Favourite Obscure Beer

[Supreme feet]

Would just like a few opinions. Since the Eastern European brands have taken off in off-licences around the country, we've been spoiled for choice in our beer palate. Erdinger no longer seems exotic. Beers with ridiculous volumes and unpronouncable names have entered our consciousness, and since beer and football are inextricably linked, I was just wondering if any brands in particular have made an impression on the good people of foot.ie. I'll offer my few cents...

Estrella Damm - Barcelonian goodness, outstanding when ice cold.
Tyskie - Polish, 5.6%. Goes down far too easily.
Baltika - Russian, clean, sharp and thoroughly satisfying.
Zelta - Latvia's finest.
Franziskaner - Cloudy German Weissbrau. Delicious, but very, very heavy.
Sing Ha - Thai beer, fairly light, goes down easy.
Valentin's - Like Franziskaner, but not quite as nice. Has a tendency to make pungent hurricanes flow from one's intestine.
Cobra - Chinese, and ridiculously smooth. Probably not obscure though...

Any thoughts, disagreements, further recommendations?

Supreme feet says, enjoy obscure beer sensibly. :p

[SkStu]

i love threads like this

Karlovacko (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Karlovačko_gobeirne.jpg/800px-Karlovačko_gobeirne.jpg) - a Croatian beer (introduced by my Croat in laws) is the finest beer i have EVER tasted. Great flavour and quite strong. It is available in Dublin as far as i know.

Bohemian (http://www.molson.com/brands/molsoncanada/images/mb_boh.jpg)- cheap as chips, a Saskatchewan product. Not the greatest tasting but named after the Big Club so its my regular over here.

Kokanee (http://kokaneebeer.com/images/newbottle.jpg) - another Canadian beer. I could drink this all night. Light taste but deceptively strong. Canadian beer is so much better than American pish.

[noby]

Is Galway Hooker obscure enough to be listed? A fine Irish beer.

Zlaty Bazant, from Slovakia, is so easy going it's scary. Same as a lot of the Czech beers.

Cobra isn't Chinese, by the way. It's marketed as Indian, but is actually British.

[stann]

Have nowhere near the oddball beer experience of some of the heads on here, having neither the time nor the tendancy towards alcoholism that appears to be required ;) , but some of the very nice beers I've come across while moving about are below. I'm aware that all of them are wildly popular, and populist, in their own regions, but I don't care. :p

Estrella - good shout Feet, good enough to be a primary reason for emigrating.
Cisk Export - from Malta, same as above. Probably my favourite of all.
Nastro Azzuro - tipple of choice when in Italy, see it all over the place here too. The red label Peroni is not bad either.
Zwettler - Viennese beverage I took a real shine to when over there a while back, and will again soon... nice and malty!

[jebus]

Cooper's Pale Ale - Australian beer that comes in three different types (red, yellow and green label), one is the nicest beer available, the other two are muck (green label is what you're after)

[noby]

To be pedantic, Cooper's comes in a range of different coloured labels, but the red, green and yellow are the most popular, especially here. The green one is, as you say the Pale ale, and a fine drink it is. The red is a Sparkling Ale, which is in no way sparkling, and the yellow is the stout, which is not bad.

[Pauro 76]

Kilkenny on draught. Well it's obscure isnt it? Can never find anywhere that sells it on tap in Dublin. Chang beer is lovely too, think its Thai?

[centre mid]

Red Stripe - Jamacian honey mmmmmm...........

[osarusan]

No idea how popular they are in Ireland, but 'Tsingtao' is a decent beer from China, and 'Ba Ba Ba' is a good Vietnamese beer.

[noby]

Tsingtao is finding it's way on to off-licence shelves alright.

[Norm]

Bottle of Guinness - (Old fizzy stuff) Ice cold. Underratted.

[GuisaSaigon]

No idea how popular they are in Ireland, but 'Tsingtao' is a decent beer from China, and 'Ba Ba Ba' is a good Vietnamese beer.

Tsingtao is common enough in chinese places. I've never seen 333/ Ba Ba Ba in Europe nevermind Ireland. Saigon beer can be got in the Vietnamese neighbourhoods in London, Paris and Brussells

Beer Lao is my favourite Asian beer, not very common in Ireland but you can find it in some Asian supermarkets.

You can't beat a bit of rượu rắn in the morning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_wine :)

[noby]

I guess for real obscurity, the winner is always Westvleteren. One of only half a dozen or so trappist breweries, the monks only brew enough beer to survive. There are three different beers, 6%, 8% and 10%, signified by different coloured caps, as there is no label on the bottle.
The only place you can (legitimately) buy the beer is if you drive up to the monastery, or in a café across the road. Availability is only notified by a small sign outside the monastery, or by phoning up, and getting a recorded message. You can book a crate of beer over the phone, drive up to a hole in the wall, and collect your beer, strictly one crate per car.

