Beers in Berlin, Vienna and Bratislava

I've been away for the last week, so the blog has been a little quiet. Whilst the aim of going to Berlin, Vienna and Bratislava wasn't primarily to drink beer, it did of course mean that I could drink some familiar brews and sample some new delights too.

The beers I had in Berlin were too numerous to list here, but included the excellent Gaffel Kolsch and the delicious Weihenstephaner Heffeweissbier. This is a perfect wheat beer, unfiltered and extremely tasty. Alongside a number of brews from different parts of Germany, we went for a stein Hofbrauhaus' Pilsner, which was light and a refreshing - great! I did have a couple of beers I was not so keen on but I won't dwell on them here.

One of the real finds of my time in Berlin was however, stumbling upon an unassuming looking brew-pub called Hops and Barley. The interior was basic but comfortable, the staff friendly and the beer excellent. They produce a light, lively and flavoursome pilsner, a lovely dunkel lager with nice malty edge and real balance to it, as well as a wheat beer and their special brew at the time, their winter bock. The latter was my personal favourite, a deep comforting flavour with a spicy complex edge to it.

My friend who we were visiting in Berlin was also pleased that they produce proper cider because he has a bit of a love of the stuff and it is extremely hard to find in Berlin! Whilst not up to quite the same standard as their beer, its good enough to quench his desire for the stuff.

After a beautiful journey across the Czech Republic, we arrived in Vienna. Now, this is a fantastic city to drink in. There are some great bars and some great beers. When back home, I must admit I don't drink a huge amount of lager but it is something that Austria does very well.

Ottakringer Helles

Ottakringer Helles, was a refreshing, light and really enjoyable lager, whilst unfiltered Stiegl was far better than filtered version and kicked off my new years eve nicely. The one I will really remember from Austria however is Hirter, which is a pilsner with depth, crispness and balance - a truly refreshing beer. It was also my first beer of 2013.

Moving on to Slovakia, there is one beer here that can't be ignored and that is Zlaty Bazant (translating as golden pheasant). Its one of the main Slovak beers and it is everywhere. They do a lower ABV beer but the version that is most widely available is 12% ABV. I can just see bone headed English tourists coming to Bratislava and trying to knock it back as they would a piss-weak lager back in the UK before falling in a gutter!

Dark Zlaty Bazant

Zlaty Bazant is a decent strong lager, with a crisp, fresh taste, a citric edge and a slight presence from the malts.This is the main Slovak beer served throughout the city and I would happily drink it again.  In a few places, you can find the dark Zlaty Bazant which is a great malty and comforting alternative to the pilsner. Alongside it, much of the beer on offer is Czech, which is of course a good thing!

I drank some fantastic beers whilst away, including some that I will definitely search out again but it did make me consider how much I appreciate the sheer diversity of British beer. Funademntally, though there was some range in the beers I consumed, they were all effectively lagers or wheat beers. Most of them were really enjoyable, but I did enjoy getting back and having a stout and a seriously hoppy IPA!