Aldi Special - Karlsquell Weizen & Maternus Premium Pilsener

Scraping the bottle of the barrel here but curiosity got the better of me on a recent trip to Aldi. Not a shop I visit very often as it is the worst of the discount stores here mainly because it has not adapted to Denmark and the local produce however I am a big fan of their imported Nurnberger sausages, brilliant for the barbeque ! Walking up the small discount beer laden aisle I spotted these two in PET bottles. Both with German labels but on closer inspection there is a catch, one is actually brewed in Belgium. So, how good or bad can these be ?

Karlsberg ?- Karlsquell Weizen

I had to look this one up and some sites say Karlsberg while on the bottle it says brauerei braunschweig, which leads to Oettinger then hits a blank. No matter, lets twist the cap...

Light wafts of banana, wheat, fruit and cloves from the pour.

Karlsquell Weizen pours hazy orange with frothy white head. Moderately sweet and fruity intake with wheat, banana and just a faint touch of cloves while the finish is with a dry and sour citric bitterness. Not a lot going on in the short aftertaste apart from some mild citrus and cloves. Lively carbonated and the mouthfeel is light and watery.

Not the worst wheat beer I have drunk and a bit better than I was expecting. A bit too lively in the carbonation department for my liking and I did not really like the sour finish. Not one I would buy or drink again. Summing up, it is drinkable but that's about it.

This scored a generous 3/10 on the 'well, that's my first wheat beer from a plastic bottle' Beerometer.

Alc : 5%

Where to buy/avoid CPH : Aldi

Martens - Maternus Premium Pilsener

German label and brewed to the German purity law... in Belgium and styled as a Czech Pilsner, confused ? The label blurb says ' Fresh and aromatic pilsner in premium quality with a fully developed taste. Brewed with choice ingredients'. Are your alarm bells ringing ? Time to twist that cap...

Lights aroma of malt, herbs, hay and wet cardboard.

Maternus pours a very pale urine yellow with a washing up liquid white head.  Malty and very grainy rough intake with wet cardboard and herbs. The finish is lightly bitter some faint hops. Next to no aftertaste apart from a little of the weird hops/herbs lingering. Thin bodied and watery in the mouthfeel.

It is drinkable but I am not that impressed with this. I like the herby profile which at a good stretch almost reminds me of a Jever or Dithmarscher pils. I don't know where the Czech bit comes in as to me it tastes like a very cheap version of the two afore mentioned pilsners. Not one I would bother buying or drinking again, at this level I would rather have a Perlenbacher from Lidl for a cheap German pils. Summing up, thank f... I only bought one.

This scored 2/10 on the 'that's not discount, THIS is discount' Beerometer.

Alc : 4.9%

Where to buy/avoid CPH : Aldi

Kaiserdom - Hefe Weizen

A wednesday would not be a wednesday without a weissbier blog, would it ?

Light aroma of malt, wheat, yeast and banana from the pour.

HefeWeizen pours cloudy yellow to orange with a dense white head. A light and sweet intake with wheat, yeast and lighter touches of banana and cloves. The finish is dry and wheaty with a light citrus bitterness. This has a very short aftertaste of cloves and citrus. Softly carbonated, the mouthfeel is light and a bit watery.

While this tastes good enough it is a bit too watery for my liking. Easy drinking and all the standard hefeweizen flavours are present but it is all very average. I do factor in that this is sold as a discount ( very cheap) beer here so there is a little value for money with this one. I have no problem with buying or drinking this again. Summing up, an extremely average watery German hefeweizen.

This scored 4/10 on the ' discount weiss, wheat, hvede, wit ?' Beerometer.

Alc : 4.7%
Where to buy CPH : All larger Superbrugsen, Kvickly & Fakta supermarkets.

St. Michaelsberg - HefeWeissbier

Well it is Wednesday and if you have been following this blog recently, today calls for a Weissbier. Nothing really much to say about this one although I have had this one before but it was owned by United Beverage and brewed in Denmark by Vejle Byghus though on the can bought today it is now brewed again in Germany. The brand is formally owned by Maisel's.

Light wafts of banana, bubblegum, wheat and yeast from the pour.

HefeWeissbier pours a cloudy orange gold with a creamy white head.  A light sweet intake with fruit, wheat, mild banana, coriander and cloves. The finish is dry and slightly metallic. Quite a pleasant mild wheaty aftertaste with citrus. Lowly carbonated, this one has a very soft and light mouthfeel.

For a beer in the discount price range it is not that bad at all. The banana taste that dominates in a lot of hefe's is much more muted and in the background in this. It is quite crisp and refreshing on a day like today where the 'heatwave' continues. I have no problems buying and drinking another although Netto also have this side by side sometimes with Benedikter, which in my humble opinion is far the better weiss and more value for money. Summing up, a decent average weiss for the money.

