TOP

Beer, Bars & Brewers #3

Let there be hops! This week the small Slovenian town of Zalec is set to get a beer fountain. Wouldn’t that be wonderful for all of our respective hometowns?

A fountain located smack in the middle of the city, just bubbling with fresh beer?! We’re jealous. In more news: Dublin’s Craft Beer Cup announces its winners, Weihenstephaner commemorates the Reinheitsgebot with a new brew, Paste Magazine curates a list of Kombucha for the beer lover, and Dylan Watson launches his beer-focused pop up.

Beer Fountains in Slovenia

The small Slovenian town of Zalec is planning on installing a beer fountain in the middle of town. The Drinks Business notes that Zalec is often referred to as the “valley of green gold” due to the abundance of hop plantations which surround it. The fountain is set to set to bubble with a variety of Slovenian beers for which visitors (this is a tourist attraction after all) will pay 6,00 Euros and return receive three 30o ml servings, including the commemorative mug. This project is funded by a combination of the town council and donations from private individuals though several councillors have tried to put a halt to this project

Dublin’s Craft Beer Cup Winners

Two weeks ago Dublin was home to its Craft Beer Cup competition which bills itself as a “a unique competition, which allow craft brewers to showcase their brews to have them rated, tasted and analysed by an expert, international panel of judges”. This year’s winner? McGargles Francis’ Big Bangin IPA by the Rye River Brewing Company. Due to the success of last year’s cider competition, this year the DCBC crowned the Dublin Craft Cider Cup: Orpens Fresh Pressed Apple Cider by Orpens Cider. See the complete list of Bronze, Silver, and Gold winners here. 

Weihenstephaner Kellerbier: Commemorating the Reinheitsgebot

Most of us are aware of the fact that the Reinheitsgebot is turning 500 years old today. And how best to celebrate the little lady? Weihenstephan (“the world’s oldest brewery”) decided to go for very special present: a new brew called 1516 (ah, who can figure out why on heaven’s green earth they’d call the beer such a thing?). This Kellerbier has 5.6% strength and “gets compelling character not from leftover yeast—in fact the beer is centrifuged to a precise degree, leaving only faint haze in its orange-amber color—but from an unusual combination of hops”, as Draft reports. 

Kombucha for Craft Beer Fans

First off, if you’ve never heard of Kombucha do yourself a favor and listen to the first episode of the Burp podcast. In it, host Elizabeth Rushe talks to the two women who run the Berlin Kombucha Society and they deftly explain what Kombucha is. Moving on, Paste Mag kindly combined a list of Kombuchas that were made for craft beer fans. A fizzy, fermented drink that has fantastic probiotics that are healthy for your gut Kombucha comes in many incarnations and flavors. Paste’s list is all West Coast based and includes Revive Kombucha’s The O.G. which “tastes like an adult version of root beer or coca cola, without the syrupy mouthfeel or sugar bomb and … doesn’t hide its fermented funk”. Find the complete list here. 

Ernst: Beer Bar

Dylan Watson is back. After closing down Ernst late last year Watson and his team have re-assembled to host a beer-centric pop up for two nights only (for now, more beer events are in the planning stages). The menu is inspired by the end of winter (how happy are we to hear those words?) and was created around the beer choices. Good news for all you carnivores out there, the menu has a strong meat focus because, unfortunately the farm which supplied the young chefs with ethically raised and slaughtered poultry will close soon. 

The beer was chosen based on singularity and quality and will include beers from an excellent brewery from the team’s hometown of Vancouver, Canada (schlepped over in their Christmas luggage on the way back home). It’s exciting, seeing the chef shunning wine and wholeheartedly embracing beer as the pairing of choice. Reservations via [email protected].

Credits

Foto: Beer bottles via Shutterstock; post production: Tim Klöcker

Post a Comment