Greek Craft Beer: Septem Pale Ale

Arriving to Greece, it would seem that the craft beer scene parallels that of its Italian counterpart just across the Adriatic Sea. Very much so in the sense that when you think of Greece, craft beer, let alone, good beer is probably the furthest thing from your mind. But the tide may be turning here in Greece. After visiting a couple of small wine shops (wine and Greece definitely go hand in hand) and speaking with their owners, it would seem that the craft beer scene is definitely alive here. There are a handful of small brewers creating interesting and delicious craft beers. After hearing about several different brewers, the selection laid out before me ranged from stouts, to IPA's, to honey ale's, light and dark lagers, as well as the always drinkable pale ale. In fact, the microbrewery Septem (the latin word for seven and the number of creation), brews a beer for every day of the week. It is from this brewer I was first able to get my feet wet in tasting Greek microbrews by tasting their pale ale (which is brewed specifically for Friday).

Two things about this beer caught my eye, one: the fact that Septem decided to hop this beer with Saaz and Nelson Sauvin (Saaz is the famous Bohemian noble hop and Nelson Sauvin is a relatively new hop coming from New Zealand contributing white grape and tropical fruit-like flavours). I think that fact reveals that Greek brewers are not behind in the brewing world by any means and people here in Greece have available beers similar to what we'd find in current U.S. markets. Secondly, the Septem brewmaster is a former winemaker who decided to take a leap of faith and try his hand at craft beer. A bold move if I do say so myself. And to be completely honest, this beer is really damn good (not to ruin anything of the upcoming review, but I thought you should know beforehand).

As far as other Greek craft beers go I've only just scratched the surface. I've sampled two brews from Septem, and I'm trying to procure a bottle of Crazy Donkey, a Greek IPA brewed in Santorini. From what I've read it's Greece's first IPA and it's pretty darn tasty. Now, onto the tasting notes!




Name: Septem Pale Ale
Category/Style: Pale Ale
ABV: 4.70%
IBU: Unknown
OG: Unknown
FG: Unknown
Malt Type(s): Unknown
Hop Type(s): Saaz & Nelson Sauvin
Yeast Type: Unknown
Special Additives: None
Bottled: Unknown
Bottle Size: 330 mL
Location Purchased: Wine Story, Athens, Greece

The Pour: Head is white and creamy. Good retention with moderate lacing. Color is clear golden yellow.

The Nose: Lots of Nelson Sauvin present here. It's got a slight spicy kick to it but loads of mango, passion fruit, pineapple and a little pear. As it warms the nose takes on a slight white wine character. Overall quite sweet and fruity.

The Taste: Bitterness is smooth and dispersed equally throughout the brew. Fruity, sweet and spicy initially. Midway through the flavour takes a turn towards the tropical. On the finish I'm getting some exotic fruits, a little pineapple, mellowed passion fruit and a little bitter citrus peel. Definite white wine notes distributed throughout. Carbonation is medium and hits up front. Bitterness is not in your face but noticeable. Body is medium, but it's quite crisp on the palate. This brew is definitely sessionable, I reckon I could definitely drink more than one. Simple adjectives to describe this brew: spicy, fruity, sweet, exotic, bitter.

The Verdict: As the beer warms up the flavours become more noticeable and I really enjoyed the last half of the glass. At 4.70% it's very drinkable. The complexity really astounded me; it's a real pleasure to drink. I like the tropical fruit overtones and light bitterness. The beer was very well-balanced and I reckon it would make for a good entry level beer for someone looking to get into the world of hops. For my first Greek craft beer I was pleased and would definitely love to try others. As far as distribution goes, I have no idea, but I don't reckon it will be available in the US (never hurts to ask your local bottle shop though). Keeping my fingers crossed I can get that bottle of IPA! Until next time, happy hunting, and Happy Turkey Day!



Thanks for reading!