[noby]

Bottle of Guinness - (Old fizzy stuff) Ice cold. Underratted.

Off the shelf, if you don't mind, sir.

[GuisaSaigon]

Oh I forgot ' Delerium Tremens' mad Belgian beer its around 12%, it has pink elephants on the bottle. Guaranteed to give you the DT's.

[Kingdom]

Have nowhere near the oddball beer experience of some of the heads on here, having neither the time nor the tendancy towards alcoholism that appears to be required ;) , but some of the very nice beers I've come across while moving about are below. I'm aware that all of them are wildly popular, and populist, in their own regions, but I don't care. :p


Nastro Azzuro - tipple of choice when in Italy, see it all over the place here too.

An absolutely superb beer. About the only beer I'd drink with a meal.

Baltika 5 is a corker too.

[Macy]

Lasko - Slovenian lager. Lovely stuff.

[superfrank]

Castlemaine is fairly decent. I also like Tiger, even though the taste is a bit flat.

[rambler14]

Warsteiner or Warfeiner as it says on the label is a lovely German beer thats only a euro a bottle!!

[noby]

Warfeiner? Take a closer look the next time. It's a long, narrow S and a small T, but no F.
One of the nicer 'budget' beers.

[Supreme feet]

For anyone who's heading over to Bulgaria next June, I acquired some knowledge of the local tipples during my four-month exile in Blagoevgrad. Bulgarian beer should be served ice-cold, as many of them have a dark-ish taste (except Zagorka, which you shouldn't drink anyway).

Shumensko - great stuff, easily the best of the bunch.
Zagorka - The devil's urine. Avoid. Think of Dutch Gold with a dash of uranium.
Ariana - Distinctly average...
Pirinsko - Shumensko's inferior cousin. Same brewing company, I think, but the latter tops it by some margin.
Stolichno - Almost forgot about this. Bulgaria's answer to Guinness, but much lighter, easier to drink and 6%, so it gets you fairly messed up.

The most widely available foreign beers seem to be Beck's and (shudder) Tuborg.

[superfrank]

Warsteiner or Warfeiner as it says on the label is a lovely German beer thats only a euro a bottle!!
Good call. I forgot about that one.

[brendy_éire]

The Warsteiner we get here is brewed by Diagio in Dublin, nice stuff it is, but expensive on draught.

I like Mahou Clasica from Spain. Don't normally like light tasting beers but that's a good one. Can only ever seem to get Mahou 5 Estrellas over here though.

A cracker one is Clotworthy Dobbin, brewed by Whitewater Brewing Co in Down. Got rated among the top 50 beers in the world recently. Well worth a go if ye can find it (it's common in Belfast, and Tesco have started selling it recently).

[ken foree]

schneider weiss is another german one, a biere blanche or i suppose it would be weissbiere or something in german - very good, not widely known over here.

[boovidge]

Being a Sussex lad i should mention Harvey's, the local brew over there. If you find yourself in Brighton try it (but don't bend over if you drop a fiver ;))

I love English beers like Bishop's Finger, Hobgoblin, Ruddell's etc etc Can't beat them.

[KevB76]

Austrian beer - Mohren. Dont know if you can get it here.
Strong but very very drinkable if you know what I mean.

Appartantly, most regions of Austria have their own breweries and thats the main beer available in those localities.

The custom to drinking in Austria is they keep a tab of what you've been drinking and you just pay when you're leaving.
They lose track though, so you're bound to get a few freebies over the course of a night :D

[noby]

A cracker one is Clotworthy Dobbin, brewed by Whitewater Brewing Co in Down. Got rated among the top 50 beers in the world recently. Well worth a go if ye can find it (it's common in Belfast, and Tesco have started selling it recently).

I picked up a bottle in Cork at Easter - what a great drink. I'd love to get my hands on some more.

[tetsujin1979]

The Porterhouse did a Celebration Stout about 2 years ago, I remember I had one the night after I passed my driving test. Bottled stout. 10%. Good night.

They did a really nice chocolate stout over St Patrick's week this year as well, you could smell the chocolate before you drank it

Had Berliner beer when I was in Berlin last year, cheap and cheerful, and not half bad

[noby]

Bottles of Celebration might be still knocking about a few off-licences.
Carlow brought out their own 10 year anniversary stout this year. "Only" 6%, comes in a rather nice 750mL bottle.

[Dunny]

Tsingtao is finding it's way on to off-licence shelves alright.

Seen it in Tescos today aswell.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Hardly obscure but hard to get (properly ...as in bottled) in Ireland -Newcastle Brown Ale

[Pauro 76]

Hardly obscure but hard to get (properly ...as in bottled) in Ireland -Newcastle Brown Ale

Good stuff that is. Singha Thai beer is lovely too.

[jebus]

If it's cheap and cheerful you're after the German beer Warsteiner (chilled) is quite good at only €1.20 a bottle

[OneRedArmy]

Have come across some great beers on football trips.

