Beer

[Usrin]

Köbányai 5

Wow! It's been a long time since I've had Köbányai, and this rating surprised me. So I couldn't help tasting it again. It was a good idea: I could buy it for 139 HUF/0.5 l in the shop closest to my workplace, and it proved to be not worse than other members of the Dreher-Arany Ászok "family". (Köbányai is the least advertised, cheapest, although traditional brand of the same brewery.)

Köbányai (4.3% V/V): 4.5/10. Not bad in price/value ratio!

[CTG]

Köbányai 5

Wow! It's been a long time since I've had Köbányai, and this rating surprised me. So I couldn't help tasting it again. It was a good idea: I could buy it for 139 HUF/0.5 l in the shop closest to my workplace, and it proved to be not worse than other members of the Dreher-Arany Ászok "family". (Köbányai is the least advertised, cheapest, although traditional brand of the same brewery.)

Köbányai (4.3% V/V): 4.5/10. Not bad in price/value ratio!

Finally!!!

[Usrin]

Šariš is a very bad kind of beer.. uff..

Perhaps I was biased towards Slovakian products. Or maybe beers in Slovakia also underwent serious changes. The mystery should be solved by a beer trip to Slovakia. Coming soon!

Beer trip accomplished! And I still don't have any problem with Šariš...

Ratings of some Slovak (& Czech) beers, March 2012:
Kelt 10° (SVK, 0,65 EUR/0.5 l): 5/10. Something serious happened to the one-time famous Kelt.. or I would have to taste the Czech-brewed 12° version.
Zlaty Bažant 12° (SVK, 0.82 EUR/0.5 l): 9/10. Excellent!!!
Šariš 12° (SVK, 0.79 EUR/0.5 l): 7/10. Not outstanding, but better than the 'average' Hungarian brands.
Topvar 12° (SVK, 0.79 EUR/0.5 l): 7.5/10.
Kozel 12° (SVK, 0.85 EUR/0.5 l): 8/10. It has nothing to do with the weak Hungarian copy... simply a different world!

Dark beers:
Šariš Red (0.95 EUR/0.5 l): 7/10.
Zlaty Bažant Tmavý (SVK, 0.93 EUR/0.5 l): 5.5/10. No problem with its taste, but weaker, less characteristic than I expected.
Master Tmavý 18° (CZE, 7.0% V/V, 1.09 EUR/0.355 l): 8.5/10. Very similar to Dreher Bak.

Btw, beer prices are much higher than they were several years ago... So it's no more worth to buy beer in Slovakia for saving money.

[Usrin]

And one from the UK:
Carling (ENG, 4.8% V/V, 0.92 GBP/0.44 l): 4/10. I can't believe that British (and Irish) beers are shitty... they're rather far from my taste.

[CTG]

Believe it, they are shitty.

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

I am just back from a trip in Transylvania (Romania). I held a conference presentation there, and of course I took some beers home. Official beer test tonight!

The beers to be tested:

- Ursus (ROM, 5.0%, 2.70 lei/can)
- Silva (ROM, 5.1%, 2.40 lei/can)
- Ciuc (ROM, 5.0%, 2.90 lei/can)

I knew Ursus before, I gave 8.0 on it two years ago, and I tasted it again in Romania. Ciuc is the beer which I've just tasted for the first time on my trip. Silva is a totally new beer for me. I drank these beers under very different circumstances (being f*cking thristy, having it rather warm), so I decided to rely on tonight's test. Ursus and Ciuc can expect a high rating - they are better than the commercial Hungarian beers.

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

Result of beer test:

- Ursus 7.5/10 (a quality lager with a bitter taste - my style of beer, it still can keep its good result)
- Ciuc 7/10 (not too bitter, but this pils has a clean, characteristic good taste)
- Silva 6/10 (not bad, but it has a bit too heavy taste which I can't really like in beers).

Very good price/taste ratio. Romania is still a cheaper country than Hungary.

About Usrin's beer test:

How can a beer be packed in a 0.44 l bottle/can? What is it like?

[CTG]

Master Tmavý 18°

18°!!!

[CTG]

Non-alcoholic period - AGAIN.

[Usrin]

About Usrin's beer test:

How can a beer be packed in a 0.44 l bottle/can? What is it like?

Ugh, sorry, I missed this question. It was an ordinary can, slightly less tall than the 0.5 l ones. This size is common in the UK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverage_can#Standard_sizes

(It seems we're lucky to live in the part of the world where beer cans are the largest... see the above link.)

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

I was in Italy in 2006, and there the most common beer package was the 0.66 l bottle.  Btw forever Birra Moretti! 

[CTG]

0.66? That's nothing.

Köbányai, 2 l "bottle" (PET) :

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

0.66? That's nothing.

Köbányai, 2 l "bottle" (PET) :

Well, this package exists, but this is not the most common one.

[CTG]

90% percent of my alcohol consumption in 2012 came from more concentrated drinks. Strange.

[CTG]

CTG is drunk at the moment. My liver doesn't like it.