If you know me or of me, you will know I like beer. Over the last few years I have been collecting photos of every new beer I have.
I now have over 2,000 individual beers photographed and have realised that many beers that I assumed I have photos of, I haven't.

This blog will be therefore be an account of my quest for new beers to photo and how I enjoyed them (or not).
My email is ralphgant@sky.com.

Thursday 24 January 2013

Ten Supermarket Beers (France)

There are many great supermarket beers and many are available all over Europe.  Although these beers are supermarket own brands many are supplied by top famous brewers.

When I did my Top Ten French Beers for Siblu I stuck to relatively big name beers, many available in most shops. However there are some great supermarket beers at great supermarket prices.

The majority of supermarket own brand lager beers sold in stubby bottles, are made in France and most are much the same, very drinkable, especially very cold, on a hot day. So that is enough about them and I will not be mentioning them again, except to say I can recommend them for your barbecue in the sun.

One problem with supermarket beers is, that they often only appear for a limited period and disappear again as soon as you find them and discover how good they are. So some of these may have disappeared but I hope not.

I have tried to put together a good mix of styles, but as I prefer Blondes (apparently all men do), there may be a leaning toward them.

De Gayant (Lidl), La Blonde de Ch’Nord, France


7.0% gold colour with a thin head, sweet aroma, good blond Leffe like taste. I have drunk quite a lot of this beer.

From Lidl in France, I liked it and it was very cheap.

Lidl, Nobelaner Blanche, Germany


4.5% cloudy pale yellow colour with a thin head, sweet aroma, nice wheat beer taste.

Brasserie Lefebvre (Lidl), Abbaye de Oudkerken, Belgium


6.2% thin heat, sweet aroma and a taste akin to Leffe, made for Lidl supermarket and as usual, if you check reviews of it they are all poor if not bad, I think it is pure snobbery, because it is a good beer.

Haacht (Aldi), Park Blond, Belgium


5.6.% in the UK, 6.0% in Belgium, Very much like Leffe, so it's very good. This was in the day when I compared all Blonds against Leffe, in fact I still do.

Haacht (Aldi), Park Brune, Belgium

Haacht, Park Brune, Belgium

6.0% no head (looks like cola) slightly sweet (possibly boiled fruit sweets) aroma, sweet caramel but slightly bitter taste.  This is quite good and not as bad as I have made it sound it sounds.

Grafenwalder (Lidl), Hefe Weissbier, Germany


5.0% cloudy gold with a thin head, normal weissbier banana yeast aroma, taste is yeasty banana with some bitter citrus but very slightly lacking in body although still very nice.

Good Hefe weissbier from Germany, had it in a recyclable Plastic bottles in Germany but it is mostly found in cans, is is very good and very cheap as well.

U Les Saveurs (Super U). Bière de Garde Blonde. Fance


6.4% gold colour with a thin head, hoppy malt aroma, slightly bitter dry taste.

De Gayant (Lidl), Abbaye de Vauclair Rubis, France


5.0% red colour with a good head, fruity aroma, slightly bitter summer fruit taste, I am not the best person to review this type of beer as I do not like them but I am assured it is very good.

De Gayant (Lidl), Abbaye de Vauclair Triple, France


8.5% gold colour with a good head, sweet aroma, sweet strong alcohol taste, not as bad as it sounds, another one I haven't done justice to in the description.

De Gayant (Lidl), Abbaye de Vauclair Blonde, France


6.5% gold colour with a thin head, yet another beer very much like Leffe blonde and therefore I never hesitate to buy it, very nice.

Below are the links to my other Top Ten Beer blogs.

My Top Ten French Beers

My Top Ten German Beers

My Top Ten English Beers

My Top Ten Belgian Beers

My Top Ten Dutch Beers 

Another Ten French Beers

Another Ten English Beers


Sunday 20 January 2013

Christmas Beers from Japan +

First I have to say thanks to Joshua for the lovely Christmas present, thanks again Josh.

I have had a few beers from Japan, in fact Josh also brought me some back last year, so I will include them as well. I will start with the new ones though.

K’s Brewing, The Brewmaster Fukuoka Blonde Dry


5.0% gold colour wit ha nice head, sweet fruit and yeast aroma, bitter sweet Belgian blonde taste, best Japanese beer I have had to date.

From their web site,  The Brewmaster started as a handcraft microbrewery in Fukuoka, Kyushu Island in 2002.  Only a small brewery like us can create handcrafted, tasty and joyful beer-ale.

K’s Brewing, The Brewmaster Healing Time


5.0% black with a quickly dissipating head, bitter fruit aroma, fizzy bitter tart taste with a coffee after-taste.

K’s Brewing, The Brewmaster Amaou Noble Sweet


4.0% hazy pink colour with a nice head, bitter strawberry aroma, some strawberry in the sweet but tart taste. I let Dot drink this one.

Kirin, Classic Kirin Beer


4.5% gold colour with a very thin head, slightly sweet malt aroma, slightly sweet lager taste.

I may as well carry on with the rest of the Japanese beers I have tried.

Kirin, Ichiban


5.0% pale yellow colour with no head, sweet malt aroma, slightly sweet with a slight caramel taste. Although I have had the Japanese version, this one was brewed in England by Wells & Youngs.

Sapporo, Imported Premium Beer, aka, Draft Beer / Premium Beer

Sapporo, Imported Premium Beer, Japan (brewed in Canada)

5.0% pale yellow colour with no head, sweet malt aroma, slightly sweet with a slight orange taste.  As with the last one, this was not brewed in Japan but in Canada although again I have had the original.

Asahi, Super Dry

Asahi, Extra Dry, Japan

5.0%, pale yellow no head, not much aroma (what smell it did have reminded me of pub toilets), tastes like slightly sweet over carbonated mineral water but dry. I have read reports that state it is refreshing, well so is water and that costs less.

Asahi, Black (Kuronama)


5.0% dark brown colour with a thin head, roast malt aroma, roasted smoky malt taste, it was a lot better than their Super Dry.