The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
Come sit around the campfire and join in on the fun!
The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 160 - Six Imported Beers And The Surprising One We’d Actually Drink
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Imported beer has a certain promise baked into it: old recipes, proud traditions, maybe a flavor you can’t get at home. Then we grabbed a build-your-own six-pack from the imported shelf and learned a humbling lesson. With Jim riding shotgun and our guest Matt helping us decode labels and brewery blurbs, we taste beers from Ukraine, Iceland, Germany, Thailand, and England, and we keep asking the same question: is this “subtle and classic,” or is it just… missing something?
Along the way, we get nerdy in the best way. We talk about Asia holding roughly 30% of the global beer market, what rice does to beer (lighter body, less malt complexity, a crisper and drier finish), and why Japan created a separate low-malt classification called happoshu. We also dig into Citra Cryo hops and why a beer labeled “lager” can drink surprisingly hop-forward, plus a refresher on the German purity law ingredients and what that tradition aims to protect.
Tasting-wise, there’s a funky-start pale lager from Ukraine, an Icelandic “Arctic Lager” with hops that cling, a German Pilsner that doesn’t meet our expectations, a Thai lager that’s weirdly impressive for tasting like almost nothing, and an organic English lager that sneaks into the top tier by simply being pleasant. We wrap by ranking our favorites and admitting we might put imported beers on the shelf for a while, unless you point us to the ones that actually bring the flavor.
If you like honest beer reviews, lager tasting notes, and quick beer trivia you can use at the bar, hit subscribe, share this with a beer friend, and leave a review. What imported beer should we try next?
Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.
You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.
If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well.
Cold Open And Guest Setup
SPEAKER_00Boy, Jim, I hope that that guy's not saying something that we shouldn't be saying because I can't understand a word he's saying. Yeah, that's that was the best I had when that's all I can find. Hey, at least you're able to find something for this category. Right. We're gonna have our guest decipher it so that he can explain how it ties into all the categories. Didn't you? I think you told me he speaks like 47 languages or something like that. After today, it'll be 48. Oh, nice. Nice. Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beer Guy. And as always, I'm joined by my trusty sidekick, Jim. Hey buddy, how you doing? Doing good. We by by popular demand, we have the international man of mystery back. We have Matt here. How's it going, sir? Pretty good. Good. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you could probably figure out this category is one that we did an episode a couple seasons ago, if I remember right. Yep, I think so. And if I remember correctly, we had like 12 of them we did on that episode, and they were all, yeah. Below average. Yeah. Don't sound too excited. I mean, they're awesome. They're super. That's what we brought you along for the ride. Super good. We are doing some imported beers once again. Yes. And we have six different ones from six. Is it from six different countries, I believe? No, five. Five. Five different countries. Okay. Uh think. I do know I I like went on untapped and checked, and we have not had any of these. So I don't know what to expect. They could be good or they could be like run through a dirty sock taste. We don't know. Right, Jim?
SPEAKER_01Yes. So we I think we get. I was just checking to make sure we only have two from the same country.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Well, that's not bad. So so we're still doing good. Okay. Well, do you want to? I guess there's no better time than the present unless you got a good funny story you want to start.
SPEAKER_01Uh no, I'll I do have one good funny story though. It's gonna be from you.
SPEAKER_00Oh, great. Because I found some really easy questions. I think you're fibbing right there. I think these are gonna be some of the easier ones you've ever seen or heard in your life. But I want to I'll wait till after our first drink and then I'll you know lightning can strike inside a building. I've heard. So if you're if you're fibbing about that, it could be bad. It it's uh these might test you though. Okay, all
Ukraine Lager With A Funky Start
SPEAKER_00right. Well, hey, so the first one that we have, and this is specifically why we brought Matt in, because I'm sure this is one of the languages he could read and and decipher. I don't even know how to pronounce the name of this. Do you Lvivsky 1715 and it's from Lviv, Ukraine? Right, that's the city. The city. Yep. Now I know I looked on untapped, and I'm sure you did too, and the entire description, Matt, was in Ukrainian. Yes. So we couldn't read a single word of it. So we're not exactly sure. All I did see was it said the style was a pale lager. I got that much because that was in English. Yeah, I didn't even get that much. Other than that, so maybe that first paragraph does give a little bit. Okay. Well, the first, and now you found this on their website, I'm guessing. Okay. So the the description or the first paragraph here is, and I again I apologize. I'm sure I'm not saying this light right, Levisky L-V-I-V-S-K-E. 1715 is a light beer of impeccable quality based on 300 years of traditions and even older secrets of Lviv breweries. Word of mouth past the secrets of the ancient recipe from father to son. A light hoppy drink with a pure malt aroma and unique taste will be a real discovery for all love lovers of classics and ancient traditions. Yosa.
SPEAKER_02I mean, even before we go into tasting, I do want to point out the for our viewers out there, the bottle is a goofy shape.
