The Steamtug Blog

Ok… so you can call me weak as… er… beer. I lasted 26 days without a beer, but Friday night I put on some old style rock, lit the fire and a few mates came around for a barbie and I could not stand it any longer! I cracked open a big bottle of beer, and that was the end of my alcohol free month.

I also went away for the weekend, catching up with friends who also “forced” me to consume copious amounts and become under the affluence of icahol. Thanks Carrie and John for hosting a great weekend get together, and for letting us watch Geelong just scrape home against Hawthorn on the big projection TV. It was nearly as good as being there, and such an exciting game too! Another interesting comment heard, was when the girls were talking about the new “Toy Story” movie, and Anita made a comment about how much our boys enjoyed the original. She said something like “Riley even has a “Buzz Lightyear” and Mitch’s got a “Woody”.  We all just looked at each other… until Anita looked back innocently saying “What??!???!???!”

The beer I was handing around was my first tasting of the second grain mash brew I had attempted, and it turned out to be an interesting beer. It’s got a strong fruity taste up front, followed by a sharp bitter after taste which will mellow with a little more aging. But it brought us to the subject of the world’s best beer. So I composed my list of top 10 beers of the world. Now this is not an easy task as there are so many, and everyone has a different taste expectation, but what about this for a list? Feel free to comment and tell me your favourite beer on the comments form below. I would love to find new beers recommended by you to try.

The World’s Best Beers!

1. Budweiser (from Czech Republic)

This is the reason we know Pilsner beer! Beware of fakes, Pilsen is the town which gives it’s name to this type of beer. It’s definitely the world’s best beer. Light, crisp mmm I can taste it now! When they increased there marketing strategy to an international level, the American Budweiser Co told them to pppp off because they were the rightful owners of the name Budweiser! It went to court and was found that the Czech version was 50 years older than the Americans. So the yanks were told to pull there heads in! That’s why the Americans call it just Bud now! I mean to say, what do they know about beer anyway?

2. Newcastle Brown (UK)

An old favourite, dark, warm, friendly! Best drunk on the bank of the Tyne river overlooking Newcastle’s famous swing bridge.

3. Steinlager of New Zealand

I have never been to NZ but when I do I will drink this until in comes from my ears!

4. Leffe Brown (Belgium)

I found this one while living in Nigeria and drinking with the Belgian dredging contractors. I eventually went to stay in Belgium with one of the boys and visited the local supermarket. My eyes popped out at the variety of beer available. So I took each 6 pack and pulled 1 stubby from each and loaded it into a shopping basket. At the cash register the poor girl could not add them up as the bar code was on the cardboard pack! I apologised but she said no problem, and with people cueing up behind me (who didn’t even seem annoyed) she went through the book one by one. This was my favourite!

5. Cooper’s Sparking ale (Australia)

5.8% alcohol. Great tasting ale style beer from the Cooper’s family. And the empty bottles are great for home brewing! (If anyone wants to save some bottles for me…)

6. Kilkenny Cream (Ireland)

My old Irish mate Ben Harris came from this town, so when I finally visited there I sent him a postcard back to Bendigo where he lived. (He’s been dead a few years now…) I love to drink this from the tap at my local Irish pub, just down the street. I just don’t get there often enough! (Not like it’s too far from home or anything is it?) Tasty with a big creamy head that only fancy chemicals can give you. (It’s probably grated plastic, but who cares!) Or the widget in the can trick, like they do with Guinness.

7. McEwan’s export lager (Scotland)

I discovered this one while backpacking across Scotland.

8. Stella Artois (Belgium)

One of the better commercial beers.

9. Baltica 2 (Russia)

The locals seem to prefer Baltica 3 with a sharp bitter taste, or the smoother Baltica 7. They all come from the same brewery which is an off shoot of Carlesburg from Denmark. Actually the locals all prefer to drink the American Miller. Can you imagine??? That’s why they would rather drink vodka than beer. Baltica 2 was my favourite! It’s  a smooth easy drinking Pale Ale  style beer. Hard to find, but easy to drink! hic…

10. Boags Premium Lager (oldest beer in Australia)

Tasmanians know how to make beer. It’s a pity that the oldest brewery in Australia is now owned by the Japanese!

Beer Facts!

Did you know, that the style of beer brewed in a town is determined by the water quality of the region? For example, in Pilsen the water is very pure with hardly any dissolved minerals. For the enzymes in the malted grain to work properly, they must get the pH of the water down. This is easy to do for this type of water, so pale softer malts can be used.

In Dublin however, the water is high in natural alkylinity from the disolved calcium. To get the pH low enough, heavy dark malt must be used, which produces darker heavy stout type beers. You could never make a Pilsener beer in Dublin, nor could you make a stout in Pilsen.

Want to know more? Look at the top right corner of this page and click on the “Homebrew” tab.

Special mention:

Prickly Moses (Otway Ranges Victoria.)

Theakston’s “Old Peculiar” (England) a real ale beer from North Yorkshire. Delicious!

Guiness stout. It’s got to get a mention somewhere…  I once had a craving for this beer and got pissed at the St James gate brewery in Dublin. But when I brought a whole slab from the supermarket in Nigeria on special for only $5 (my how the tax makes a difference) I drank all but 4 cans which I could not finish and have never really craved it since. Still the occasional pint is still welcome now and again.

Little Creatures Pale Ale (Australia)

You gotta check out this great web site! And the beer is even better!!!
https://www.littlecreatures.com.au/

The wisest thing Frank Sinatra ever said was:

“I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.”

Ok. Get your comments happening! What is your favourite beer? And happy drinking!!!