AOL wrote:Zenith wrote:Angelito wrote:In light of Callum's maple syrup excursion, what's the staple for you guys: wine, beer, scotch, bourbon, vodka, gin, rum, brandy/cognac, or abstinence?
Nothing beats a cold, bottle-refermented abbey beer, preferably with a large, fluffy white head and medium to high carbonation.
Luckily I live in the ultimate paradise when it comes beer as there are over a thousand domestically brewed beers within hands' reach to try out.
You don't live in the Czech Republic though
The only Belgian beer I've had the honor of drinking is StellaIt's my favorite mass-produced beer though.
How did you get to that conclusion considering you only ever tasted just one Belgian beer?
Which Czech beers did you give a try?
Craft, history, variety, tradition and innovation. If we were include this whole package to the yardstick and consider how widely various production methods have been emulated, it has to be Belgium. It explains why the general consensus amongst beer connoisseurs keeps leading to Belgium.
Czech Republic, aside from its well-crafted pilsner beers has little else to offer as the beer production restricts itself to almost exclusively this particularly beer style. A pilsner paradise would probably be more accurate.
During a two-week visit in Czech Republic I tried out 12 Czech pilsners and would stick one, or two beer names per day to avoid mixing bias. Whilst most locals would recommend the Pilsner Urquell (the first pilsner beer) or Budvar (the original, superior Budweiser), it was a little beer called Koutsky that stood out the most. Whilst it did have that typical flowery, slightly one-dimensional hoppy aroma of a pilsner, it was a lot spicier in taste than any pilsner I had tasted, without totally going overboard on the hops.
Even though there still are traditionalists who keep denying it, the USA and UK (particularly the former) have been making up a lot of ground when it comes to innovation of craft beer. Microbreweries are popping up like shrooms and with great domestic success as well as international acclaim. I'd put both the States and the UK well ahead of the Czech Republic for the simple reason that they have more to offer in terms of innovation and the variety that comes along with it.
To come back to Stella, it was my first beer and go-to beer to get wasted as a lad, so there should be bias, but honestly, it was only by exploring the world of beer that it fell further and further down the pecking order. Then again, I probably wouldn't put any pilsner that I've tasted in my top 30, but that's solely personal preference.