SPEAKER_00It's it's a green reminiscent of Heineken, but it's a green bottle and it is a weird shape. It definitely looks like a torpedo. Now that you look at it, it's really kind of weird. It's a little bit goofy. Yeah. Now we bought all of these in Rochester at Total Wine. Okay. So again, we don't know what we're getting into here. Extremely light colored as far as kind of like a Pilsner color. It's got a subtle smell. There is some aroma. That smells like, yeah, that smells like kind of that stinky foot thing. Interesting. Well, they do say a unique taste, so I guess they're preparing us. That's okay, I guess. Not you do have a slight hoppy flavor at the end. The first part is kind of not I almost don't taste anything. Yeah. It's very faint, but the flavors are not pronounced at all. No, no, not at all. Yeah. What do we say the ABV on that? Oh, I did not. It's 4.5. Okay, thank you. So it's it's definitely not. I mean, actually, I could probably drink a bottle. Maybe. You're not convincing me totally, dude. I mean, it's I think it's okay.
SPEAKER_02Boy, it's it almost it says lager on the bottle, but it almost tastes like a light beer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yes, it does. Almost like the pilsners we had. Yeah. I don't know. There's still just that initial has kind of that a little bit of a funky taste to it. But it I mean it goes away, but it's kind of I I don't I don't know, especially think I'd drink more than what we got here. Okay. Maybe you could probably possibly get through a bottle of it, but I don't think I'd go back for another myself. I I don't know. So you're not sold on it. No, not not as much as I was figuring. I wasn't figuring very much. It's not like you said, guys, it's not terrible. We've had way worse, but it's just a different, it's better than a grown fish one. Yeah, oh yeah, that is true. Yeah, everything was better than that one. That was or Scheerbach. Yeah, I guess they're they'd be neck and neck.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean it did have a little on here. I don't know if it really matters or not, but it looks like this is the oldest brewery in Ukraine. I think that's where they put the 1715 on it, because that's when he started okay. So I mean, I don't know if this was the original, it does say original, but I don't know if this is the original recipe, right? And then it just talks about monks, you know.
SPEAKER_00With always a monk in there, there's a monk involved brewing something. So so I guess you're first then, buddy. Okay, yeah, it's it's very reminiscent of some of the other ones that we've had that are imported. I'm gonna go like a 2.3. I don't necessarily like I said, it's just kind of got that little bit of a weird start. It has a slight hoppiness to it, but yeah, I I wouldn't, it wouldn't be my first choice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that's I don't want to paint myself on the corner. I have done that the past couple of times. I'm trying to leave an out. So I'm gonna I'm gonna say a 2.3, not because it tastes bad, just because it tastes, I mean, they even said it tastes unique. It's something I'm not accustomed to. You know, maybe if I had a couple more of these, you know, spread out over a couple of weeks, maybe it would help my palate. But I mean, right now, today, very first one ever, it doesn't, it's not going down the best.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02What do you think, sir? I guess I'm on the opposite side of you guys. Shocker again. Me, I like a I like a light beer, and to me, it it almost tastes like a light beer. So I it's not great. I do agree. There's a bit of a little funky flavor to it, but I'll go, I'll go with a two nine. I'm not gonna go choose this beer, but I'll I can drink it. I can get through a bottle.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Okay, all right. Well, that's that's honest. That's good. Yeah, there you go. See, not all of our beers are terrible, horrendous. Oh no, wait. All right, so are we ready for the very first question?
Beer Trivia Asia Leads Market
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. It's uh two-parter. Oh, great.
SPEAKER_01Two part, easy two parts. Okay, I can't even believe that I'm actually gonna give you this easy of a question, first one right out the gate. All right. So this is based on 2025 data. Okay. Which region of the world has the largest share of the global beer market and how much percentage?
SPEAKER_00Are you talking country or region? Remember, this is I mean, this is one of the easier ones. The rest of them get harder. Right. Well, that's not what you think.
SPEAKER_02I'll give you that as a hint. Okay. Well, I was gonna say Well, how do you know what I think?
SPEAKER_00That's a good point. He's he's being very judgy already, isn't he? Apparently. I'm assuming how about this? I'm assuming what you're gonna say.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Don't but go by that. Go by something totally off the wall.
SPEAKER_02Wisconsin.
SPEAKER_00I think that's totally wrong. I was I was thinking more like you know, Germany, Australia. So like the Bavarian, how about European? European. Okay. That's what I was thinking. Is that so?
SPEAKER_01No, that's what I said. Oh, that's the one I said. Don't do that. So like regions. So like Europe.
SPEAKER_00He did that whole reverse psychology thing on me. Right. South America. I was figuring he was gonna say, oh, you're gonna think it's North America, but it's not. Oh. So it's not Europe.
SPEAKER_02It's not even so it'd be North America.
SPEAKER_00Not even close. Really? I'm guessing it's not Antarctica. I got that right. So you've you knocked out three of them. So who's gonna be Asia? That's number one. Really interesting.
SPEAKER_02Well, they probably have the highest population.
SPEAKER_00There you go.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Asian beers offer a fascinating blend of ancient brewing traditions, modern industrial efficiency, and unique flavor-driven craft movements. Wow. With Asia now holding the largest share of the global market at oh, is this the second part?
SPEAKER_0030%.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Just off the top of my head, I think I'm gonna go right around the 31%.
SPEAKER_00Matt got it right. You got to give me credit. I for me not seeing the answer, that was pretty good. I was close to it. But it was wrong though. It was still I mean, Matt had nailed it. You know what, Jim? You're gonna finish all of these. So we're gonna watch 31% of the the that makes sense. So I didn't realize that until I was like, really? I'll guarantee you're right about because the population is the population. Yeah, so that wow. See, that's interesting. Easy question. You guys knew what it was. Yeah, you you had to you gotta give me credit. You're probably going, oh dang, he almost nailed that.
