SalvaVida

Before getting to the meat of this entry, I want to let you all know to expect a hiatus coming up this week. It was great being able to write some entries during my spring break, but The Beerocrat has to hit the books again this week, so maybe expect one more entry this week, then possibly irregular updates until mid-May.

Stumbling along Reno's Irish Row this St. Patrick's Day, I stopped in the King Ranch market to see if I could grab some more Guinness to continue the celebration at a friend's house. I figured they'd have some because everyone's a little bit Irish on St. Paddy's Day, right? Apparently not there; all they had were Latin-American beers and your typical domestic fare. In my semi-drunken state, I remember staring in awe at the number of different countries that were represented, which I guess makes sense, considering it serves a sizable Hispanic population nearby. For some reason, the Honduran beer SalvaVida caught my eye, so I grabbed a 6-pack.

The story of the Cervecería Hondureña is interesting. The Standard Fruit and Steamship Company started the Compañía Industrial Ceibeña in 1902 to produce electricity, water, ice, soft drink, and cold storage service in Honduras. In 1915, the government of the banana republic declared that the CIC could market and produce beer, and they did just that, with their first beer, SalvaVida (meaning "lifesaver") brewed the following year. In 1935, the CIC merged with the Cervecería Unión combined to form the Cervecería Hondureña. In 2001, the brewery became a part of the SABMiller family of breweries, which probably brought the beer to the states for the first time. Just last year, the brewery won the gold medal in the Australian International Beer Awards for the large brewery category, and its Imperial lager won the lager category (Cervecería Hondureña History and SalvaVida pages, the AIBA 2009 awards announcement)

Here come the stats:

SalvaVida
BREWERY: Cervecería Hondureña, S.A. de C.V., San Pedro Sula, Honduras
U.S. IMPORTER: G.K. Skaggs, Inc., Irvine, CA
STYLE: Lager
FIRST BREWED: 1916
CALORIES/SERVING: ~170 per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.8%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS: "Caramelized malt"
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 46°F (8°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

Everything except the bitterness, original gravity, hops, food pairings, and awards came from Cerveceria Hondureña's SalvaVida website. I will need to either e-mail the brewery or call/e-mail the U.S. importer for the rest, if they'll give it up.

Like most Latin American pilsners, SalvaVida poured a dull golden color into my glass. It had an almost non-existent bubbly white head that dissipated almost immediately. The beer's nose smelt very strongly of hops and metal, once again very characteristic of a pilsner from that part of the world. The taste of the beer was also hoppy and metallic with a malty undertone and a carbonated mouthfeel. At first, the taste was mostly clean and crisp with almost no after taste. However, as I drank more of the beer, it started to taste bitter, and the aftertaste built on itself.

With exception of the finish, this beer is largely interchangeable with most other Central American beers I've had, and I imagine if I had some burritas, Honduran tamales, or pastelitos de carne (similar to El Salvadoran papusas, I believe) it may have complemented it better. Still, if you're interested, pick one up at your local Hispanic store.

¡Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo!

Famosa (Gallo)

This is a beer that recently was distributed to the Reno area, or at least to my favorite beer store, Booze Bros. I was in the mood for a Latin American lager, I saw the bottle, I saw the country of origin as another I can check off my list (Guatemala, by the way), I purchased.

Famosa (Spanish for "famous") is the export name for a beer Guatemalans call Gallo (Spanish for "Rooster"), explaining the black stylized rooster on the bottle. Why there's a stylized rooster on the bottle, I wasn't sure, so I had it explained to me by a brewery spokesperson. I originally thought that the rooster was in fact a Resplendent Quetzal, Guatemala's national bird, whose image adorns the flag, coat of arms, and currency (which is also named the Quetzal), but I was wrong. In 1896, one of the family members of the brewery owners (not mentioned, but I assume it's the Castillo family; read on) decided to put a rooster on the bottle of their "Lager-Bier", I imagine as a sort of trademark. Ten years later, people started asking for a beer "with the Rooster on the bottle," eventually being shortened to "The Rooster," and thus, the name El Gallo was born. (E-mail to Central Beers)

The brewery itself was established in 1881 by Mariano and Rafael Castillo Córdova as Castillo Hermanos, with German brewmasters Herr Stiller and William Spitz arriving in 1895. The beer now known as Gallo in Guatemala and Famosa elsewhere was first brewed in 1896, and it has won numerous awards since. According to the Famosa spokesperson, the brewery is now owned by the 4th and 5th generations of family members, and it is one of only two independent breweries in Latin America. (Gallo beer information; I did my best with the translation, but if anyone can assist, I would be grateful)

Here come the stats:

Famosa (Gallo)
BREWERY: Cervecería Centro Americana, S.A., Guatemala City, Guatemala
US IMPORTER: Central Beer Import and Export, Inc., Miami, FL, USA
STYLE: Lager
FIRST BREWED: 1896
CALORIES/SERVING: 145 per 12 oz. bottle (135-155 on average)
BITTERNESS: 20 IBUs (18-22 on average)
ABV: 5%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 11.5° Plato (1046.47)
MALTS: Malts from Denmark, Sweden, and Germany
HOPS: Hops from Yakima Valley, Washington
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 32-41 °F (0-5 °C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Guatemalan food, but also "sea food, Italian pasta or steak" among other things
AWARDS: 25 Monde Selection awards since 1967, including 21 gold medals (which itself includes 10 straight golds), 1 Great Gold medal in 1992, and the Crystal Prestige Award; 1914 gold medal at the Panama Pacific International Exhibition

All information, except for the OG, malts, hops, and serving temp, came from Central Beer's Famosa website; the rest came from an e-mail to the importer, Central Beer Import and Export.