Zach

Bulgarian Beer: Zagorka Reserva 2012

After nearly two months without a new post I'm back and where am I now? I'm in Bulgaria! Why the long hiatus? Probably because I really haven't had anything amazing to write about. As I've been heading further and further east it seems that the options for delicious beer are becoming lesser and lesser. The further east you go, the more often people are consuming the light bodied mass produced lagers. And frankly for someone like me, that stinks. But there must be something else. There has to be something other than light bodied light and dark lagers out there. So I headed to a supermarket in search of something to satiate my thirst for something darker, heavier, roastier, and far more robust than what I was drinking; enter: Zagorka 2012 Reserva. I thought I'd found just the thing when I read on the bottle: "Full-bodied winter brew with rich fruity flavour." Holding the plastic 1L bottle (yes that's right, plastic bottle) up to the light I couldn't see anything passing through. Satisfied with my discovery I took it with me. And so here we are.

A little background on Zagorka: it's based in Stara Zagora in central Bulgaria and it was founded in 1902. In the mid-1990's Zagorka was purchased by Heineken and has ever since been brewing and distributing Heineken brands inside Bulgaria. Aside from brewing American style pale adjunct lagers, they've released a few other "special" releases. Most namely, this 2012 Reserva, which as I found out later is a blueberry fruit beer. They've also released a German style dunkel and bock and something they call Fusion, which is beer blended with white grapes. Most people just drink the normal Zagorka pale lager. I think that's about it. Shall we taste some beer?



Name: Zagorka Reserva 2012
Category/Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 6.00%
IBU: Unknown
OG: Unknown
FG: Unknown
Malt Type(s): Unknown
Hop Type(s): Unknown
Yeast Type: Unknown
Special Additives: Blueberries?????
Bottled: Unknown
Bottle Size: 1 Liter
Location Purchased: Penny Market, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

The Pour: Head is off-white with slight brown, red, and purple hues. Against the light the beer is clear and dark purplish red. Looks kind of like red wine or some kind of soft drink. Head retention is minimal and lacing in non-existent.

The Nose: Overly sweet and fruity. Smells a bit cough syrup-like with a twinge of artificial berry thrown in. Nose is quite candy-like. Wondering if the beer will live up to its promise of being rich and full-bodied.

The Taste: With the first taste something seems a bit off. Not quite as sweet as I would have expected but the body is a bit thin and I'm left with the cough syrup medicinal taste in my mouth afterwards. Carbonation is medium and I do in fact taste blueberry but the balance doesn't seem quite right. This brew is definitely missing something.

The Verdict: Well I will say that this is the first time I've ever reviewed a beer coming out of a 1L plastic bottle (and hopefully the last). Something was definitely missing from this beer. I think it would benefit from a much more complex malt backbone, showcasing some darker roasted malts for balancing out the sweetness. This is the second blueberry beer I've had and this is the second failure. But when I was looking for a dark beer at the Penny Market in Stara Zagora this one caught my eye. The bottle is dark brown and when I attempted to shine light through it, none passed, so I made the assumption it was just a really dark beer. Couple that with: "Full-bodied winter brew with rich fruity flavour..." typed on the label and I was sold. Little did I know that the "fruity flavour" was what they were really focused on. In any case it was a nice attempt to deviate from the boring assortment of fizzy yellow mass-produced light lagers that everyone drinks here. Even the dark lagers are disappointing. So this was a welcome deviation from the norm. Would I buy it again? No way. Did it satiate my desire for a rich winter brew? Hardly. But to hear that this is the second year in a row they've sold this beer is interesting enough. Will people ever desire something other than the standard assortment of mass-produced lagers here in Bulgaria? Probably not. But Zagorka is offering something else. And that's a good sign. Who knows, maybe in 20 years the craft beer tidal wave will wash over all of eastern Europe? It's already in Prague, perhaps it's just a matter of time before it heads further east? I guess only time will tell.



Thanks for reading!

Zach