SPEAKER_01And I was like, that's why I had to make sure that yeah.
SPEAKER_00What I was gonna say about it. I was gonna say I hope you don't pull a like prices rate on me and go one dollar above what you know, one, and sure enough, that's what and that was the answer.
SPEAKER_02Well, it wasn't one dollar, it wasn't one percent, but still, all right.
Iceland Arctic Lager And Cryo Hops
SPEAKER_00So now we're up to number two. Now we've had a few beers from this brewery before. Yes, this is the Arctic Lager from Einstock Brewing. There you go, and they are out of Iceland.
SPEAKER_01Oh, just I gave you put a little more just detail under the four.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Now, first it's 4.7 percent ABV, 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle, in the fishing port of A Curie. Yeah, you I know you did this on purpose because you're I was gonna struggle with these. Yeah. A Curie A K U R E Y R I. Iceland. Iceland's better. Yeah, and their their description was Iceland's magnificent glaciers draw curious legions from around the world. You can taste the majesty in every sip of Arctic lager, brewed with Munich and Pilsner malts and dry hopped with citra and citra cryo hops. Our Arctic lager delivers a full hop forward aroma with a medium body and crisp, refreshing taste. Now remember, guys, this was made from the water from a glacier. What movie was that from? Is that Austin Falls? You need to know this. I really think I know this. It's water from a glacier. Dude, water boy, Adam Sandler.
SPEAKER_01Oh, remember? Some high quality. Yeah. So did you see I've been put an easy question on this one right on your notes for you?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I did not. What are Citra cryo hops? Yeah. Oh, you even gave me the answer. I can't do that. I gave you the answer too. Citra cryo hops undergrow a cryogenic process in which whole leaf hops are separated into concentrated lupelin at an extremely low temperature to preserve their essential oils and resin. This procedure results in a more potent hoppy and citrusy taste. So I thought that was important before we took our our first drink. When he said, you know, cryo, I thought, okay, yeah, like they're gonna cryogenically freeze it. Sure enough, we did. Interesting. You thought they could just threw it on the glacier and it froze there. Very light color. Yeah. There's a little bit of a little bit of a hoppy aroma. Nothing that over the top? No. That's got more flavor. Yeah, there's something. Yeah. And then it definitely does have a hoppy. Wow. Not bad though. Really? It's it's different. I mean, the hops the hops hang on. Right. The aftertaste is kind of clingy there. So again, did we ever get the definition? So why is this just a lager and not an IPA?
SPEAKER_01Don't have it. I mean, because it tastes hoppy to me. Yeah. So why wouldn't you say that it's an IPA instead of a lager?
SPEAKER_00I'm well, you know, when they lager it, it's a different kind of a process of fermentation, but I don't know. Like I said, I have not heard from my brother on that. I asked him the question last week and I haven't heard. He's been a little distracted here. Yeah, intrigued minds want to know because I again this tastes. I mean, this is hoppy. This is hoppy. It's got it, it hangs on, man. So Jim, what uh well, I can tell by his reaction. I don't think he likes it. I don't think he's no, I think his 2.3 is safe on yep.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's I mean for an IPA it tastes okay, but for a lager, I'm not sold on it. I mean, because we always go by what's on the can should be in the can because that's what you're basing your purchase on.
SPEAKER_00Right. So for this one, it just has Arctic Lager, so I'm assuming it would be fairly light, very crushable. Oh, geez, you're getting into that marketing terms now. But I mean, and it's got that cryogenic hops.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so because I'm not a big hot guy, it's I can it's lingering in my mouth, it's like drying my mouth out. I'm gonna have to go with 2.1. Okay, Matt, what do you think?
SPEAKER_02I don't want to say I like it because I wouldn't search this out, but it's to me, it's fairly fairly good. I get the there is hops to it on the lighter side. I think I'm gonna go probably I'll go with 2.7. I agree the the hops kind of linger, and I think that's what's taking me away from it, but uh for me, not bad.
SPEAKER_00Okay, yeah, Jim. I'm I think I'm agreeing more on your side a little bit, and I don't mind IPAs, right? And you've started to not mind some of them. This one is just kind of it really hangs on on the aftertaste. And I hate to say it, I'd probably drink the first one more than that. This one I'm gonna go with 2.1 as well. Again, it's it's unique. Yes. Now, the other ones we've had from them have been not that happy, they've been very good.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00So I was that's what I was expecting when we saw this one. I thought, oh, this could be interesting, you know. So but yeah, I don't think I'd recommend it to a new person because this it definitely has a hop flavor to it.
SPEAKER_01They might get scared by that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01All
What Rice Does To Beer
SPEAKER_01right. So are we ready for a question? Easy question number two. Yes, sir. This is even a short question.
SPEAKER_00What does the ingredient rice do to beer? What does it do to beer? Yep. Very specific thing. Man, why don't you go first on this one?
SPEAKER_02I mean, my my guess is it takes the takes water percentage out of it. I don't I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Ding ding ding ding ding.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_00Wow, I was I was surprised. I was gonna say the same thing. You didn't let me answer.
