Christmas beer day five
At this point I have to thank my flatmate for participating or I would feel like an alcoholic, drinking beer on my own.
Yesterday we were testing the Christmas beers from the two breweries who make the beers I usually drink when I go out, Einstök and the Íslenskur Úrvals series from Víking Akureyri.
Both actually belong to the same mother company (Vifilfells, the biggest refreshment company in Iceland), but have specialised in making slightly more interesting beer than the usual mass produced Lager. In this way they are similar to Borg brewery from day 4, but a bit less ambitious concerning the range of products and new experimentations.
Both beers are Bocks, which is fitting as bock style beers were traditionally (in Germany) brewed for special occasions.
Einstök Icelandic Doppelbock
A doppelbock is the beer the phrase "liquid bread" for beer comes from. Franciscan monks were drinking it during fasting time when they were not allowed solid food. This one had 6,7%, which means if I had been a monk in medieval times I would have been drunk a lot.
We started with this beer, because I had a craving for chocolate and the label promised a chocolate taste. The chocolate tones come from the malted barley. It is a very sweet beer. It has a full, creamy taste, it has a slightly bitter chocolaty taste, followed by the sweet caramel taste of the malted barley, which lingers.
Christmassiness: Chocolaty, dark creamy and sweet, it wins in this category.
Overall tastiness: My flatmate loved this beer for the chocolate taste. I found it a little too sweet, especially the aftertaste, which is very mellow. The ummpff is missing, but it is a good doppelbock.
Íslenskur Úrvals Jólabock
Maybe this is because we drank it after the chocolate beer, but this was quite bitter for a bock style beer. It felt a bit heavier, too, though it had less alcohol (6.2%).
Christmassiness: Maybe because it is dark and a bock?
Overall tastiness: It is a slightly bitter bock. A bit of a caramel taste at the beginning, balanced by the bitter. Less smooth and more carbonated than I would expect for a bock. It is pleasant, but not special.
The list:
Yesterday we were testing the Christmas beers from the two breweries who make the beers I usually drink when I go out, Einstök and the Íslenskur Úrvals series from Víking Akureyri.
Both actually belong to the same mother company (Vifilfells, the biggest refreshment company in Iceland), but have specialised in making slightly more interesting beer than the usual mass produced Lager. In this way they are similar to Borg brewery from day 4, but a bit less ambitious concerning the range of products and new experimentations.
Both beers are Bocks, which is fitting as bock style beers were traditionally (in Germany) brewed for special occasions.
Einstök Icelandic Doppelbock
A doppelbock is the beer the phrase "liquid bread" for beer comes from. Franciscan monks were drinking it during fasting time when they were not allowed solid food. This one had 6,7%, which means if I had been a monk in medieval times I would have been drunk a lot.
We started with this beer, because I had a craving for chocolate and the label promised a chocolate taste. The chocolate tones come from the malted barley. It is a very sweet beer. It has a full, creamy taste, it has a slightly bitter chocolaty taste, followed by the sweet caramel taste of the malted barley, which lingers.
Christmassiness: Chocolaty, dark creamy and sweet, it wins in this category.
Overall tastiness: My flatmate loved this beer for the chocolate taste. I found it a little too sweet, especially the aftertaste, which is very mellow. The ummpff is missing, but it is a good doppelbock.
Íslenskur Úrvals Jólabock
Maybe this is because we drank it after the chocolate beer, but this was quite bitter for a bock style beer. It felt a bit heavier, too, though it had less alcohol (6.2%).
Christmassiness: Maybe because it is dark and a bock?
Overall tastiness: It is a slightly bitter bock. A bit of a caramel taste at the beginning, balanced by the bitter. Less smooth and more carbonated than I would expect for a bock. It is pleasant, but not special.
The list:
- Jólakaldi (still the winner, though we might have to have another tasting with this and the Einstök one)
- Einstök Icelandic Doppelbock
- Þvörusleikir
- Íslenskur Úrvals Jólabock (this is simply personal preference, I prefer bock to hoppy beer and Gæðingur was very hoppy.)
- Gæðingur Jólabjór
- Víking Jólabjór
- Gull Jólabjór
- Egils Malt Jólabjór