The beer itself poured a clear light golden color that bubbled up into a nice clean white head. The scent of the beer reminded me of many a pilsner and Latin American lager I have drank, which makes sense considering this is your basic Latin American lager. The beer itself tasted of carbonation and a slight hoppiness with just a hint of malt. The good news is that the aftertaste was not overly bitter or metallic, a problem that befalls many beers from this part of the world (my theory is that it has to do with the water). It was a light hoppy aftertaste that lingered for a little while.

Overall, not a bad beer, but I imagine that the entire experience would be greatly improved served alongside some tamales or chile rellenos or other Guatemalan food (and yes, apparently most Guatemalan food is also Mexican food). Certainly far from the worst Central American lager I've had. Your favorite Guatemalan restaurant or Latin American grocer probably has this beer, so pick one up.

¡Salud!

Saigon Export

Recently, I was at the Golden Flower Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Reno, enjoying some of their delicious phở. When I went to pay, I looked over in the cooler next to the counter, and something caught my eye. Next to the "33" Export (which I reviewed back in October 2008) was a bottle with a similarly-designed label: Saigon Export. I decided I needed to buy a bottle and try out another beer from Viet Nam.

Unlike the French-Australian-Vietnamese-whatever brewing situation of "33" Export, Saigon Export's label actually matches what it says in RateBeer's The Beer Guide; it is actually brewed by the Saigon Beer Co. (or "Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corp." on the label, or its abbreviation of "Sabeco"), actually based in Saigon (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City), actually in Viet Nam. I was able to find that Sabeco brews both Saigon Export and "333" Beer (according to this Reuters report about Sabeco's IPO), which adds a new wrinkle to the "33"/"333" brewing situation; this means I may need to update the entry.

Furthermore, I found Sabeco's Vietnamese site and, thanks to Google Translate, I was able to cobble together a little more info about the beer and its history; apparently, Sabeco was formed in 1977 from a merger the Official Southern Beer-Wine Company (I think that's how it's translated) and the Cho Lon Beer Factory; I assume that it was around this time that Saigon Export was created. I could be wrong, so I may need to verify this info with the US importer. (Saigon Export page, Sabeco History, both pages in Vietnamese)

Here come the stats:

Saigon Export
BREWERY: Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corp., Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
US IMPORTER:
STYLE: Rice beer, lager
FIRST BREWED:
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.9%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS: "Malt"
HOPS: "Hop"
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 50-54°F (10-12°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Vietnamese food, I suppose
AWARDS:

I got name, importer, ABV, malts, and hops off the bottle, and serving temperature from Sabeco's Saigon Export site. Is there more to come from the U.S. importer? Stay tuned!

This beer started off similarly to "33" and other Asian lagers I've had, mostly in keeping with the golden color and bright white bubbly head that dissipated rapidly (although I am trying to pour my beers better). However, the similarities between Saigon Export and the other Vietnamese beer end there. I caught a big whiff of a hoppy but overly metallic scent that turned me off; now it was starting to remind me of Central American lagers. The taste certainly exuded that same metal undertone along with more carbonation, like a pilsner. Finally, the aftertaste that lingered was more metal, as if I had been sucking on a penny.

Overall, Saigon Export was a very disappointing brew. I had high hopes for this beer ever since I had "33", but unfortunately it reminded me about the worst attributes of various beer styles I've had: The inconsistencies of some Asian beers, the poor water quality of some Central American beers, and the metallic taste of Eastern European pilsners. Maybe it goes better with Phở, I dunno. All I know is, I'm grabbing a "33" next time I'm at the Golden Flower. However, if you wish to try this beer for yourself, you can probably grab one at your local Vietnamese restaurant or Asian supermarket. Besides, it's not even nearly as bad as Korea's Hite Exfeel-S. But I still wouldn't spend $4 on this one.

Cạn ly!

(Today's foreign language lesson: Beer in Vietnamese is bia)

Blue Dawg Wild Blue

I have no idea where or when I picked up this beer, but I know that I got it at some point from a friend. I think it was the one who moved to San Diego four months ago because he gave me a few beers that were lingering in his fridge before the move. Anyway, when I was trying to figure out what to have tonight, I found the Blue Dawg Wild Blue blueberry lager in the back of the fridge and decided to give it a go.

It is allegedly brewed by the Blue Dawg Brewery out of Baldwinsville, New York. I say "allegedly" because the Blue Dawg Brewery is a special group within Anheuser-Busch. It may be brewed in Baldwinsville, but it's still a product of the big three. I wonder why A-B needs to hide behind an obscure brewery to produce a decent beer; my guess is that the beer snobs would never go for a Budweiser Blue Lager because they hate the big three, and the economy/regular beer drinkers would get Bud, Busch, or Natty Light instead. Coors takes a similar line with Blue Moon, and I'm sure Miller has a similar situation with some craft beer, although none come to mind at the moment.

After digging a little, I found some information about this particular beer. It was first brewed in 2005 and released to a few cities in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, after which it was further test-marketed in St. Louis in December 2007; it was nationally released last year. A-B decided that it was good enough to put in the Fruit Beer category at the 2006 North American Beer Awards. It was a smart decision too, winning the gold that year. (Wild Blue product info)


Here come the stats:

Blue Dawg Wild Blue
BREWERY: Blue Dawg Brewey, Baldwinsville, NY, USA; Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, MO, USA
STYLE: "Fruit-infused lager"
FIRST BREWED: 2005
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 8%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS: 2- and 6-row barley
HOPS: "Aroma hops" from the Willamette Valley, "German hops" from the Hallertau region of Bavaria
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: "pork rib roast with fig and pistachio stuffing ... pork tenderloin with apricot mustard ... fruit salad with ginger syrup ... mixed-green salad with dried fruit"
AWARDS: 2006 NABF Gold Medal (Fruit Beer)

The bulk of this information came from the Wild Blue product info page. I will try to get some info from the brewery, but a lot will probably be proprietary, and besides, who at big three breweries ever listen to a little ol' blogger like me?