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, you you but you you passed your I did, I did. So it says many popular Asian lagers such as Sahi, super dry, and shingha, use rice as an adjunct to malted barley. This ingredient reduces the malt complexity and creates a lighter, crisp beer, and they have it in quotation markable and underline in bolt drier beer that is exceptionally refreshing in hot, humid climates.
SPEAKER_00You know what's funny is I did not know that some of the big brands in the States use rice because it's cheaper. Well, that's true, you know. So that's kind of interesting too. But well, all right. So man. Wow, this is the score's really like taking a big turn there. Apparently, I'm a beer guy. There's a big shock.
SPEAKER_015,000 points to Mike as one. I got a point. How the hell can I? I give you one for 30. Oh, but that's you were close. Nice. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I don't know if I've ever heard of you getting points on this.
SPEAKER_00I know, I don't like this. This it's unusual.
SPEAKER_01You were so close, I had to like give you like pump you up a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Right. Well, okay. Pump you up. All right.
German Pilsner That Falls Flat
SPEAKER_00So what are we on to? We're on to number three, and this one is 4.9% and 40 IBUs. Nice. And this is Pilsner from again. Uh yeah, I don't know. J-E-V-E-R. Javer brewing. Oh, that's probably way wrong. I don't know how it is.
SPEAKER_01And I don't even know that's the J how that's pronounced.
SPEAKER_00I don't know from that country. Because it's from Germany. The special Pilsner from the far north of Germany. Hardly any other premium beers have stayed as true to their roots as this has. Jeever, again, I'm sure I'm getting it wrong, has now been cultivating its very own unique taste for 170 years. Wow. The special combination of the best brewing water and our high-quality hops is what makes our Jeaver so unique and refreshing at the same time. So interesting. So this one's only 170 years old.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it looks like from what it says that they're still using the same water from when they first started. Oh, same well, same.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01So I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I'm sure that has something to do with it too, though. Very clear. Very clear. They've all been.
SPEAKER_02I'm glad you said same well, because when you started with same water, yeah. I was a little nervous.
SPEAKER_00Well, the rice takes all that off. All right. So not a whole lot, a little bit of aroma, but I don't I hate to say it, I don't know if it's from that last one. The aroma or not. It's not as hoppy as what I was thinking it was going to be.
SPEAKER_01But if it's a pilsner, it falls in with those other pilsners we just had a few weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yeah. But I mean, it's not bad. It's not bad. Again, I don't know if it's 40 IBUs. Yeah. I mean, it does have a slight hint of hop on the aftertaste, but not bad. You know. Right. It's we've had a I'm the first person I'm going to say that we've had better German beers, yes, my opinion. The October Festival. I think they're on a level. Yeah, different level. Yeah. So this was probably one of the first pilsners we've had. Now, it was funny because we were struggling to figure out where it was from. Right. And on the can it says for Canada. We're like, huh? But then around the top, imported premium beer from Germany. We totally didn't look at the top of the can. The big letters, the big writing around the top. Okay. Yeah. And the place we'd never look. No. Who looks there?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00All right. Well, it's different. It's different. I mean, I guess it is. You could drink it, I guess. Right. Not bad. I'm not going to dump it out, but no. I don't know if I'd like if there was something else in there, I picked it up. I'll be like oh put that back and bright. Matt, what are your thoughts? You get to go first on this one.
SPEAKER_02Uh I'm pretty much agreeing with everything you guys are saying. There's a little hoppy flavor to it. Everything is very subtle. So I can't. I'm having a hard time picking out individual flavors. It does the hops go, they go away faster than the last one. I'm not sold on it. It's I'm gonna go with a 2.5. Okay. Nice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I wouldn't buy a six-pack of this. You know. The Oktoberfest? Absolutely. Right. This, not so much. Well, I'll go with 2.2. I'll put it in between those first ones. And I can't believe I'm saying the Ukraine Ukrainian one is still better. Again, we've had the the German beers we've had before have really set the bar so high. Honestly, that this one I think is just kind of not there for me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, uh that's the exact score I was gonna go to. I I can't believe that that Ukrainian beer is still my number one, but this just I mean, there's like right now, even it's been a while since I had that last swallow, and it's still something's going on in my mouth. I'm like, ugh, I can't get rid of that flavor that's in there. It's not not good. I agree with you. Oh boy. Oh, back an easy question.
Japan’s Low Malt Beer Category
SPEAKER_01Some more questions. Another easy question. Great. So, question number three Japan, we know where that's at, right? Yeah, in Asia, has made a distinct beer classification based on malt content.
SPEAKER_00Okay. What is that category called? Japan has made it for malt content. Yep. A distinct category. Now in there when they wow.
SPEAKER_01Because you know when you look online on all the different there's like a whole bunch of scientific things they put on there. Yep.
SPEAKER_00Now in Japan, they actually made another classification. Wow. How about Japanese maltiness? Yeah, I'll go with that.
unknownI don't know.
SPEAKER_00You took my answer. Maybe something was family.
SPEAKER_01I can't even show you this one because you can't even pronounce it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you can't then I wouldn't know for sure if you can. Oh yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I I couldn't tell you.
SPEAKER_00All right. So this new category is called hopashoe. Hopashoe? H-A-P-P-O-S-H-U. Or as dumb as it sounds, I feel like someone if someone could have taken a guess at that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Or the English translation is low malt beer. So it must contain less than 33% malt. And so it's make it makes it a cheaper option taxed at a lower rate than traditional beer. Okay.
SPEAKER_00So there is a reason for a reason for it. Yes. Makes sense. So I did not think. You're right, Matt. We should have made up some word like that.
SPEAKER_02Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh well. Whatever. All right. They're easy, aren't they? No, they're not easy. All right. So what do we got now? You know, one of these weeks, we're going to bring questions in. Then we'll see how easy Jim thinks they are.
SPEAKER_01You gotta tell me what your questions are that I can find the answers.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. That you'll find the exact same place I find them and go, dang it.
Thailand’s Singha And The No-Flavor Shock
SPEAKER_00All right. Well, hey, we're going to Thailand, there boys. Oh, Thai beer. Yeah. So this is Singah. Yeah. S-I-N-G-H-A. It's a lager. Original, the original Thai beer. Yes. 5% ABV and it's from Bangkok, Thailand. Born in Bangkok, brewed for the world is their motto, I guess. I think so. It says in alignment with our mission to become a premium icon, both globally and at home in Thailand. Singha beer is now enjoyed in more than 58 countries and counting. That's millions of customers who turn to Singha to unwind at the end of a long day or for a few moments of peace in the middle of a hectic one. And to help maintain the highest quality and optimum freshness, Singha has now created new strategic partnerships in key international markets to better serve our customers. Now they were, it says their brewery was founded in 1933. Right. So they've been around a while. By the lionhearted. Yeah, I can't pronounce any of those names there. That's as far as you can look at it. Thailand's first master brewer. I'll call him PBB. His initials. All right. Now did it say it really didn't? Oh, they have a logo, Golden Mystical Lion.
SPEAKER_02I think that's almost looks like a dragon head.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it really does. Yeah. Our iconic golden mystical lion logo is inspired by the king of lions in the mythical Himmapan forest. And where's that at? You know, in the Himapan area. That region. That region. The Nether region? Geez, I'm surprised you didn't know that, yeah. That nether region. Very clear. Yeah, this you can see. Very clear. There's no doubt. Again, I don't know if this Omar is still lingering from some of the other ones. I don't smell much. There's not much there. There's a little bit of flavor. Yeah, I mean, it's not not a whole lot. But it's not hoppy. No, it's not hoppy at all. Much for hops in it. It's almost odd because there's almost no flavor. Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_02You're saying they didn't put hops in. I'm like, what did they put in there? I can't taste anything.
SPEAKER_00Hey boys, maybe you should have put something in there. That is that's different. Like I said, it's I've been expecting some kind of aftertaste because all these other ones have had an aftertaste. Right. This one pretty much doesn't. I wonder if this is their version of a big American box beer. Because they're like seems so like right down the middle. That's just wild. Well, you're first, I'm first. How do you rate it? Because there's really just there's really no flavor. I mean, gosh. I can't put it above the Ukrainian one because at least that had a little bit of flavor. Oh well, I can't but I'm gonna go with 2.4 just because just because you don't like Ukraine. No, yeah. How do I I I'll stick with the 2.4 ice cold, it'd be a good lawnmower beer because but there really isn't much flavor to it. I I I'm kind of upset I put it at number one now.
SPEAKER_01So I'm actually gonna say a 2.5.
SPEAKER_00I mean, so for me, it of these beers so far, these first one, I think for me it I like it the best. Right. Or least least was the least last least worstest of all of them. It's not a lot there, but I guess it for me it's the best okay beer we got. Yeah, there you go. That's a good way to say it, Matt. What do you think?
SPEAKER_02I think saying it's the best okay beer is a good way of putting it. Regretting my 2.9 on the uh Ukraine beer, but I won't change that one, but I'm gonna I'll put this one at a a 2.8 just uh put it up there. Nice, it's not great, but it's not it's not bad. Yeah, like I said, it's just because I mean, like there's nothing to it. Right. That's exactly what I was gonna say.
SPEAKER_00There's just there's nothing, nothing there, you know, it's colors, yeah. And five percent, I mean, you could drink in the room, but uh, would you really want to? I don't know. Would you really know if you did? Well, exactly. All right, let's go, Jim.
German Purity Law Ingredients Quiz
SPEAKER_00All right. Now, again, this is the easy ones. I'm like, I can't believe I even put this on tape. Okay. Question number four. And don't word out the answers right away. Okay, I'm sure. What are the four ingredients of the German purity law? Okay. We know there's four ingredients. Yep. Really good question, Jim. So you should be like, I don't know. Okay. You should know. Can I go back? All right, go let help have Matt help you out. Water. Okay. That's one. Hops. That's two. Green, malt. Malt is three. And yeast. That's four. Okay. So that so it's dang ding dang. I got two points now. So it's don't speak too soon. Oh, yeah, that's a trick.
SPEAKER_01I think it's gonna come into play in one of these other beers here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that the Jim, what year was it? The German Imperial? That's from like 14 something, isn't it? That's question number five. Oh, okay. I'm sorry, I'm skipping ahead. Can't tell you what the answer is.
SPEAKER_01Okay, but it's not 1400. So I now there's my hint. Okay. See, I wasn't gonna tell you started with a one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_01I figured you would. But now I had to give you like a hundred. I knocked up a whole century for you.
SPEAKER_00Okay, great. See, see how easy these are? Yep. You're getting you're getting soft now on me. All right, so
Samuel Smith Organic Lager Debate
SPEAKER_00this is all right. Well, hey, we're on to beer number five there, Jim. All right, and we've had a number of beers from this place as well.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00This is pure brewed organic lager from Samuel Smith Brewery. Yep. They got that chocolate. Yeah, the chocolate. The chocolate stout, yeah, uh organic chocolate stout. That's very good. This is five percent ABV. They're from Tadcaster, England. Yep. Brewed with great care using only organic malted barley, organic hops, medium soft water, and a bottom fermenting yeast matured at low temperatures to bring out its delicate flavor and soft hop character finish. The cold maturation period allows the bottom fermenting yeast to secondary ferment and improve this lager's flavor, purity, and condition. Now, if this is remotely, I'm sure it's not going to be remotely close to the organic chocolate style, because that's that's very good. Very good. Again, very clear. I'd say emphasis on a little. It's more than that last one. Yeah, there's not much, but there's some. Again, kind of what am I tasting? Cold.
SPEAKER_01You know, there's I mean, I don't even know how you can get so little of flavor in something.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01There's just nothing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's that's yeah. You know, this kind of brings me back to those 12 that we did before. That they were if there was no flavor, it was the better. Right. I can't even describe, I mean, it's like colored water. Almost. Wow. Uh are these the base models of each of these breweries? Your guess was as good as ours. We thought this was their premier once I premiere beer.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02I suppose the one is the one that you thought from was Canada's their premium.
SPEAKER_00It's premium. But what that means, I don't know. So just think of how bad the other one is. But yeah, like I said, we this was just build your own six pack. You know, they have an imported section, and we had to kind of go through these are ones like I said, we have not had before. I didn't want to grab you know other ones that we had. Right, right. Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I guess so far, I mean, they're not horrendous. I mean, they're just yeah, the flavor is just nothing there. I mean, I'm I'm gonna say it's 2.4 on this one. Uh I'm just that's all I got left for space for a number. You know it's nothing bad, it's just not much. I mean, I could probably drink a can of it, right? But again, like I think if you blind taste tested me on these, I don't know if I could pick out which ones were which.
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_01The beer one with which can, I don't know if I could do it.
SPEAKER_02Man, I just told myself in my head that I gotta start thinking a little more positive about this. And what I'm about to say goes for everything that we've tasted so far. Just the subtleness of them all, I think is good for a person that doesn't drink craft beer, maybe to get into it. I so I guess that's why like every time I take a sip, I keep going back. I'm like, I feel like there should be a little more to it. So maybe it's almost good to have something subtle where it's like try and push someone to say I want a little more. This one's my favorite, and I am gonna go with a three on this. Nice. So yeah, I like this one, it's so far my favorite.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Oh, yeah. Maybe it's because it's organic.
SPEAKER_02Yes, he's that changes the flavor. Does that change the flavor? Don't put that in my mouth.
SPEAKER_00I don't know if it changes the flavor or not. I don't know. I do agree. I think it's probably the one of the better ones we've had. Um I'll go with 2.5, so it's average. You know, yeah, there's just not a lot of flavor to it, but it does have a little bit. Right. And it's not bad. So there you go. Here we go. It's the top one so far. It's your best of the worst of the best. The best of the worst of the best. Best, yeah. All right.
When Reinheitsgebot Starts And Why
SPEAKER_00So last question of the day before our last beer. Okay. And Mike had already alluded to it. Sorry. So jump the gun. In what year was the German purity law started and why?
SPEAKER_02I don't like that you put why because those were my least favorite parts on school tests, is like put the answer and then explain. Why have I got why do I got it?
SPEAKER_01This much is the why? This much is the the year. So I had to like add a little bit more to it because I didn't want to just do the year. Okay. Keep you keep put your thinking caps on.
SPEAKER_00All right. The purity law, since you said it wasn't the 1400s, I'll say 1542 and why because they wanted to people were using other ingredients, and people were getting sick, so they wanted to try and because the water was probably not as good or some crazy thing. So they had to do it that way, so it was all safe to drink. I don't know. Oh, all right. Oh, that's were you even paying attention when I was saying you were mumbling something, or I I lost track.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh, man, it's turn. If I gotta take a shot in the dark, I'm gonna say it'll be close to years, but not not too close. I'm gonna say 1516. Oh, and my reason why is because I said so.
SPEAKER_01All right, wow, if he gets a thousand points for getting the right year. Okay. So the reason why it's the oldest consumer protection law in the world that's remained unchanged. Yeah. That doesn't sound like a reason why it stands for transparency, naturalness, clarity, and purity. The regulation known today as a purity law was promulgated in order to improve the quality of beer, which at the time was a staple among the population. So the various types of beer reflect the centuries-old regionally differentiated brewing techniques, a worldwide unique diversity that has to be preserved. I think I should get half cracked.
SPEAKER_02Didn't you say something along those lines? Yeah, I wasn't fully panting. I heard some of those words come out of your mouth. So I'll give it like a 0.1% on that. So you got it. So you got 1.1 knowledge you score.
SPEAKER_00I'll take it. You're at an all-time high here, Mike. This is crazy. Jim's getting really mainly.
SPEAKER_02Where are you at on all-time score now? If you added them all together, how does this offset your cumulative score very much or minimal?
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay. Very much minimal. Yeah, there you go. All right, what's our last weird one episode left?
Gravensteiner Kellerbier And Final Ratings
SPEAKER_00And this is Gravensteiner original from CNA Veltans, V E L T I N S. 5.2%. This is our highest alcohol boys. Our highest 5.2% ABV and 17 IBUs. And Gravenstein or Grievenstein, Germany, back to the roots with Grievensteiner. Oh, geez. I don't know how to pronounce that word. CNA brings the vulner venerable craft of brewing back to life in the tradition of the twins, Carl and Anton Veltans. At the beginning of the last century, the 100-year-old lettering of the family brewery is emblazoned. The tankered. So this is a pint can. Is this called tankered? Tankered, I guess. The bulbous stubby bottle, which we have a can. Yeah, we have the can version. Uh indicates to drinker that this is a beer through which solid brewing tradition comes alive. The herstor why are they talking about the bottle? Because it looks like I think it's one of those that's got like the cork on top. Oh, okay. Well, we're gonna skip that. Okay. In 1824, a small brewery in Grievenstein began to brew beer in accordance with the German purity law. Over 190 years later, one of the most modern private breweries in Europe has now been built in its place. A lot of bowels. Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, that's that's yeah. I'll take a clear enough on there. Yeah. This one's kind of like the darkest one. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of like a light almost like nut brown. Yeah, I was gonna say that or like a doppelbach, possibly something like that. Okay. I mean, that kind of a brownish. Do you get anything there? If there is a super faint, it's super faint. I don't really smell much. I was hoping for a little bit of a maltiness, but I'm not sure I'm even getting that. Okay. There's a little more to it than the more, yeah. It does taste malty, right? Yeah, a little maltiness. A little malty. Like they just waved the malt over the top of it as well. They blessed it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there we go.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that's not but it's it's it's not bad. I so do we even know what style of beer this is? I don't even think it's said, did it? No. Lager, maybe because it I didn't find anything where it said. Let me look here on the on the untapped there.
SPEAKER_02I was about to read this confidently, but then I realized it was German.
SPEAKER_00He goes, guys, I'm drunk. I can't make these words out. So it's not one of the 47 hands. Yeah, it's not one of these 47 languages that we thought that he could read. That's the it's a Keller beer or zwickle beer. Oh, okay. That's just what I thought about. Which if I it's I think that's like a dunkel, a dunkelweiss kind of style. If I remember correctly, yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01I mean, these are all like I mean splitting hairs and differences. I mean, there's nothing drastically good or bad about maybe because this is unfiltered, maybe it's different.
SPEAKER_00It could be. Or it's a lager. Oh, I missed that there. Hey, we could have read that word. Yeah, probably. But I mean, even for a lager, I mean, it's not over the top, but any flavor.
SPEAKER_01I mean, there's nothing just very difficult to describe.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I guess we're really used to flavor, you know, fruits and coffee, chocolate, something, oranges.
SPEAKER_00I mean, well, these have had nothing, not even whisper. Look at it this way. Now we can put imports away for a couple seasons, maybe revisit it in a couple years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't I mean, I don't think anybody could be scared about that.
SPEAKER_00No. If you're looking for flavor, these may not be the may not be your thing. But so, Matt, what do you think of this one?
SPEAKER_02Well, I like that they're not all overpowering in flavor. This is probably on the higher end for my scoring to make it work with the scores that I have since we're not allowed to repeat. And I am too stubborn to change my scores. This will be in my 2-6 slot, but it would be higher. But again, I'm too stubborn to change my scores. So, I mean, I like that there's a little more flavor than the rest of them, but again, it's not overpowering to me, and it doesn't sit on my tongue.
SPEAKER_00So, yep. Spot on, yep, I agree. I'm going 2-6 as well. I think this is for me, it's the top one. Again, there's not a lot of flavor, but at least this one is less, not a lot, or what however you want to say it. This would, I guess, if knowing now, this is one I would I would drink a can of it. I wouldn't go back for more, I don't think, but I'd still if I had to choose, that's the one I'd probably go with. Yeah, I'm I I'll say the same thing. Two six.
SPEAKER_01Um I think it's the best one today. I I honestly don't know if it is the best one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but all right, so we'll go around the horn and we'll just do our top one, two, or yeah, or whatever. Whatever you don't, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Whatever you think is like that the listener might be could sway their interest into drinking a beer.
SPEAKER_02There you go. Well, looking at my score sheet is not not accurate. The so the last three are would be my my top three with the Sam Smith, Samuel Smith, that'd be my top one. That one, that one I did like okay, not because it was organic, but I it was just it had the for me the best flavor, subtle but not overpowering. I'd go the Grievensteiner, that'd be number two, a little more flavor, not my favorite flavor, but there's a little more to it, not overpowering. That was good, and then singer. I did like how to me, it was almost impressive that you could make a beer without flavor. That tastes like nothing in and in a respectful way. It's impressive, and I could drink a couple of them.
