The International Lager Challenge - Grand Final

So it's come to this - I've decided to blind taste the four lager finalists. A quick reminder of how the finalists got here.

Poland - The Zywiec had an easy Semi against the relatively unknown Warka and squeezed past the Tyskie in the regional final.

Germany -  The Krombacher had perhaps the hardest road to the final. I was able to find eight German lagers so the Krom had to win a quarter Final, a Semi Final and a Final. In the QF it handily beat the upstart Warsteiner. The Semi was a tougher affair, with the much fancied Veltins being narrowly dispatched. In the Final, I was tired and elected the winner more or less on a whim.

Czech Republic - The Budvar was always a favourite of mine so I never expected it to meet much opposition on the way to the final. Staropramen was defeated in the Semi and the Budvar came through in a tight contest against a resurgent Pilsner Urquell in the final.

Netherlands - The Grolsch - vanquished the surprisingly popular (in Amsterdam) Bavaria in the SF and then beat the southsiders fave Heineken 5% in the final.

So I asked Herself to pour the four finalists into identical glasses. I expected not to be able tell anything from the visuals - colour, head etc. and thus it proved. BTW I asked Herself to chime in also, she knew what the beers were but she wouldn't have the same prejudices, preconceptions and outright biases that I maintain. I know they aren't beer glasses but those were the only glasses I could find four of...

Lager #1
Herself said that she found it "gentle", I found it delicious and subtle, if I had to describe it, (and I guess I do, given that's the raison d'etre of the post). If I'm honest, it took until the second round of tastings that I really got this...
Guess - Krombacher.

Lager #2
Hey Mikey, she likes it!* I liked it too. Full falvoured and well balanced. I suspected it wasn't the Krom or the Bud so..
Guess - Zywiec

Lager #3
Herself preferred #2 and so did I. After the first two this came across as a bit bland.
Guess - Grolsch

Lager #4
Big, bold and beautiful.
Guess - It can only be the Budvar.

I'm batting .500 with 2 out of 4 correct. I mixed up the Grolsch and the Zywiec, speaking of which the Zywiec did not come across well. The Grolsch was pretty good, in third place, and surprised me by kicking some Polish ass.

Which leaves us with the Krom and the Bud, beauty and the beast, and I have to choose between them. Or Do I? Its my ball and I'll play with it as I see fit. In this case, I'm giving them joint first place.

If you want a delicious but subtle lager, Krombacher is for you. If, at another time, you need a big beefy, full strength lager lager then Budvar is your man.

Apologies for my equivocation, but when in doubt, do both.

* A very popular TV advertisement when I was growing up, on the "other side of the pond"

The Intl. Lager Challenge - Czech Republic - Final 1 (of 4)

Final - Czech Republic
Budweiser Budvar 5.0% abv  €2.49 
Pilsner Urquell 4.4% abv  €2.99


So here we are, all the quarter finals and semi-finals are now done, time for the first national final, and it's coming live from the uh....capital of the Czech republic. Anyhoo, this should be a close final, I'd say the Budvar is a warm-ish favourite but who knows.

BTW I am still debating the format of what happens after the four regional finals, I had originally planned to pit the winners of each country against each other in two semi-finals and then have those winners face off in a super grand final, but, I am now considering a four-way blind tasting, as a more equitable option.

Budweiser Budvar
Oh holy jeebus, that's good. Lots of hops and flavour and a super finish. Yep, hot favourite now.
 
Pilsner Urquell
Still good,  slightly sweet but well balanced and refreshing. Lovely but not a winner today.

Winner - Budvar

The Intl. Lager Challenge - Czech/Slovak Semi-Finals 1 & 2

Semi Final 1
Pilsner Urquell 4.4% abv  €2.99
Zlaty Bazant  5.0% abv  €2.19  (Slovak)

Look at the picture at left. Notice any similarities between the two beers?  Gold foil at the top, green font on a white background and a red rosette/symbol above same?  I did a quick qoogle and Pilsner Urquell has been made since 1842, Zlaty Bazant since 1967.

Zlaty Bazant is marketed in the U.S. as Golden Pheasant, and there's one on the label. There you go. It's owned by Heineken and I found some sniffy reviews on the intertubes as a result of this.

Pilsner Urquell
Nice, very nice. Crisp, full flavoured and a hint of bitterness and hops. This beer is apparently the original Pils (from the town of Pilsen, natch). 

Zlaty Bazant
It's not bad.. It's dry, with a little something or other going on at the finish. I'd drink it if I was given it but it's not at the races today.

