Not only did I fail to get my world Cup Sweepstake posting finished in time I also left it unfinished in my haste to get to some paid work yesterday. The bits I did not include are :
The local shop web-site for all things Czech and Slovak is www.halusky.co.uk
The beer Zlaty Bazant translates as Golden Pheasant - hence the bird on the can.
The beer itself is an acceptable quaffing lager. It is the first tin of beer I have drunk in this country for at least ten years. When are craft brewers here going to realise that canning is no longer a great Satan ?
On the can in large gold lettering are the number - 10%. Though the shopkeeper tried to persuade me that this is the amount of hops in the beer I knew it was a scale which measures the amount of sugar left in the fermentable wort and is an indication of strength. The Czechs/Slovaks use the Balling scale which is similar to degrees Plato and to reach the ABV you need to multiply by .4. This means a 10 per cent degrees Plato or Balling is about 4% ABV and a 12% beer is about 4.8%. In tiny print on the back of the can it suggests 4.3% ABV. The can is well packaged and eye catching. Perhaps the marketeers think that by putting 10% in large gold lettering on the front and 4.3% in tiny print at the rear it will help sell the beer - I think not.
That's it. A post of two halves and not exactly match of the day.
Bring on the footie season and come on you R's
2 comments:
The Zlaty Bazant at the Czech and Slovak Club is bottled but I'm pleased to hear someone enjoying canned beer.
My local corner shop (a Costcutter) has a large range of canned lager at five cans for a fiver. The best amongst the bunch is Tiskie (from Poland I think). At 5.6%ish and 500ml a can, it is a useful fridge filler for when less discerning friends pass by. They are usually suitably impressed and you can keep the good stuff for yourself!
Well I certainly learned something today about the Balling scale and degrees Plato. So, um, thanks for that.
I have actually had this beer (there is randomly a mart around the corner from me that sells it) and I agree with your description of it as "an acceptable quaffing lager."
Also - YES to more aluminum cans for craft beers. Canning is indeed no longer a great Satan; in fact, cans are much more environmentally friendly than bottles. They are much easier to recycle, and they consume much less energy during production than glass bottles. What's more there is no impact on flavor.
I feel strongly that craft brewers should be moving aggressively towards cans. The only serious canner of craft beers I can think off of the top of my head in the US is Oksar Blues. More of that, please.
Nice post Steve, keep em coming!
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