SPEAKER_00Yep, yeah. I agree, I agree with you. I think the last three were probably the best of the first three, the the Ukrainian one was kind of by default. It was kind of the best one. I do like that the Grievenstein or however you say that last one. The the one from Thailand, the singer or however you pronounce it, kind of was surprising because I agree with you. I don't, Jim, I don't know if we've had a beer that really tasted absolutely like nothing. It was kind of crazy. So I you know, I think really the the first the second and third one, those are the ones I probably wouldn't recommend. Especially that second one. To if you're not used to drinking something hoppy, I don't think people would like it because it was a pretty strong art dick one. Because I think that had a pretty hot stronger hoppy flavor of these ones, it was by far the hoppiest. But yeah, it you know, I think people could try the rest of them and not really be disgusted, right? You know, so all right, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I think so. I guess my overall general comment is I'm glad we tried them. Glad that we, I mean, I'm not really glad that we tasted them. I'm glad we brought them up. I was expecting more, but I mean they underproduced all levels across the border. So that's I guess the my trend is is very underwhelming. My my top one was the Gravensteiner just because it it had color and it had a touch of flavor, right? Not a lot of flavor, just a little bit. And I think my second would be the Sand Smith and the the Shingah Singa. I don't know why. I I honestly can't even tell myself why I think they're okay. I guess it's because they're not bad, maybe. There you go.
SPEAKER_00I I can't because I can't think of anything positive. There's varying degrees of goodness, right? And these are kind of on the other end of the so I'm I'm glad we tried them.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad you know we and it's something we don't always do. We don't always get to have beers from outside the United States. So it's good to be able to try them. I'm not saying I'm ever gonna go to these countries to try these. Now that I know this, I definitely not even like try their beers. I'd see if they have an American-made beer there if I was traveling. So I was gonna say I'll stick to the US beer. So, you know, so I'm glad we tried it. I was hoping for more. It was almost like another Schonderbach episode, not to bring those guys up, but right, it just underwhelmed me completely.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know, and I'm sure people are thinking, why aren't you using Guinness and things like that? Well, we wanted to do stuff that we haven't had right that the average person isn't gonna find out there. Right. You can get Guinness to just want every bar, right? So that's what I mean. You know, so we're trying to we're digging deep in some of these, and you know, like I said, we'll we can wait a couple more years before we revisit it again, so that'll be all right. Right. We because we I mean, we've never I don't think I've ever seen these even in a bar. No, no, I mean, like I would not like I would go to the bar and say, Oh, hey, I wonder what that is.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I mean, if we wouldn't have gone to Total Wine, we would have never even got a lot of people.
SPEAKER_00You're not gonna go to the bar and say, Hey, where's your give me your best Thailand beer?
SPEAKER_02I might turn around if I walked into one of these local bars and saw the excuse me, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00All right, yeah, but it was fun. It was just a little bit of a bumpy ride. Yeah, exactly.
Events Plug And Listener Requests
SPEAKER_00Well, hey, Jim, we've got today, yes, and then we've got next Friday is Taster's Eve. All right, yep, and then Saturday is between the bluffs, or whatever the new name is, beverage and Beverages and bites. Yep. So that's coming up. And coming around. So, like I said, ladies and gentlemen, if you're there and you see us walking around, stop and say hi. Jim will buy you a beer. Yep. You know, unlimited beers, Jim will buy. Yep. That's tempting. Since they're free once you get in there. Oh. Never mind. That's what I'm gonna buy. I'm gonna buy the everybody. Everybody's gonna be able to do it. Everybody else. This is my name. Jim will buy it. Yep. Just drop, drop it in there and Jim will take care of the bill. Oh, did we get did we get Matt to just decipher the the song from the I think he he had told me that yeah, we shouldn't probably have that because it sounded bad.
SPEAKER_02I don't want to offend anybody.
SPEAKER_01I couldn't even understand. But the but the the title is beer exclamation point, beer, exclamation point, beer, exclamation point.
SPEAKER_00See, he's excited about beer. I give him credit for that. I didn't even know.
SPEAKER_02I hear the American song that has a very similar title, and it says beer exclamation point, and that's it. See?
SPEAKER_01Well, see, I was trying, but he spelled up with a B-I-E-R. Oh. So like a fest. The European, right? So I thought I thought maybe this would tie in and make the beer taste better.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Not so much. They didn't okay. Well, again, we're we're done with the imports for a while. We tried. Yeah, we tried. We came, we saw, we tried. Yeah, and we'll put it on the back burner for a while. So awesome. Well, hey, Matt, thanks for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, like I said, we didn't know how these were gonna go, and we still don't know how still don't know how they went. Yeah, so now we're gonna sit and think about it, ponder some things. Jim, thank you for participating. No problem, buddy. All right, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening. Make sure when you're out there, if you see imported beers, try them. If you know a good one, let us know. We'd love to hear from you. If not, we understand. So we I think next week we'll go back to some American beers and try those. Back on our back on the wagon again. Yeah, back on where we we pretty sure we can get some flavors. So awesome. Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening. And like we always say, we hope your campfire is always warm. And your beers are always cold. See ya. See ya later.
Contact Info And Sign-Off
SPEAKER_00Thank you for listening to the Northwoods Beer Guy podcast. If you have a question, a comment, or a beer you'd like us to review, please feel free to send us a message at Northwoodsbeerguy at gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you're on Untapped, look up Northwoods Beer Guy and send a friend request. Until next week, I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beers cold.