This beer caught my eye with its reddish-purplish color and light purple head, but now that I know it's by A-B, I'm sure that was an intentional gimmick; the color probably comes from the blueberry syrup that they added to the beer. The head itself was very bubbly but thin, and it didn't last long. It had the pleasant aroma of blueberries with subtle hoppiness. However, the beer itself was a little too carbonated and tasted too much like alcohol, although the blueberry flavor was the dominant one. The alcohol of this beer definitely settled towards the bottom, though, especially as the beer went flat (and it went flat quickly). The aftertaste was sugary and fruity, once again with the blueberry in the lead.

This beer was a little too sugary for my taste, seeming to be a step or two above Smirnoff Ice, mostly because the sugar didn't leave that weird residue in my mouth this time around. This is a beer for people who don't like the taste of beer, similar to lambic beers but produced like a macrobrew. If you want a fruit beer, you could try this one, but I'd stick to the real fruit beers like Lindemans.

Cheers!

Hinano Tahiti

When I was in Portland over Christmas, I went shopping at the local Cost Plus World Market to see what their beer selection was like compared to Reno. I have to say that while a lot of beers were the same, they had some pretty cool beers from other countries (I found a Norwegian beer named "Ø"!). One of my finds was a Tahitian beer by the name of Hinano Tahiti, which I snatched up.

From what I gathered on their website and on the bottle, this beer was first brewed in Tahiti in 1955. For the opening year they went all out, engraving their distinctive "vahine" (Tahitian for "woman" or "girl") logo onto their bottles and launching the Miss Hinano festival. They then expanded internationally: China got Hinano Tahiti in 1960, Japan in 1991, and France in 1992; it is unknown when it was imported into the United States for the first time. The 33 cL longneck bottle (the size I bought) was introduced in 1998. I still have no idea what "Hinano" means...it's probably Tahitian for something. I asked that question in the e-mail (Website)


Here come the stats:

Hinano Tahiti
BREWERY: Brasserie de Tahiti S.A., Papeete, Tahiti
U.S. IMPORTER: Young's Market Company, Orange, CA, USA
STYLE: Lager, maybe a pilsner
FIRST BREWED: 1955
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 5%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS: "Gold medal in Luxembourg, Brussels"

This information either came from the bottle or Hinano Tahiti's website, which is unfortunately Flash-based to prevent direct linking. I plan on sending an e-mail to both Brasserie de Tahiti S.A. and Young's Market Company asking them about additional information on this beer.

For an 11.15 oz. beer, this one almost overflowed my glass (probably because it took a little tumble just before I took it out of my beer fridge). It poured a pale yellow color, almost like a slightly opaque straw color, but the accompanying head was puffy, bright white, and long-lasting. The smell had a mixture of metal and citrus, which reminded me of pilsners. The taste pretty much reflected its nose, except I could taste the carbonation and bitterness. Its aftertaste originally held the same taste slightly, then changed to a wheaty taste, but after the first few sips, that pilsner taste was all I could taste (leading me to say "taste" six times this sentence...I think I need to go to bed). I'm sure part of the reason my tastebuds had trouble with this beer is that it was served just above freezing thanks to a fridge malfunction.

All in all, not a bad beer, especially if you enjoy those Central and Eastern European pilsners like Pilsner Urquell. Not my cup of tea, but people like bitterness more than I do. I have no clue on distribution, but it's probably only found in select stores on the West Coast.

Manuia!
–OR–
À votre santé !

UPDATE: Special thanks to Hinatea, who told me that "vahine" means "woman", "girl", or "lady", and that "cheers" translates to "manuia".

"33" Export

As summer turns to fall (or, in Reno, skipping fall entirely and segueing right into winter), light, summery beers fall by the wayside, giving way to thicker, darker, chewier beers that warm you from the inside out. I have plenty of those beers in my mini-fridge, but I wanted to have one last crack at a summery lager. That, and we were out at Vietnamese food tonight and the urge hit me to pick up the blog again.

The beer I tried is another of your standard Asian beers, "33" Export. Now, this beer is very confusing to me, especially trying to discern the origin. The bottle says it's from Vietnam, but RateBeer's The Beer Guide claims it's brewed by Heineken in Schiltigheim, Alsace, France. I also could find virtually zero information from what I would consider an official site. No brewery page, no importer page, no real whiffs of any kind on the information front. Heineken's French site is down (according to Archive.org, since February 12th of this year), and for some reason RateBeer is being flagged by Firefox 3 as being a malicious site, so I had to dig elsewhere. I tried going through Archive.org's caches of the site, except that since it's Flash-based, nothing loads properly, and the older ones I can get to work don't mention "33" at all.

The only thing I know is that the Vietnamese brewery that the bottle claims brewed this beer used be owned by Foster's (yes, that Foster's) but was sold to Singapore's Asia Pacific Breweries in 2006. They still make Foster's and other local beers, but no mention of "33" exists on their web site. The only other information I even have about it is a random Flickr picture of a French bottle of "33" complete with information...where the ABV on the bottle doesn't match the ABV in the photo comments. I think I believe the Flickr guy, though, when he says that Heineken France holds the recipe but VBL Tien Giang Ltd. holds a license, which allows the bottle to say "Product of Vietnam" on it. UPDATED See below (APB in Vietnam, random Flickr image)


(I took a picture on my cell phone at the restaurant, but it's a -3 megapixel camera, so this empty bottle shot is all you get this time around.)

Here come the (limited) stats:

"33" Export
BREWERY: VBL Tien Giang Limited, My Tho Industrial Zone, Binh Duc Commune, Chau Thanh District, Tien Giang Province, Viet Nam (yes, all that was on the bottle)
US IMPORTER: Nicolas Wines, Westport, CT, USA
STYLE: Lager
FIRST BREWED:
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.5%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS: "Malt"
HOPS: "Hops" (descriptive, no?)
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Vietnamese food, I imagine
AWARDS:

I got this information off the bottle, and also from a nice e-mail from Nicolas Wines (see below).

This beer pretty much looks like your standard Asian lager: bright gold in color, bright white head, hoppy aroma, the whole nine yards. At first, the taste was somewhat under average. Better than most beers I've had from the region (I'm looking at you, Singha and South Korea), but still somewhat pedestrian in taste. Then I tried it after I took a bite from my Srirachi and fish sauce-infused beef ball pho, and the beer took on an enjoyably sweet characteristic, almost champagne-like in transformation. The hoppiness of the beer lingered, but it wasn't distracting, probably because I shoveled another mouthful of hot noodles in my trap less than 10 seconds later.

I guess these Asian lagers are supposed to complement the dishes they are served with (hell, I guess that's every alcoholic beverage). Unlike some beers I thought didn't (once again, Singha...), this one paired very well with my pho. Does this mean that I'm off the micros and hitting the French/Vietnamese suds from now on? Um, no. Not quite. But I will admit it wasn't half bad...at least while my tongue was on fire.

Cạn ly!

P.S. I still have no clue what the "33" means. It might be the year of first brew. It might be the recipe number. It might be its Beverage Testing Institute score. It might be absolutely nothing, which is why it's in quotes. One for the ages, I guess. Raise a glass below if you have any ideas.

UPDATE: Imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from someone at Nicolas Wines, the official importers of 33 Export, without any prompting or nagging. They were able to confirm that the beer I tasted did in fact come from Vietnam's VBL, formerly Foster's Tien Giang. Also, they were able to shed light on the origin of "33"; apparently, it "refers to the size of the original bottles at 11.2 ounces, which is a third of a liter," or 33 centiliters. Makes sense if you ask me, although I'm waiting for one of the big three to call their beer "12." I guess stateside you can only use a number in the name if it refers to that beer's calories.

Thanks again Nicolas Wines for your submission! I raise my glass to you.

Full Sail Session Premium Lager

On Friday the 14th, me, my wife, and some family friends decided to drive down to Douglas County immediately south of Carson City in search of a neighborhood adorned with Christmas lights. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the neighborhood, or we did and they just weren't doing the lights this year, so the travel down south was a bust. However, we decided to stop in Carson at Red's Old 395 Grill. What's so special about this place? They boast an impressive "vault" of 101 beers, whether on tap or in bottles. They even have hundreds, if not thousands of bottles lined up along the wall.

I was beyond impressed and overwhelmed with all the choices that the restaurant had to offer, beer-wise. But I wanted to have a beer that I don't usually have the opportunity to snag. So I decided upon a Full Sail Session Premium Lager, brewed by the Full Sail Brewing Co. of Hood River, Oregon. I've had their Amber Ale before, and I've always wanted to try some of their other beers.

Full Sail Brewing was founded in the small Columbia Gorge town in old Diamond fruit cannery in 1987. At the time, Oregon was starting to become a beer haven and Hood River was gaining notoriety for windsurfing, which is why the brewery is named Full Sail. What really put Full Sail on the map was A.) their ability to put their microbrews in a bottle, something that critics said was almost impossible, and B.) Full Sail Amber's gold medal at the 1989 Great American Beer Festival. Still another milestone was achieved when the company became entirely employee-owned in 1999, with profits split evenly amongst its 47 workers, a fact that they boast on their web site and bottles. Recently they've brewed another beer, Session Premium Lager, as a hearkening back to the beers that were popular before the wrath of Prohibition. Like Red Stripe, this one is sold in a pre-Prohibition-era 11 oz. stubby bottle which helps it stand out amongst other beers. (Full Sail Story, Session Lager)


Here come the stats:

Full Sail Session Premium Lager
BREWERY: Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River, OR, USA
STYLE: Continental pilsner
FIRST BREWED:
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV:
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS: 2007 World Beer Awards (World's Best Premium Lager), 2007 North American Beer Awards Gold Medal Award Winner, 2007 L.A. County Fair Silver Award Winner, "a silver medal in a New Zealand international beer competition"

The awards came from the November 2007 newsletter (currently found here). I plan on placing a call to the brewery to pick up all the remaining information, as well as clarify the awards.

The beer arrived in the stubby bottle, which I poured delicately into the glass (see, I'm trying to improve my pouring technique), resulting in an amber colored beer with no head in a frosted mug. It had a relatively strong aroma of wheat and hops. The taste also had a strong wheat flavor with a hint of hops and strong carbonation. The finish was very smooth and grainy-tasting. The whole experience was very pleasing to the mouth.

I enjoyed this beer a lot, and it was a great thirst-quencher as I was waiting for my delicious chicken fajitas. Pick one up at a liquor store or grocery store near you. Your great-grandfather would be proud.

~Prost!

Henninger Premium Frankfurt Beer Lager

I needed to drown my sorrows after a heartbreaking loss by my beloved Seahawks to the Arizona Cardinals. Long story short, Matt Hasselbeck fumbled on a hand-off during a 20-20 tie with less than two minutes to go. If there was no fumble, the 'hawks would've probably been within field goal ranger, possibly even in touchdown range. But as it turned out, Arizona was the team that got within field goal range with 0:05 left on the clock and ended up winning the game 23-20. I needed a beer.