Winner - Pilsner Urquell

Semi Final 2
Budweiser Budvar 5.0% abv  €2.49 
Staropramen 5.0% abv  €2.49

I know that Budvar has a complicated and litigious history, which I won't rehash here. Suffice to say I won't ever be drinking it's namesake.

After they took the Krombacher tap out of the Stillorgan Orchard I started to drink Budvar in bottles. I still buy it sporadically,  when I'm feeling flathuileach. Staropramen I've had the odd time, mostly when I'm in a pub and don't fancy whatever is on draught

Budweiser Budvar
Lots of  malty goodness and a hoppy finish. Well balanced and with a long finish. Altogether very tasty. This will be tough to beat.

Staropramen
It's good, slightly sweet and malty, but it's lacking the hoppy bite of its opponent. I'd be happy to drink it in a bar, but I'd probably not buy it...

Winner - Budvar

Dial A for Aldi - and a sort of Liveblog. *Updated

A "new" Aldi opened a couple of years ago in Sandyford and I have been meaning to check out their booze for ages, but have been continually diverted by Dunnes at the Beacon and the nearby O'Briens wines, just around the corner. So yesterday, I girded my loins, and with my conscience in the back seat (Lil Bill), sallied forth to the aforementioned Aldi.

Things didn't start well. Their trolleys only take 2 Euro coins, rather than the standard one Euro coins (or tokens if you prefer) and they don't "do" baskets. I was about to leave in disgust when I managed to collar a helpful employee who sold me a token for a mere 89c. Perhaps I am not the target audience but would putting out a few baskets kill them?

Matters didn't improve. Lil Bill refused to pick out a breakfast cereal as he didn't fancy any of their copycat brands. I was only there for the booze so that's pretty much all we got. The booze purchased is pictured below...

Not pictured is a bottle of Aldi Old Hopking Gin, €12-99 for 70cl, which is very cheap. I had heard good things about it , see this. We tried it out in a G&T later and it was perfectly decent. I intend to test against an open bottle of standard Gordon's next weekend. (I try to only drink spirits on non"school" nights)
*Update - I set up a blind test for Herself and she preferred the Gordons, just. I knew which was which and I also just favoured the Gordons; there was a little botanical extra present. Still, the Aldi gin is great value as priced, especially if you are not a gin snob, like me.

On the beer front I got some of the following:
Spaten (not pictured) €1.79. A good price for this beer which I was co-incidentally drinking on Friday night at a Harvest (Neil young tribute band) gig at the Sugar Club. Great gig, although the Spaten was €6 a pop there, ouch.

Marston's Pedigree Pale Ale - €2.09 4.5% abv, Never seen this before but as I am an IPA junkie I got some. Report on this to follow. Per the Sindo today, liking craft IPAs, the more exclusive the better is a hipster trait. I think that's my only one, unless driving a Skoda and shopping in Penney's counts?
*Update - meh, nothing to see here.

Staroslav Czech Pilsner - €1.19 Another punt here. Although at 4%, it's not off to a good start.
*Update - This wasn't too bad. Not a huge amount of flavour but what was there was pleasant enough. One for those who like cheap weak lager, methinks. 

Rheinbacher Premium Pils - €6.99 for 6. More random German beer from the budget retailers. Most of the similar beer from Lidl is piss but the Grafenwalder & Finkbrau are OK, so long as you don't drink them after a "name" beer, at which point the cheapies tend to come off second best.
*Update - Ugh. I've had two of these now just to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke. In a nutshell, it's not very nice, its watery at first and then there's an unpleasant aftertaste. I'm regretting buying six as I'm not sure I can force myself to drink the remaining four, loathe as I am to pour beer down the sink.

On the wine front I picked 2 reds.

Domaine Roussellet Pinot Noir "Vin De France" - No Vintage specified. - €6-99
We drink this last night  and it was just OK, just about drinkable. Even at this price I wouldn't recommend it, unless bargain, non-vintage, non-Burgundy, Pinot Noir is your thing.

LIVEBLOG!
Minarete Ribera del Duero Roble 2011 - €7-99
9pm: I opened and decanted this at 4pm before we headed out to our local gastropub The Wild Boar (where the service was a little random but the food was very, very good). Anyhoo, just tasted the wine and after the Pinot Noir yesterday, I wasn't hopeful. Surprise! This is quite nice. Some nice plummy fruit and a bit of depth to the flavour. Not bad for 8 notes.

10pm: It's still good. Not earth shattering, but solid. There's now the tiniest bit of astringency in the mix, along with some recently evolved tannins. All in all, its pretty decent and good value as priced.

I think I've gone on long enough, so I'll leave it at that. It's a mixed bag so far from Aldi. I'll probably blog or at least tweet on the various beers above at some stage over the next few days...