But I was a trooper and never like to waste any brew, so down the gullet it went.

Buzz's Overall Rating:

Barry's Final Say:

I have to say, I did not enjoy this beer at all.  If it was the only beer left in the fridge, (and I was already 10 beers in and really needed that 11th), I would drink it.  But there would have to be practically no other option.  And I'm talking there are no other beers, no gin, no wine coolers, no Zimas, no potatoes to make my own vodka, nothing.  In this situation, I would happily enjoy a Bavaria.  But unless you are in this situation, stay away.  But even though it is bad beer, it is beer....and beer is like sex.  Even when its bad, it is still pretty awesome!

Barry's Final Rating: 

August 2010 Beer of the Month - Ozujsko

About the Beer:

This month's beer of the month hails from the land of Croatia.  Where is Croatia you ask?  Buzz and I asked ourselves the same question.  We both thought it was in Europe.  I thought it was close to Russia while he thought it was near Germany.  I looked it up and I am still not sure!  We might not know our geography, but we do like our beer!  I looked up the beer on wikipedia and the article was about 15 words long.  All it really says is that it is a Croatian marzen lager beer that has been brewed since 1892.  It is also the official sponsor of the Croatian National Football team, which of course is soccer to us North Americans.  There was a link to their official website but the site was in whatever language they speak in Croatia.

The Beer Reviewers:

Barry Flynn

Robert "Buzz" Bezzant

:








           

The Packaging:

Overall the can was very appealing.  It had a nice contrast of yellow and red.  It also had some of the red and white checkers that the Croatian Football team wear as their national colours.  The red tab on the top was also a nice touch.  One other great feature is that there is a best before date on the bottom.  That way you know if you are drinking a skunky beer.  As you can see, our beer was certified fresh until January 3, 2011.

 Package rating:



The Pour:









I was quite impressed with the ease in which the beer poured.  Usually when I pour beer, I do it wrong and end up with half a glass of foam.  However with this beer, It poured quickly with the desired amount of head.  If only I could get the desired amount of head.....

Pour-ability rating:

The Taste:

Now this is where it gets interesting.  When the brew first hit my lips I thought, "hmmm certainly not the best tasting beer in the world.  No wonder the Croatian Football team didn't make the world cup.".  When I took the first mouthful, I really thought it was an ale.  Buzz read the side of the can (at least the little english we could fin on it) and it said it was a "Lager Hell".  Now I am not sure if a lager that tastes like an ale is what classifies a beer as "Lager Hell" but given the attractive can and the nice pour, the taste disappointed me.  I did find that the taste improved with each swallow but the first sip was nothing but a disappointment.  There was little to no after taste, which is good considering its mediocre flavour.
Taste Rating:

Summary:

Beer name: Osječko / Ozjecko

Style: Lager
Origin: Croatia
Price Point: $2.40 CDN
Capacity: Tall Boy ml
Taste / Flavour: Strong, bold and refreshing
Body: Medium
After Taste: little to none
Foods to be have with this style of Brew: Breaded Wings, maybe of Cajun variety
Where: Downtown Patio
Retailers: LCBO or local German Pubs

Buzz's Final Say:

After a hard day at the office or Trade I found that the first taste was a little strong, but as the pallet got wet after a few times, the taste was satisfying to swallow. I would purchase once in awhile, but not totally sold.”

Buzz's Overall Rating:

Barry's Final Say:

Overall I would have to say I was disappointed with the taste of this brew.  It looks good, pours well but the taste did not live up to the expectations.  It certainly wasn't a horrible beer but unless I am stuck in Croatia and this is the only beer available (and I don't see this scenario ever happening), I doubt I would go out of my way to have it again.

Barry's Overall Rating: