Ukrainian Goodness

Beer for Life

'Bio-Beer' Designed to Extend Life

BioBeer, as it's called, has three genes spliced into special brewer's yeast that produce resveratrol, the chemical in red wine that is thought to protect against diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's and other age-related conditions.
(Discovery)

Beat you to it, Kent.

Dober Dan from beautiful Slovenia!

Lasko


Sokol (Restaurant home brew)


Union

Ukraine and Moldova, Bitches!

I've officially conquered Ukraine and Moldova. They are now on the pivo map. Pictures of Ukrainian pivo to come, although no evidence of Moldova. You still believe me, right?

Milestone

It's official. Pivo Terrorists have conquered Oktoberfest, with pride.


[It's a beer tank with tap on my head!]

Pivo Terrorists hit London- in photos

In an attack, the likes which has been unseen for the past 2 years, pivo terrorists hit London in late August.
These smiling faces conceal hardened and dangerous pivo terrorists, who are almost as unpredictable as the crazy bar owner at World's End pub who terrorized a hot dog vendor's cart with a fire extinguisher.

United by a love of pivo, as well as personalized dance moves, they pay homage to the pivo any time possible.

Years pass, the location of training camps change, but the message of the pivo terrorists remains the same--- just drink bitch.

Despite the harsh training schedule the pivo terrorists still found time to let loose and indulge in a favourite past-time. Shaking it like a polaroid picture.

These pivo terrorists are wily creatures indeed, dispelling the adage "you can pick a terrorist and you can pick a nose, but you can't pick a terrorist's nose".

They were seen parting ways quickly, leaving pivo behind to catch transport out of the attack zone. When will they attack again? All we can do is wait, but 2009 may be a year to remember.

beamish

beamish now comes in a can at my local beer store.

What happens in Barcelona stays in Barcelona

The Ten Best Summer Beers

A biased list like all others. But Budvar gets in anyway.

Armenia Diary - Kotayk Style

Kotayk
Originally uploaded by jennyhu

Day 1, after arrival, Armenian friend sends a message asking what our plan was. Reply: we will just hang around, see the city and drink beer in the parks.

Day 1 evening, met up with Armenian friend. Asks us what we did and how we liked Yerevan so far. Reply: tried Kotayk and it was good.

Day 2, during the day, Armenian friend sends a message asking what we were doing and if we needed any help. Reply: we are sitting in a cafe drinking - enjoying ourselves a lot.

Day 2 night, Armenian friend gave up asking and took us clubbing. Armenian friend left at midnight, we partied till 3am.

The Onion Breaking News

New Beer Brand Claims To Be Colder Than Other Beer Brands

WTF?

Czechs no longer brew top pilsner
Australian brewer now makes world's best Bohemian lager

At this year’s World Beer Cup in San Diego, California, the largest competition of its kind, the gold medal for “Bohemian-style lager” did not go to a Czech brewery for the first time since 2000, when the competition was smaller by nearly half and dominated by North American brewers.

Rather, the world’s best pilsner beers can be found in two unlikely places: Portland and Sydney. (more sadness)

Moroccan Beer

gushing

i was cleaning out some bottles from an old batch of beer that got infected. this is a sure sign that something has gone wrong. gushing:

Conquering Smallest Countries in Europe

My Italian friend only learnt from me that San Marino, that little town in the middle of Italy next to Rimini, is actually a country on its own, legitimately. Little did she know that ever since I had my first passport San Marino has been the No.1 on my must-visit country list all these years, simply because it is the only country in the whole world that a Chinese normal passport does not need a visa for, not at all. I really wasn't expecting much, until I knew the following. Besides being the world's oldest surviving republic, another shocking fact of that hidden gem is that it's got its own local brew. I didn't think it was possible so when I sat down in the restaurant and asked for a drink I had to ask for clarification when she offered their local beer.
"You mean, local as in San Marino?"
"Yes, it's Sammarinese and everyone likes it!"
Then I looked around and realized that there is this weird looking bottle on almost every table.
"OK, I'd like to have one, too."
"Large, half a litre."
"Yes, please."
And it's not a bad beer at all. Amberish color, reminds me of the Belgian Quak, though more yeasty. And the bottle was just so well designed and convenient to use it's so far the best beer bottle I've seen and used. Take a close look at the beer label. Impressive, eh?

[From San Marino with love]

Just as I thought San Marino would be my record of the size of the country I drink in, it also became the shortest lived record, lasting for only 24 hours. Here's how it happened.
"Hi, em... may I ask, em.... do you serve alcohol here today?"
"Excuse me? Do you need a menu?"
"Er well, I thought, you know, because today is the Easter Sunday, and the Pope's Mass is still going on, and it is Vatican, you know... Anyway, I can see that you don't have a problem with that. Can I have a beer, please?"
"Sure."
The Holy See never ceases to impress me.

[From Vatican City on Easter Sunday with love]

Sample the Beer Before You Buy It

Washington lawmakers have approved a pilot program that will allow beer and wine tasting in 30 grocery stores statewide in an effort to market local products.

The one-year program, strongly supported by the state's microbrewery and wine industries, allows shoppers to sample as much as 4 ounces of beer or wine. Supporters say it allows small wineries or breweries with no marketing budget to get their products out to the public. (AP)

Delirium

While our pivo alphabet game is stuck at 'I", I decided I should seek more information sources out in the world.

Delirium is a legend in Brussels, well, at least for beer drinks. Ever since my first trip to Brussels, actually even before I went to Brussels, I had had people tell me that one HAS TO check out Delirium when in Brussels, something like we say you have to see Great Wall when in China. Yeah it's that big of a deal.

If you wonder why, Delirium has an official Guinness certificate proving that on this planet they have the most beers commercially available in a bar. So we go and attempt to verify. We ask for their full menu, and the guy come and put this book down in front of us, with this evil grin in his face as if to say you are not the first one who didn't believe it dumbass. We realized that the fatal flaw in our plan was that we went on a Sunday night and we both had an early working session to catch the next day so we couldn't afford to sample all their beers, timewise and financewise. School girl error.

Having said that we did make our effort to taste as much as we can. Here are the proof. Thanks to them I was able to recap some of my hazy memories. Cheers to the cameras...







But hang on, I still haven't found an iBeer!

Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin

Luxembourg's national motto, means "We Want to Stay What We Are." Quite proud, isn't it? Well they deserve to be. Lots of people don't believe in the official statistics that Luxembourg has the world's hight alcohol consumption per capita, and it's won the title for several years in a row. But ladies and gentlemen, it can well be the truth if you consider the fact that 60% of the Luxembourg's residents are not Luxembourgish nationals and the ratio has gone up so high the government has allowed those non-national residents to vote. Impressive.

Longing to verify that fascinating rank as well as tick one more item off my countries-to-visit/drink-in list, I took a short day trip last weekend to sample Luxembourg's old city center (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and its local brew. Props to Marie, my superb host who didn't mind me dragging her around taking photos like a typical Asian tourist and making her take photos of me drinking. That's a tough job, I'm sure all of you are aware.

So, turns out Luxembourg is a beautiful city, details of which you can browse here. What I hope to officially introduce here is the three (actually, two) Luxembourg local beers that I sampled during my 4 hour tour of the country/city.

Battin, light lager, not too shabby, good for washing down a heavy lunch meal, which I did.



Apparently Mousel and Diekirch are more famous and traditional Luxembourgish brands but I didn't have enough time to sample both. On my way to catch my train back to Brussels I saw a sign outside a cafe saying they served both. I thought it was brilliant, and again, dragged Marie with me who initially only wanted some waffles with coffee. Nice try of her. We ended up both having beers, of course. The only problem is that when I ordered a mousel, it was served in a Diekirch glass instead. So here, two birds with one stone. Isn't that great? Mousel wasn't bad at all. Heard that Diekirch isn't too hard to get in Brussels. Ahhhh how curious. I shall inquire!


From Luxembourg with love, kids!

World_Pivo back in the game

Pivo Terrorists' attack in China, aka the Middle Kingdom.

[Sagres, Portuguese dark beer with special discount in Macau. Score!]


[Yanjing, Beijing local brew, in Beijing, of course.]


[Australian beer in Beijing! I'm sure you can see the excitement in this photo.]


[I can't believe I didn't take a photo of Qingdao beer in China and had to tag Paulaner here instead. Not that Paulaner isn't worthy though. It rocks.]

[Ah so we did try Qingdao after all. With yummy food in Hong Kong... the accumulation of coolness.]

This is how bored Canadians get when having their ass frozen off...

A local brewing company says the time has come to find an answer to one of life's most perplexing questions: How long can beer sit outside in winter before freezing?

But hey, this is what I can find out in the middle of the blizzard in China in a few days!

Let's Play a Little Game

We have the English alphabet. We have a diverse array of beers.

Is there a beer name for every letter in the alphabet?


If you thought "X" was difficult, luckily Azerbaijan sports "Xirdalan" as its main brew.

A Belgian Classic

Kwak. Piece of art.

I Hope You're Happy, Jenny.

Is that better, or are you going to claim that it's in fact apple juice and not beer?

I can tell you that it is unpasteurized Polish beer. Mmm...

lambic

despite what some members of our community believe, i think lambic beers deserve serious consideration by pivo enthusiasts. they are brewed with wild yeasts instead of the usual cultured strains, so their taste is strikingly different from other beers. they are a bit acidic and have a dry finish. they also lend themselves to the addition of fruit during the brew, so they can make a beverage that is a bit sweet, fruity, and retains its dignity. this cannot be said for most other fruit flavored drinks.

i had a cherry one last night. i encourage everyone to seek out different styles and flavors of lambic beers and report back here on your impressions. most importantly, you can help settle an argument i have with jenny about whether it's a beer "that you can drink throughout a long night"

Public humiliation

I just realized that some people have defied the Picture Posting Rules of this blog. You can find examples in some previous posts. Tsk tsk tsk. I'm not going to say anything or impose any penalty, but I believe the power of reputation can restrict and help regulate people's behavior so as to secure their social statuses. That's all I want to say.

The Passion that Never Dies...

Almost two years ago, the face was lit up with joy when they first met. That moment, we believed in love at first sight.


Of course there is certain price to pay, for example burning your best student's exam paper during your affair. But we say no pain no gain.

And finally, after all these they've been through...


All respect Jerry. Have a great time. We'll all be there in spirit.

The Absinthe Ritual

After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.

- Oscar Wilde describing drinking absinthe

How to drink absinthe.

A Reunion Filled with Beer

"Hey Jenny."
"Hey Kent. You finally made it. What took you so long?"
"I'll explain later. Ready to get drunk?"
"I thought you'd never ask."

It was 4pm and already pitch black. What better way to celebrate sunset than to drink much too early?

See the below blog post for visual details. Not surprisingly, I don't remember the names of any of the bars we went to.

Where are we meeting up next year, Jenny?

5 Bars and a Shisha Shed Later, She was Still Holding my Drink

Porter!

a pamphlet published in 1798 begins as follows:

To the PUBLIC

It has always been the fate of Persons, who, despising private interest, had no object in view but the public good, to meet with a host of enemies : prejudice, interest, influence and a thousand other obstacles oppose their endeavlours, and nothing but the conviction of truth could effectually secure their success. The author of this small tract, cannot ther fore expect to escape his share of obloquy and defamation, for exerting his small abilities to serve the labouring part of mankind, and, to render their situations more comfortable by a considerable reduction to their domestic expences.

what inflammatory, revolutionary idea is he to propose? read on...

The natural constitution of man, requires a portion of liquid aliment to assist digestion and nutrition ; and the hard-working branches of the Community receive from it support, spirit, and strength ; it is no wonder then, the ingenuity of man has exerted to produce liquors at once pleasant to the palate, reviving to the spirit, and productive of support. Gin, Brandy, Rum, Wine, Ale, Cyder, Mum, Perry, &c. &c. are proofs of the amazing invention of man to supply the defects of nature ; but, perhaps Porter for celebrity, universal use and estimation has not been equalled by any other liquor. The method of producing this beverage, and the ingredients of which it is composed, have been long kept an impenetrable secret ; if we consider the immense profits accruing from this secrecy, which perusal of this Treatise will prove incontrovertibly to any one, it will only be matter of wonder that any person should disclose it to the public ; and indeed had the author a private interest to serve, he could more profitably promote it by allowing the public still to be blinded, and the veil of mystery to remain unremoved from the art of Porter Brewing; but regardless of interested censure, or prejudiced dislike, he determines to exert his small powers, for the general benefit of society, and particularly for the lower classes.

The intention of this Treatise, is to induce the Tradesman, the Artizan, and the Mechanic, to turn their attention to the possibility of supplying themselves and families with a beverage much cheaper, and more nutritive than Porter, and yet retaining all its good qualities, and excluding its noxious ones. This may be done in the smallest families, in the smallest quantities and with the fewest conveniences, at little more than one-third of the present expence of Porter.