So I reached in my fridge and grabbed the first beer I could: a Henninger Premium Frankfurt Beer, a German lager in a spoilage-inducing green glass bottle. I actually couldn't find any information on the beer itself, especially on Henninger's web site. It may be known by a different name over there, I'm not sure. Just like the beer's name states, the brewery is based in Frankfurt. According to the (poorly) translated company history, the brewery traces its roots back to when Eberhard Stein opened his brewery in 1655 Frankfurt, which was the "germ cell of the mark Henninger." After the death of Eberhard's last descendant, Johannes Stein, in 1873, Heinrich Christian Henninger took over the brewery and named it after himself. In 2002, the Henninger brewery was brought under the Binding umbrella, the same company that brews Radeberger Pilsner (what I will be having Wednesday). Like many German breweries, Henninger follows the Reinheitsgebot, or the German Purity Law, that only states water, barley, and hops can be used in brewing beer. (Company history in German or English Google Translation)


Here are the (limited) stats:

Henninger Premium Frankfurt Lager
BREWERY: Henninger-Bräu, Frankfurt, Germany
FIRST BREWED:
CALORIES/SERVING: per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.8%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

Like a golden Guinness, this beer had a fantastic head, clean, white and long-lasting, retaining its shape for a full minute. The beer itself was a clear straw color. Its aroma had the odor of wheat and other grains. It's taste, while having an initial carbonated bite, was very light and not really there at all. As a matter of fact, it was kind of blah. It did have some beer taste, but it wasted away in my mouth. However, it also didn't leave much of an aftertaste. Unfortunately, as I drank the beer, one started accumulating in my mouth, but then again, that's what a lot of beers do.

In conclusion, it's not a great beer, but it's a decent lager. Don't get it for the taste, but get it if you want something other than the Big Three at a bar.

Prost!

Miller Chill Chelada

The first time I saw this beer was at the 2007 Great El Dorado BBQ, Brews, and Blues Festival in town a couple months ago. Miller Brewing had set up a tent that was promoting the crap out of this beer, offering free samples and various goodies for trying the beer (in a skunky beer-inducing green bottle!). I passed, not wanting to waste my tokens on beers I can get in the store everyday. Then, I recently got into a habit of wanting to review Latin-inspired beers (hence the Corona entry a couple days ago), and I wanted Miller Chill to be a part of the lineup.

The only problem was that I couldn't purchase a single bottle of the stuff. I went to five different stores in search of the single bottle. Wal-Mart had 6-pack bottles I could buy, but they wouldn't sell me one individually. (The moral: Never buy beer at Wal-Mart). The Albertsons nearby didn't even sell the brand. The Safeway nearby sold 12-pack bottles, but I didn't want to pry open the cardboard box just for one bottle. The convenience store near my house didn't sell the brand either. Finally, I ran into a Scolari's up the road from where I live, and I finally found a 6-pack they'd let me grab a single bottle from! They even said that it was their policy to allow single bottles to be sold just because other companies don't. Go to Scolari's instead to buy your beer. They usually have a good selection anyway.

The interesting thing about this beer is that it's a "new" style to America, called Chelada. It's a style of Mexican origin in the 1950's, the name being a combination of chela (slang for "beer") and helada ("iced"). It was beer served over ice with a squirt of lime in a salt-rimmed glass, the ice being integral to maximizing profits. A variation called michelada is served with tabasco and Worcestershire sauces in addition to the ingredients above. (Budweiser is currently testing a version of their Bud and Bud Light beers mixed with Clamato, lime, and salt, possibly in response to Chill; I found it at a local Hispanic store and will review it soon.) Miller decided to try an approximation of the original chelada by adding a dash of lime and salt to the beer itself and test-marketing it as Chill in several markets earlier this year. According to Miller's blog, it was so popular in those markets that they immediately took it nationally during the Summer 2007. As such, it may not be available everywhere nationally just yet. I know that it's not available in Canada yet either.


Here are the stats:

Miller Chill Chelada
BREWERY: Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI, USA
FIRST BREWED: 2007
CALORIES/SERVING: 110 per 12 oz. bottles
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.2%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

I got this information from the Miller Chill website (age check required). More may come from a phone call (there goes my lunch break tomorrow).

The first thing I noticed about the beer was its head, which was large and fluffy white in color atop the faint golden beer. Like the Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, the bubbles moved downward, which I thought was strange, but may not be as strange as I thought. The head also took a long time to dissipate. The smell reminded me of stale hops, not the fresh taste I normally encounter with beers. The taste, however, is its selling point; in spite of the fact that it is a light beer, it actually has some flavor to it. I could taste both the lime and salt mixed in with the beer (the salt was the harder to find), but it took getting past the over-carbonation to find them. The aftertaste was bad, bringing back the "stale hops" taste from the odor. But it didn't last, gradually fading away.

All in all, not a beer I'd drink on a regular basis, but kudos to Miller for actually developing a light beer that has a taste. If you really want to drink light mass-produced beer but want the taste (or if you're living in 2003 and still watching your carbs), drink this macrobrew.

Prost!

Corona Extra

Today, my wife and I had her parents over to our place for tacos and other stereotypical Mexican foods tonight, and, inspired by the delicious meal, I thought that I should follow it up with a stereotypical Mexican beer. Then I realized that I never had the quintessential Mexican beer, Corona Extra, before. So many Cinco de Mayo's have gone by, but I never picked up Corona...mostly because they were sold out, surprisingly. However, this time I happened to have a bottle left over from some party. So I ran to the store, picked up a lime, and prepared myself for a south of the border experience.

Corona Extra was first brewed in 1925 by Cerveceria Modelo of Mexico City, the same brewery that makes Negro Modelo and other beers well-known to Mexican restaurants. It is the number 1 selling beer in Mexico and the leading export brand from Mexico, and has enjoyed enormous success in el norte in the 1980's. It is now sold in 150 countries worldwide, including Iraq. Stateside, it's sold in traditional 12 oz. clear glass bottles (which induces spoilage) and smaller bottles, which are labelled Coronita. Incidentally, regular-sized Coronas in Spain are also called Coronita, but it's because the Spanish crown has a trademark on the word corona "crown." Their label says "La cerveza más fina," which means "The finest beer." The American slogan for the beer is "Miles away from ordinary," while the Spanish American slogan is "Orguillosamente Mexicana," or "Proudly Mexican." (Source, plus personal research)

Additionally, the preferred way to drink this beer stateside is with a wedge of lime stuck in the neck. There have been many theories on the origin of the lime, from keeping flies out of the bottle to cleaning the glass of unsanitary elements around the top of the bottle. All false. The reason has to do with the spoilage-inducing clear glass bottle. The lime is there to mask the flavor of the skunky beer. Interestingly enough, people in Mexico do not usually drink this beer with the lime.


Here are the stats:

Corona Extra
BREWERY: Cerveceria Modelo, Mexico City, Mexico
FIRST BREWED: 1925
CALORIES/SERVING: 148 per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.6%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 41-45°F (5-7°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Baked ham and salad
AWARDS:

Most of the information came from the Corona FAQ, and the rest came from Beers of the World.

The clear bottle does not leave this beer's color to the imagination, which is a clear golden hue. The head was a nice bubbly white color that actually took its time going away. I couldn't really smell much of an aroma in the beer until I pressed my nose almost up against the head, which revealed a faint grainy scent. Then I tasted the beer, and there really wasn't much there. It still had more flavor than, say, a Red Stripe Light, and it is the best of all the Latin American lagers I've had before (mostly because most beers taste like Corona knock-offs with some extra metal thrown in). However, that's not saying much. The aftertaste was a little grainy, but the beer was very blah. Even when I added the lime, it tasted like blah beer with lime.

The good news is at 4.6% it'll get you buzzed, but the only sacrifice is taste. While Corona is the gold standard for Latin American lagers, it's not even close to the best beer Mexico has to offer. Get a Negro Modelo the next time you're at the local taqueria. You'll thank me later.

¡Salud!

Red Stripe Light Lager

In my last (very long ago) post, I mentioned Jamaica's history from Arawaks to Ziggy Marley and everything in between. I also reviewed Red Stripe, the beer in Jamaica. For this one, I'm not only reviewing Red Stripe's lighter brother, but I will give you a paragraph or two of my observations of the island nation, which celebrated its 45th birthday on August 6th. Since I didn't get around to it in my last review, I'll also give you some background information on the brewery itself. If you wish to skip these thoughts, click here to skip right to the beer.

I had heard of Jamaica's poverty long before I came here. The web comic Least I Could Do had a story arc where the main character Rayne and his best friend Noel traveled to a Jamaican Sandals resort for couples (though they themselves are not one...hilarity ensues). After they arrive at the airport (presumably Montego Bay's), Rayne notes the rampant poverty that was evident immediately upon leaving baggage claim. It was this image that ran through my head as my wife and I traveled by a hot, humid Japanese bus along the A1 from Montego Bay to our resort.

Well, that and my memories of a church mission trip I made to Tijuana, Mexico almost a decade ago. There were marked differences between Jamaica's north coast and the slums of Tijuana: the water's better in Jamaica (and won't give you Montezuma's Revenge), the Jamaican shacks have electricity (well, most of them), better roads, better scenery, and the air was fresh and clean, unlike south Tijuana's air, which smelled like a garbage dump. But, in both cases, the people were very happy, or at least seemed that way. They were down-to-earth, hospitable people who made do with what they had.

Jamaica, like Mexico, can tend to get a little violent. When I watched the TV-J 10 o'clock news in my room, the lead story was that of a multi-victim drive-by shooting in Kingston (which, as I mentioned previously, is the most dangerous city in the West Indies). No motive was given for the shooting; it appeared to be a random act of violence. I was initially shocked that such a thing could happen, but then I remembered that many of these things happen everyday in any major U.S. city and that they too are splashed across the top of the local news. "If it bleeds, it leads" must be a universal saying in the news industry.

Other news was much more positive. Barrington Irving, a Jamaican-born pilot, became the first black man to fly solo around the world. The Jamaican cricket team was doing well, or so I was told. It is an election year, so politics were abundant, first with a story on one of the Prime Minister's bodyguards who was accused of stealing cars, and then with the race between candidates in the JLP (Jamaican Labour Party, conservative leaning, symbolized by the Liberty Bell) and the PNP (People's National Party, democratic socialist leaning, symbolized by the Head) that was hotly contested. Internationally, floods in India and Bangladesh and the recovery effort of the Minnesota I-35W bridge disaster were reported. What surprised me was the lack of weather coverage, especially since the island is in hurricane-infested waters, but then again, since the average temperature is between 86 and 90°F, it may not be needed.

(NOTE: This was written before Hurricane Dean came within 60 miles of Kingston, meaning it pretty much hit the island.)

Jamaica has an interesting dichotomy between the massive multinational beach front resorts (or the massive foreign-owned mansions) and the ordinary citizens struggling to make enough to live. The Jamaican government appears to be making progress in some respects. Unemployment has apparently been cut in half over the past 20 years, tourism is thriving (at least it was before Dean), and infrastructure, such as new high-speed tollways, are at least partially open. Each party appears to have a plan to improve schools and health care. However, as in the U.S., there is skepticism over whether any changes will take place for the better. As our bus driver said on the way back to Montego Bay, "They're all the same." Spoken like a true cynic.

In conclusion, Jamaica is a land not unlike my own, but with many differences. They have remarkable beaches that are almost too good that are almost too good to be true, but everything has a price. Sports are different, where cricket and fútbol are the dominant pasttimes, and the people are easy-going and understanding. Just don't forget to tip.

Now, on to the beer.If you wish to display these comments, click here to expand them out. Anyway, on to the beer.

The Red Stripe Brewery is based out of Kingston with plants on the north coast (we passed one between Montego Bay and our resort). They also have a brewpub in the Montego Bay airport (probably Kingston's too). It was founded in 1918 by Kingston natives Eugene Peter Desnoes and Thomas Hargreaves Geddes, and the first version of Red Stripe was brewed a decade later, an ale too strong for the locals. Paul H. Geddes created the smoother lager in 1934, which they've used ever since. The brand was shown prominently in the 1962 Bond movie Dr. No, which was based mostly in Jamaica. Its American slogan is "Hooray beer!" and the Jamaican one is "Don't just live, live red."

In the past year or so (few years?), the folks at Red Stripe released a light version of their beer, the unimaginatively-named Red Stripe Light. As of this writing, it's unavailable stateside. Aside from the Desnoes and Geddes logo and the familiar Red Stripe text on the bottle, not much is recognizable. The bottle shape is of the everyday tall variety, as opposed to the distinctive stubby bottle shape of its regular counterpart. The glass color is also different, being clear instead of brown. Not a wise choice, seeing as how brown bottles prevent spoilage by sunlight, which is something that clear and green bottles are notorious for. My guess is that these changes were made to differentiate the two in a market or pub that dominantly serves Red Stripe. The clear glass especially does the trick, especially considering those limited edition regular Red Stripe bottles that are in the tall variety but still retain their browned glass.


Here are the stats:

Red Stripe Light Lager
BREWERY: Desnoes and Geddes, Kingston, Jamaica (a member of the Guinness family)
FIRST BREWED: 2001 at the latest
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 3.9%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

When I poured this beer, its color was a clear light golden, but I was especially disappointed with the head. While it was a clean, white color, it wasn't as fluffy or as long-lasting as regular Red Stripe's. It looked more like a series of bubbles than a head, which quickly dissipated. The beer itself almost tasted like water with a little beer mixed in and reminded me of many a Latin American lager, but brewed with better water and without a metallic taste. The good thing about no taste, however, is no aftertaste. It finished clean with no bad memories lingering on my taste buds.

So, if you have an affinity for Central American beers, or don't like any beer that will potentially get you drunk, then this beer is for you. Otherwise, stick with plain ol' Red Stripe to get beer that tastes, well, like beer. I will.

Ya mon!

Red Stripe Lager

First of all, I'd like to say that I'm sorry the beer reviews haven't exactly been flowing in. I've been a little busy with my wedding and its preparation to write in the blog. Rest assured that beer did play a prominent role in the bachelor party and the wedding, which was stocked with Widmer Hefeweizen, Sam Adams Boston Lager, and Bud Lite (not all of us are beer snobs), along with some random leftovers. Most of the whereabouts of these beers are unknown, presumed consumed.

So as a treat for you, I have not one, but two beers reviewed coming up. Not only are these beers from a foreign country, but the reviews themselves originated in a foreign country: Jamaica. This act shows to what lengths I will go to ensure that this blog is internationally focused on the merits of beer. (Also ignore the fact that I went to Jamaica on my honeymoon. Totally unrelated.)

Because I think it's interesting, I'll give a little background of Jamaica's history. If you wish to skip these thoughts, click here to skip right to the beer.

Jamaica is a little bit of paradise nestled just below Cuba and east of the Yucatán Peninsula. The island has been blessed with crystal clear Caribbean water, lush green forests, beautiful white and black sand beaches, and bright color tropical flowers. Such a veritable jungle couldn't be left alone to the native Arawaks, who called it Xamayca, or "land of wood and water," so the Spaniards, following Christopher Columbus' visits to the island in 1494 and 1503, colonized the island as Santiago ("St. James"), albeit half-heartedly. Columbus' family was offered the island in return for his services to the Spanish crown, but were angered with the lack of immediate profit on the island (read: gold and silver), so they did nothing but turn Jamaica into a cruelly-ruled Spanish colony and decimate the Arawak population, who was replaced and/or supplemented with African slaves.

The Jamaican peoples' fortunes improve a little when a British armada arrived on the island in 1655, overrunning the Spaniards in just one day. The Spanish colonists fled to teir other holdings, mostly in Cuba, though some stayed on the northern coast in secret, fighting a couple of battles for the island beginning in 1657. They were defeated by the Brits by 1660, and the Spanish once again retreated to Cuba. The British saw potential in Jamaica, especially in sugar cultivation, so in 1661 they appointed a governor who directly reported to the crown, and all children born to British subjects in Jamaica were free citizens of England.

The plight of the Jamaicans was not over, however. A slave rebellion was crushed in 1690, a major earthquake destroyed Port Royal (near Kingston) in 1692, a massive fire destroyed what was left of Port Royal in 1704, and the Maroons (escaped slaves and their descendants who live in the eastern mountains of Jamaica) were captured and killed during a fierce battle in 1734. Their fortunes improved with a 1739 treaty that gave the Maroons semi-autonomy over their territory, which is still enforced today. Jamaica's population continued to grow as American colonists loyal to Britain left the U.S. during the Revolutionary War to emigrate to Jamaica. The economy started to slump, however, as sugar prices dropped and slave ownership was outlawed in all British territories by 1838.

Determined to keep Jamaica modern, the Brits established a telegraph service between the island and Europe in 1869, and introduced coins backed by the Bank of England soon after. Roads, employment, education, tourism, and irrigation all improved in the late 1800's. Then, as luck would have it, another earthquake hit Kingston, destroying it. The British Parliament and the Church of England sent lots of poundage to rebuild the city exactly as it is today (well, the street plan anyway). Jamaica made contributions to the two World Wars: aiding the Brits in Palestine during WWI and supplying the Allied forces with bauxite (aluminum's raw material) and workers in munitions factories in WWII. Suffrage-wise, Jamaican women won the right to vote in 1917, three years before it was allowed in the United States, and universal adult suffrage came about in a new constitution in 1944.

Still, the Jamaican people clamored for independence, and they received their wish, first in 1957 with autonomous internal self-government, then with true independence on August 6, 1962. The British crown was still the official head of state, and still is today. (This is a characteristic of former colonies, albeit a highly resented one in Jamaica, as evidenced by the controversy over this policy when Queen Elizabeth II visited the island in 2002.) Britain's Princess Margaret and the United States' Vice President Lyndon Johnson observed the changeover that day. In 1966, Haile Selassie I, the emperor of Ethiopia, visited Jamaica, bring along with him his religion, which many Jamaicans converted to after his visit. This religion focuses on sacramental marijuana smoking, Ethiopia-specific Bible passages, and the "I" (inner divinity), and in 2003 there were 265 thousand believers. You may know it as rastafarianism, named after the Ethiopian emperor Selassie, formerly known as Ras Tafari.

Now this is where I veer off the Frommer's-inspired history a little bit. The 1980's was a very dangerous time to be a tourist in Jamaica. Kingston, its capital, was (and still is) the most dangerous city in the Caribbean. Many Jamaican resort cities, such as Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril, weren't much better. Crime was high, unemployment was high, and the island suffered major damage from Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. In the 1990's, however, the island started turning around. Infrastructure was rebuilt, resort cities hired extra cop patrols to reduce crime, and unemployment was eventually cut in half. Violence continues to flare up occasionally, and Kingston is still bad, as are many touristy areas at night. Muggings aren't uncommon, but the most you may encounter is someone trying to hock a conch shell or write your name on a piece of wood (don't accept either).

Now, on to the beer.If you wish to display these comments, click here to expand them out. Anyway, on to the beer.


There are a few defined constants in Jamaican culture. The national food is salt fish and ackee. The other national dish is jerk chicken. The national fast food is the meat patty. The national pasttime is cricket. And the national beer is Kingston's own Red Stripe. This stuff is sold everywhere on the island, and is the dominant beverage on signs for convenience stores and pubs. It's Bud's cooler, better-tasting, Caribbean-accented Jamaican brother, and it is a source of pride for all Jamaicans. It is a big supporter of Jamaican sport, including Cricket, which is another source of pride especially when they beat England. It is a sponsor of the 2007 Cricket World Cup (the link may not work correctly until after you have verified your birthday and re-entered the URL), which is held in the West Indies, and they released a special collector's edition bottle in celebration. "Hooray beer!" indeed.


Here are the stats:

Red Stripe Lager
BREWERY: Desnoes and Geddes, Kingston, Jamaica (a member of the Guinness family)
FIRST BREWED: 1934 (its current incarnation)
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.7%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 39°F (4°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

The first thing that I noticed about this beer was its large white head. It managed to retain its shape and puffiness even as I downed the beer. It was brewed a clear golden color. Its taste was not bitter, but didn't have anything extremely memorable. Anyways, it's still better than most stateside macrobrews (I have a weakness for regular Coors...is that bad?). Its finish was clean, leaving a slight bitter hoppy aftertaste, though it didn't linger. A word of advice: drink it cold, like D&G recommend.

In the end, Red Stripe is a great beer to quench your thirst whilst you're eating jerk chicken on a warm Caribbean evening. It may not be the best beer in the world, but it's a step above most beers from south of the Rio Grande/Gulf of Mexico.

Ya mon!

Cerveza Quilmes

On a recent trip to Sacramento, I wandered into one of the best beer stores in Northern California: BevMo!, a liquor, beer, and wine store. I tell you this: When I saw their beer selection, I was a kid in a candy store. I've never been giddy about much in my life, but I was giddy about their beer selection. I couldn't decide on one single beer, so I found a "beers of the world" 10-pack, featuring South American, European, and American beers. One of those beers is an Argentinian selection, Quilmes.

Originally brewed by the Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes in the Quilmes district of Buenos Aires, Argentina (hence the name) in 1890, Quilmes Cerveza is a light lager that has become the pride of the South American nation. Quilmes is the beer in Argentina, sponsoring the national soccer team and even using the country's colors on its label. The brewery itself was opened in 1888 by German Otto Bemberg. The brewery produces other Quilmes brands, including Quilmes Bock and Quilmes Stout.



Here are the stats:

CERVEZA QUILMES
BREWERY: InBev/Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
FIRST BREWED: 1890
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.9%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS: Bittering: ; Aroma:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Potato Chips

Not much is known about this beer, but I will fire off an e-mail (in bad Spanish) to try and fill in some of those blanks. The ones that are there are from Beers of the World, the Quilmes website (http://www.quilmes.com.ar, in Spanish), or the Quilmes label.

The instant I poured the beer, I noted a faint aroma that reminded me of regular Coors. The beer was a nice golden color with a massive white foam. I felt that it had a nice light taste, not harsh at all, and had a nice aftertaste that tasted like grains. Becky, my fiancée, also tasted the beer and described it as a light summery beer with no aftertaste, perfect for relaxing. I am inclined to agree. Who knows, I may even stock my next barbecue with coolers full of Quilmes.

Okay, probably not.

¡Salud!