Beers that Travel

empty bottles and bottle caps

After Wednesday’s Exam from Hell we headed to the Dancing Camel Brewpub for a beer tasting. Here are two of the beers we shared:

Hue Beer from Vietnam. Imported to Austin, bought in California, delivered to Tel Aviv. Xingu Black Lager is brewed Brazil, imported to Massachusetts, bought in New York and again, delivered to Tel Aviv.  The bottles had their share of mileage and we expected them to taste a little weary.

A little exotica and trivia: Hue Beer’s the first Vietnamese product to be exported to the US after the end of the embargo. I hope that in this case first does not mean the best, because this beer’s a rather turn off. It’s a pale lager that smells corny and tastes corny with that standard unexciting pale lager bitterness, has a thin, watery body and malty finish.

The story behind Xingu is a little more interesting: it’s a homage to pre-colonial beer brewed by the indigenous tribes of the Amazon. Whereas historically the indigenous beer was fermented with wild yeast, Xingu isn’t. There’s nothing special about this Schwarzbier. It’s sweet and malty both in the nose and in the mouth, has some hints of cocoa and really reminds me of malt beer. Now malt beer’s my favourite soft drink, but I look for different traits in fermented beer. The beer’s unamazingness  can be probably attributed to its age, but chances I’ll get to drink a new bottle in the foreseeable future are slimmer than slim.

Hue Beer and Xingu Black Lager are beers #171 and #172 I Must Try Before I Die. stay tuned for more excitement in the lager front.