Type: Beer
Name: Mythos Hellenic Lager Beer
Price: $1.99
Made: Sindos, Greece
Alc/Vol: 5%

To this beer I say drink up, it is my way of supporting Greece in their time of financial crisis, for there is no better gulp of beer than one that helps another. This lovely beer was enjoyed on a hot day as I try to pawn off my belonging in a garage sale in preparation for my move. (Read why here) I used a screw driver to pop the cap off and gulped down my first sip as I sat in front of my former riches, giving me a King Kong complex of sorts. So what did I think of this self proclaimed, ‘ first authentic Greek beer’?

Even in my garage this beer had a sour, Heineken like smell that hit my nose right from the start. The taste however had a mild sweetness to it but that gave way to a bitter finish, all of which was very light. It was a smooth refreshing beer on a hot day which makes me like it but even under these circumstances I’m not a huge fan. Although, I’m not a big fan of Heineken either which this beer reminds me of, and after some research I’m not surprise to learn it’s a subsidary of Carlsberg. Which if you read my post on their Elephant Imported this one seems to be it’s long lost brother in beer.

Overall I give this beer 2.5 bananas out of 5. I had high hopes for this beer but alas, it seemed to be an Athenian tragedy in itself, that or I missed the plot somewhere to this beer.

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Mythos Hellenic Lager Beer is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Type: Beer – Belgian Dark Ale
Name: Rinkuškiai Werewolf
Price: $1.99
Made: Birzai Region Lithuania
Alc/Vol: 8.2%

This big bottle o’ beer knew how to get a drunken monkey’s attention – a big red tag that says, ‘Hey look at me I’m full of alcohol, good and strong not like that sissy crap that might as well be a Zima.’  OK so it actually just says 8.2% alc/vol however on the bottle it does say, “You must be sure you want to taste it.” Which I like because if the she-wolf wasn’t sassy enough that statement makes sure it is.  Truth be told the only thing out of Lithuania that I can name, other than this beer now, is Žydrūnas Ilgauskas who plays for the great Cleveland Cavaliers and I can’t even say his name I just say ‘Z’. Although,this could explain the giant bottle because if the average Lithuanian is 7′ 3″ tall then this wouldn’t seem like that big of a bottle.  So did this beer have me howling at the moon….

Not exactly. I liked the beer and expected a strong bitter taste due to the high alcohol content, but instead it surprised me with a soft sweet taste. The aroma was mild and sweet, which should have tipped me off that this was no malt liquor alcohol stooped broozer of a beer but instead a delicate flavor-full drink. There was only a hint of bitterness to it, with a spicy-hoppy flavor that rested in your throat. The flavor was hard to describe because nothing stuck out in the flavor, which gave me a 180 from what I was expecting.

It has been awhile since I’ve had one, but for some reason I kept thinking of a Sam Adams Winter Lager as something to compare it to. That sweet spiced flavor that was good but more of a specialty beer, not something that I would drink all night. To be honest by the end of the bottle I was done with this beer and ready to move on to a different drink.

I gave this beer a 3 out of 5 bananas, and even then I don’t know where to put it. It’s good but in small doses, full of flavor and spice but not distinctive and it has a high alc/vol but not a strong alcohol taste. I think I was more confused by this beer than anything else which is why it ends up somewhere in the middle. Have you ever tried this beer before, what’s your take on it – love it/hate it let me know and fling me your opinion.

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Rinkuškiai Werewolf is a post from: Monkey Brewster

OK,  whew breath monkey breath…

Back to the point, and yes I’m sure you are thinking Cinco de Mayo why not choose Corona. Well my furless friend, it is for the same reason I didn’t pick Guinness for my St. Patty’s Day NBT. Although, I didn’t venture far off because the makers of Corona, Grupo Modelo, also happen to make these two popular Mexican beers. I purchased a 6 pack of each costing $8.47 each so that I had fully completed some extensive research on this comparison, I take my research serious like any great scholar. Hmm Dr. Aesop research beerologist, I like the sound of that.

A notable aspect of these beers is the gold foil wrapping on the bottle neck which if not cleared off completely will end up mixed in your drink. This reminded me of a favorite Brazilian beer of mine, Itaipava, which always had a loose fitted foil wrap over the mouth of the can but those came off easily while the Modelo foil was stuck on there good.

What is your take on these two beers, did I insult your Cinco de Mayo favorite or did both of these beers leave the same dare to be average taste that I experienced. Leave a comment and let me know.

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: The Battle of the Modelos is a post from: Monkey Brewster

I feel pretty oh so pretty and witty and bright...

Type: Beer – Pilsner
Name: Stiegl Pils
Price: $1.59
Made: Austria
Alc/Vol: ?%

“World Classic Beer – since 1492″

“Imported beer brewed since 1492 by the Stiegl brewery brewed from malt, hops, yeast mountain spring water according to the ‘Purity Law of 1516′”
Now this is a beer that I thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of setting my paws on. I mean when Columbus was off getting lost and discovering inhabited lands by accident Austrians were stumbling onto a real discovery, beer. Golden delicious pilzen beer, sure beer has been around before 1492 but do you know of too many other beers still around from that time? I didn’t think so, which tells me one of two things either the Austrians know how to stick with a good thing that or they’ve been too drunk since then to create anything new.

This beer doesn’t feed you a story of collected from pure mountain spring waters of yadda yadda mountain. No it adheres to the purity law of 1516,  maybe it’s the history geek in me but I think that is pretty friggin cool, but enough about the history and onto the beer.

The beer had a good smooth hoppy flavor, not too strong, but with a good bitter taste with a dry finish. The more I drank this the more I liked it, which says a lot since I though this beer was delicious from first sip. It is simple but delicious, no fluff added to it and none needed either.

While other pilsner beers like Budweiser tastes watered down or Red Stripe has a cheap taste to it, this beer will bring serious beer drinkers to take a second look at where this beer came from. On the other hand, it is sad to see how far pilsner beers have fallen when succumb to commercial marketing, but fret not my thirsty friend for there are those that hold strong to their beliefs.

I dare say that this beer is worthy of the first ever, 5 out of 5 banana rating on New Brew Tuesday, I was leery at first to give out a perfect rating but after so deep personal soul searching and a watering mouth just from talking about this beer I realize it’s the right thing to do. Have you ever had this beer, what was your take did you love it as much as I did or would you not even fling this beer at an enemy?

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Stiegl Pils is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Left to Right: Swamp Fox IPA, Captain Porter, Savannah Fest and Wile Wacky Wit

Todays’ New Brew Tuesday feature is going to be a little different because we aren’t going to talk about single beer but four great selections that I had on a sampler platter at Moon River Brewing Co. in Savannah, Georgia. I know you’re thinking, “This monkey is flinging crazy talk” but it is true and I enjoyed each of these beers and what they had to offer. I had an average tasting meal of salmon and sweet potato fries with a cinnamon dipping sauce for lunch since this brewery had a bar and grill attached to it. The meal left much to be desired and left even less in my wallet but was saved by the beers. The bar keep was slow to ask if we wanted anything to eat or drink even though there wasn’t many people in the place, and I surely wasn’t in there just for the ambiance even if all the old beer cans/bottles gave it a cool look.

A Savannah side note, open container is perfectly OK as long as it is not in a glass bottle so if you don’t like the atmosphere of where you’re at you can always get your beer to go.

Type: Sampler Beer Platter

Name: Moon River Brewing Company

Cost: $7.50

21 West Bay Street
Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 447-0943

Beer: Captain Porter

Alc/Vol: 6%

This beer was a delicious porter that had less of a bitter hoppy flavor and more of a coffee like taste to it. I liked this beer as it was different from other stout beers that I have had in that it wasn’t bitter from hops nor too sweet, but just a smooth thick taste to it. It didn’t leave an overall huge impression on me but was good with my meal.

Beer: Wile Wacky Wit

Alc/Vol: 4.8%

This is a Belgian Wheat-ale with curacao bitter orange peel and coriander, or at least that is what I was told. I thought this was an OK beer had a mild taste and a yellowish tint to it. It was light, not a strong taste of hops but it didn’t have a watered down taste to it. This was no typical American light brand ale with a watery taste to it, it managed to keep a quality beer flavor in a subtle form.

Beer: Swamp Fox IPA

Alc/Vol: 7%

“Hop heads will enjoy this strong ale with assertive bitterness and huge floral, dry hop aroma” I really liked this IPA it was everything it promised to be and more, however the most amazing part was a non IPA drinker liked this beer. I was thoroughly enjoying this drink, hogging it all to myself under the assumption my friend didn’t like IPA style beer until she asked for a sip. Now I don’t want to give the impression that she loved it, but she didn’t dislike it either – if that makes any sense.

Beer: Savannah Fest Beer

Alc/Vol: 5%

This was the favorite for both of us, it calls itself a medium beer but it was banastic (that’s banana+fantastic which is pretty friggin awesome) in my book. This beer claims to make you crave bratwurst and Oompah music I’m not to sure of either because I was on a shortage of both but I did imagine hearing the an accordion and the sizzle of sausage when I closed my eyes.

I give the Moon River Brewing Co. 4 out of 5 bananas on the beer, but if I was to factor in the service and meal it would be a different story. Lucky for them beer makes me a forgiving monkey and a sampler plate was just what was needed to start off my first hour in Georgia.

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Moon River Brewing Co. is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Type: Beer – Full Pale
Name: O.K. Beer Okocim
Price: $1.59
Made: Brzesco, Poland
Alc/Vol: 5.6%

“Okocim O.K. is a fine and delicate brew, deriving its quality from a recipe which incorporates the best of indigenous Polish hop varieties, luxurious barley and only the softest mountain water

The O.K. label remains mostly unchanged from its original design from forty years ago. The beer itself helped define “Polish Pils style”, which in turn separated Polish beers from the many other European brands.”

I’m not sure what it was trying to distinguish itself from, because European beers tend to be pretty good – I mean it is  where beer was perfected by monks who had nothing else in their life but to pray for and study beer. I know pilsener beer is a light beer but I was hoping for a more full bodied beer from Poland, I mean it’s friggin cold over there.

Anyways, this beer had a sweet yet watered down taste, even for a pils. I really didn’t notice anything that would set this apart from a domestic beer that would make me search out this beer. I could have been drinking a bud light for all that I would of known. It was, as the name says, an OK beer, nothing more nothing less. I give this beer an medium/OK rating of 2.5 out of 5 bananas. Have you had this beer, did you have a different impression?

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: O.K. Beer Okocim is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Type: Beer – Red Lager
Name: Dundee Irish Red Lager
Price: $1.49
Made: Rochester, NY
Alc/Vol: 5.5%

“~Malty and Mellow~”

“A sheep painted red … Cruel joke, right? Nope. Farmers in Ireland and Scotland have been painting sheep for ages—makes ‘em easier to find. Thankfully, you won’t have any problem finding our new Irish Red Lager. Its malty backbone and rich, off-white head—some say it’s “cappuccino-like”—are unmistakable. Not to mention that big, beautiful color. Which, unlike the sheep, is 100% natural.
(All due respect to the sheep.)”

I love Irish red style beer so I had to have a friend try this one out with me so that my rating of this beer wasn’t biased. It also just so happened that my friends fridge had some Killians Irish Red so I took it upon myself to have a comparative analysis. (I love being able to use words that make drinking lots of beer sound like research) Although what I found at the end of my ‘study’ brought a slight different result than what I was expecting.

This beer presented itself with exactly what it offered a smooth bitter blend or as they call it “malty and mellow.” I’m pretty sure I used the word ‘smooth’ a half a dozen times while trying it, my notes can verify at least 3 or 4 of them. So I did what any self respecting drunken monkey would do who is trying to distinguish between two similar beers, I made a sandwich. That’s right a sandwich, you can’t simply swig both beers back to back and expect a good comparison. My sandwich was the cheese and crackers for wine tasting or the pallet cleaning ginger you have with sushi except this sandwich was for beer yummy red Irish beer. After this close beer to beer comparison the only noticeable difference was the aftertaste which Dundee’s Irish Red had a lasting malty aftertaste compared to Killians. We gave this beer 3.5 bananas, it would have been more for just me because I seem to favor Irish Red style beers but I figured finding the middle ground would give a more accurate rating for the beer. Have you tried this new Dundee beer yet, what is your take?

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Dundee Irish Red Lager is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Type: Beer – Stout
Name: Lion Stout
Price: $1.99
Made: Sri Lanka
Alc/Vol: 8%

Similar to Estrella Damm this beer gives its own introduction, so what does the bottle have to say about the beer?

“…the stout was soft, fresh and quite delicious. This was the top-fermenting Lion Stout … It was bottle-conditioned and had an extraordinary chocolaty, mocha … character.” – Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter

OK so there is a picture of Michael Jackson on the back next to his quote and no it’s not that Michael Jackson – this is a white guy. No, I mean a real white guy, the singer was more of a Black boy turned white woman. Any who, how do you get a title like ‘The Beer Hunter’ I mean he isn’t just any beer hunter but ‘The Beer Hunter’ – notice the capitalization and ‘The’ placed before it. I’d be happy with just being an everyday beer hunter – hmm a monkey can dream….

I digress, back to the beer. That Michael Jackson beer hunter guy was right on it had a chocolaty mocha taste. The problem was this wasn’t what I’m looking for in a beer. This beer had a rich full bodied scent that was sort of similar to a Guinness but I personally think that is the basic stout smell breathing through the beer. The sweet full bodied taste was good but lacked that bitter taste that comes with a Guinness. I want to compare it to that but Guinness is in its’ own category of stout beers. If you like that typical sweet chocolaty coffee like flavoring than you will like this beer. I give this stout 3.5 bananas out of 5. What keeps it from a 4 or maybe even a 4.5 is that I liked it but wasn’t exactly craving another one after I finished my first – my sweet tooth had been tamed and didn’t want any more.

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to share this site with others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Lion Stout is a post from: Monkey Brewster

First and foremost I need to say I really really like Warsteiner beer, you can enjoy this beer in all its’ glory at the German-American festival in Oregon Ohio. Well, all except this version, which unless Warsteiner was trying their hand at making their own pop is a horrible stain on the Warsteiner name. The first thing I noticed was that it was green/yellowish Mountain Dew kind of color. I first thought it was from the bottle, but as you can tell from the picture the bottle is clear – this scared me a wee bit to be honest. This ‘beer’ gave off a sweet lemony citrus smell. The taste was very similar, a sweet citrus pop like flavor.

OK maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way, who knows maybe this is what the Germans serve their children in their baby bottles. That the only German who drinks this is under 3 feet tall and is still drinking out of a sippy cup, hence the 2.9% Alc/Vol. You wouldn’t want your 3 year old sloshed and throwing up Gerber baby food, I mean that stuff looks like it was already regurgitated before it goes down. If this is the case then I can support the production of such a drink, otherwise “WHY WARSTEINER WHY!” Is this your attempt to get some Corona drinkers to your side of the bar, if so they were never really beer drinkers to begin with. Point being, it’s green!

I give this bottle of pop a half a banana and that is only because it’s made by Warsteiner, but if you like wine coolers and Zima then by all means this is your ‘beer’

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to share this site with others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Warsteiner Lemon is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Type: Beer

Name: Estrella Damm

Price: $1.99

Made: Barcelona, Spain

Alc/Vol: ?%

So before I tell you how I feel about the beer, let us see what the bottle has to say about itself…

“La Cerveza de Barcelona: Since 1876 when August Kuentzmann Damm arrived from Alsace, Estrella Damm has been brewed as a premium quality beer in Barcelona. Estrella means star in Spanish and its name suggests the brand has become a star to the people of Barcelona. It has evolved with the city reflecting its character – sophisticated and passionate yet at the same time relaxed and welcoming. Estrella Damm is THE BEER OF BARCELONA”

I would say that the little introduction to the beer is cocky, but it really is that damm good. I think the most notable thing is that it leaves a dry taste that washes over your mouth after the initial taste. Which depending on what you like could be a good or bad thing. A couple reasons explaining my liking of this beer are the  facts that the overall taste of the beer provides with a good smooth flavor, and it goes well with a meal.  I would buy a 6 pack of Estrella Damm for a beach lunch with friends. Which of course would make me the star host. (ok I’m sorry about the bad puns)

This isn’t your fancy strong flavored German bier but there is something about it that I like. I dare so bold a move as to give it 4 out of 5 bananas.

___________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to share this site with others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Estrella Damm is a post from: Monkey Brewster