The Gull, Black Sheep and Ships Oil made by the Faroese microbrewery Föroya Bjór were fantastic, particularly for a country with only 6 pubs. In Armenia the Kotayk and Erebuni were strong and fantastic (Kilika was OK).

Also have a soft spot for American pale ale "microbrews" (most now too big to be considered microbrews but still taste good). Examples such as Fat Tire, Anchor Steam, Sam Adams and anything made by the Rock Bottom microbrewery.

Bought a dozen Estrella Dam to watch the footy with last week and they were very nice Ice Cold. Tesco has also been doing a special on Sam Adams. O'Briens has a good stock of German weissbeers (at high prices). I believe there's an off license in Dundrum that stocks the mythical Augustiner. Been meaning to go out and pick a case of that up.

Keep this thread going, its making me thirsty...!

[Magicme]

Desparados is one I love, usually get it when am in France or Holland
Also Leffe (Blond) which can get in the Pig now so not so obscure.
For memories of my wedding in Barbados and a present I got when leaving Hot Press "Banks" stands out. Havent had it since as they are both bad memories now!

[EAFC_rdfl]

so has anyone made their own beer? one or two lads I know are about to get some home brew kits, just wondering if anyone has done it before? and if so will it taste like nectar or dish water??

[noby]

I brew my own. You can make it as good or as bad as you like. You can buy the cheapest kit, and add a pound of sugar, and end up with something not far off alcoholic dish water. This is how homebrewing used to be like. Nowadays even the basic kits have improved a lot. You can spend a little more on better kits to get a better tasting beer.
I do all-grain brewing which is basically a scaled down version of a proper brewery.

What sometimes puts people off is that they think they can knock up something to exactly replicate their favourite pint of Heineken. Brewing a lager is a particularly tricky operation, and ales are more common for the homebrewer, (including stouts wheat beers, pale ales, IPAs etc., so you're not that limited).

My advice for your friends: when buying your kits the more you spend the better the result. A good 3Kg kit might be €25, but it'll produce a beer far superior to a €14 kit and a bag of sugar.
Once everything is sanatised it's kind of hard to go wrong.

[boovidge]

Hardly obscure but hard to get (properly ...as in bottled) in Ireland -Newcastle Brown Ale

eugh, that's like the Carling of ales. Last resort only!

[OneRedArmy]

eugh, that's like the Carling of ales. Last resort only!I must say I never warmed to "proper" English ales, despite going to the CAMRA festival a few times. Warm flat beer doesn't do it for me.

[ramsfan]

tropical beer in the canaries is a great holiday beer

[osarusan]

I was out shopping tonight, and found this - Patagonia Pale Ale, a Chilean beer. In order to add an extra post to this thread, I bought it.

Given that the label was in English, I wondered if this was just some crap produced for the foreign market that Chileans wouldn't touch, or if it would be a nice, unexpected find.

Actually not bad, but a strange combination of light and malty.

[Hitman]

I was out shopping tonight, and found this - Patagonia Pale Ale, a Chilean beer. In order to add an extra post to this thread, I bought it.

Actually not bad, but a strange combination of light and malty.

Like a malteser?

[inexile]

hackenberg, cheap strong belgian lager and i really like the taste of it.
erdinger wouldnt be that obscure but very nice
but for me straight in at number one is fischer beer, i have only ever got it in luigi malones but a few pints of that and a few chicken wings and im a happy lad

[Dunny]

hackenberg, cheap strong belgian lager and i really like the taste of it.

Great beer, have not drank it in years tho.

[inexile]

had a few cans of it less than a week ago, quality

[dortie]

Anyone remember the likes of Steiger and Bavaria 8.6 ? Stopped drinking it when i officially got to the drinking age and of course had money !!!

[EAFC_rdfl]

Just back from Sardinia there last week, had the nastro azzuro mentioned here a few times, nice beer alright. Also the most popular beer there is called ichnusa, brewed on the island although the brewery is owned by heineken now i think. its lovely stuff. Had a few birra rossa's there too, look a bit like smithwicks but far nicer!

[centre mid]

Ashati - Japanese beer, very tasty

[noby]

Had a few birra rossa's there too, look a bit like smithwicks but far nicer!

I haven't tried that one myself, but there are a lot of red beers out there that look a bit like smithwicks but have a much nicer taste. Heck three Irish micro Reds (Porterhouse, O'Hara's and Franciscan Well) produce a nicer red than Smithwicks.

Italian microbreweries are getting a lot of good press lately. I must try and get my hands on some.

[osarusan]

Ashati - Japanese beer, very tasty
Asahi, I'm guessing you mean.

Asahi Super Dry is nice, the other beer they make is ****. If the can is mostly red colour, do not buy it. If its silver, with the word "karakuchi" over the name of the beer, its good.