Friday, November 28, 2008

Dark Month Quick Review

So November is all but over, and with it my month of drinking predominantly dark beers. I haven't written about everything I have tried this month, so here is a random collection of thoughts on the various brews I have tried:

Most drunk in the month: Primátor Stout, yes it is very nice, and no I am not on a stipend from Pivovar Náchod.

Most enjoyed of the month: O'Hara's Stout from the Carlow Brewing Company, from the bottle that is, the remaining bottle I have in the cellar may be opened tonight in celebration.

Discovery of the month: Hukvaldy 14° amber lager, pure nectar.

Over-hyped beer of the month: Porterhouse Oyster Stout, it isn't bad, just not as good as I expected, even then it is streets behind Wrasslers XXXX.

Confusion of the month: Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter and Oatmeal Stout, are they supposed to have a slightly soapy taste to them? Someone help me with that.

I am sure this weekend will see several more darks enjoyed, though I may not write about them all, but I do have a special treat planned for Sunday, which is St Andrew's Day. I will be opening one of my bottles of BrewDog Paradox Smokehead in celebration.

4 comments:

  1. It's funny. I never heard any hype about the PH Oyster Stout at all. In fact, nobody ever seems to talk about it, even on ICB. The only time I ever had it was when the barman made a mistake on the order and I took it anyway. I was pleasently surprised as I really hadn't thought much of it. I get the impression not many people drink it.

    Oh, I wrote to Brew Dog to see if they would sell directly to Germany, or if there were any importers here, but no answer yet :(

    There's a Scottish bar in town that I visited once, and may visit this weekend, so maybe they'd be interested in getting some.

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  2. On the hype front, a lot of that came from people I know raving about it and saying it was the best stout they had ever had.

    Obviously there is a lot of subjectivity in what people say, and from my experience I just didn't get whatever it was they were getting.

    There used to be a Scottish bar in Prague, long time ago, but I never quite worked out what was Scottish about it - they's even sell cans of Tennent's Super!

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  3. The bar here is called "Scott's View" and is owned/run by a Scottish gentleman, so I guess that's as authentically Scottish a bar you can get in Germany. I was there once when the company I work for was wooing me. They serve Belhaven Stout as I recall, and I had Old Speckled Hen on draft when I was there. And of course there's a obligitory whisky collection :D

    I've been avoiding the Irish bar, although I would like to see if it's Irish or Oirish. I hear it's full of squaddies though. The other one I have to try is a Yorkshire Bar by the name of "The James". I shit you not. They advertise as a Yorkshire bar. I hear they sell Black Sheep and have guest taps, so this is a must for me to visit for an occasional ale fix (I do not want to be an ex-pat sort). I heard it's a nice place to drink anyway and is frequented by locals.

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  4. Completely agree on the expat thing, no point living abroad if you simply transplant your old life to a different country. The only time I darken the door of an Irish or British pub in Prague is to watch the 6 Nations (can Scotland avoid the wooden spoon next year?), when it isn't on in my regular sports bar.

    One of the sports bars here advertises itself as a Cornish Bar, but still sells Gamcrap.

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