This scored a generous 5/10 on ' Weiss, Wheat, Hvede, Wit ?' Beerometer.

Alc : 5.3%
Where to buy CPH : Netto & Føtex

Brew Cat x 2(Ørbæk) - Golden Ale & IPA

Brewed by Ørbæk who seem to specialize in brewing organic shrug of the shoulder* and forget everyday Danish beer, this time with plagiarism at its worst and brewed for Netto ! That in itself is enough to set the alarm bells ringing. I wonder if the names Brew Hound, Brew Puppy or Brew Mongrel are already taken ?

There is a third bottle, Dark Ale, which I did not pick up as I have tasted it before. So, a brewer known for dull beer and brewed for netto for a set discount price, this can only go wrong, can't it ? Well the cheap quickly put together graphics on the bottle and the blurb 'old english brewing tradition' do not set my hopes up....

Golden Ale

Very weak waft of floral hops on the pour.

Golden ale pours cloudy gold with a white head. Fruity on the sweetish intake with floral hops, a light citrus and malt. Not much going on in the finish apart from some mild bitter hops. Quite a nice sweet aftertaste with coriander and camomile. A thin mouthfeel to this one but not over watery.

This was a lot better than expected although I had thoughts of drainpour to just drinkable before opening so this I guess ends up as mind numbingly average. I can't complain about the price anyway. Easy drinking simple summer like ale that is totally inoffensive. Not one I'd buy again though I would have no problems drinking it again if offered a bottle.

This scored 3/10 on the ' oh, yet another average organic' Beerometer

Alc : 4.5%

Where to buy CPH : Netto

IPA

Not enough aroma off this on the pour to warrant a mention.

IPA pours a hazy yellow with a frothy white head.  Sweet grassy intake with hops and butterscotch with a dry and mild bitter finish.  Quite a dull hoppy aftertaste. Although watery it leaves quite an oily feeling left in the mouth.

I am not sure where the IPA is in this IPA. It is dull and totally lifeless. Our old friend diacetyl makes a come back with this and that buttery taste clings to the roof of my mouth, implants and all.. It is not one I will be buying or drinking again. Summing up, I thought this was bloody awful.

Yet again another shrug of the shoulder brew from Ørbæk. *I did forget that they do brew some decent beer, Fynsk Forår is quite tasty and worth trying.

This scored a generous 2/10 on the 'only because it is as hot as hell today otherwise it would be drainpour' Beerometer. 

Alc : 4.5%

Where to buy CPH : Netto

Everards - Original

I have no idea how this ale is perceived in its home UK market but here in Denmark it is in the discount range of coop owned supermarkets and always on offer for as low as 5 DKR a can along with oranjeboom, haacht primus, marstons oyster stout !(an absolute steal) and three from Kaiserdom. Some of which will come in later posts, probably when I'm broke and have declared myself bankrupt... So, pure speculation and guessing, I reckon this is the biggest selling English ale in Denmark.

For the price alone I have set my expectations low, very low since I noticed it says 'premium' on the can which alerts my spidey senses.....


Light waft of caramel, fruit and hops on the pour.

Everards Original pours clear coppery amber with an off-white head. Sweet on the intake with malt, caramel and muted floral hops. The finish is metallic and mildly bitter. This has what I can only describe as a metallic toffee in the aftertaste which is not as unpleasant as it sounds. Light mouthfeel which is a bit watery.

I'm left surprised by this. It is not bad as feared and I've certainly had a lot worse. The ingredients list hop extract, I'm left wondering if that is what the metallic like taste is ? Answers on a postcard please !
It is not one I'd run down to the supermarket after yet I've no problem buying or drinking this again...It is average, but what do you expect at the price ? Well I could mention Marstons Oyster Stout but that is for a later date.

This scores 3.5/10 on the ' I seen a 40ish year old hipster with a brown leather old school satchel earlier today and I'm still laughing to myself' Beerometer.


Alc : 4.7%
Where to buy CPH : All larger coop owned supermarkets.

Vestfyen x 2 - Premium Chocolate Brown & Cream Ale

After not having to clean my drains and ending up quite surprised with the Kellerpils it is time to move on and try these two remaining brews in the Vestfyen 'premium' series. Again, I have a really really low expectation from these two but after the Kellerpils I am a bit more open minded and less biased to what to expect from this.

On with the beer and first up....

Premium Chocolate Brown 

A very light waft of dark chocolate and roasted malts when pouring.

Chocolate Brown pours clear and a very dark ruby red to almost black (that's with a 1000 lumen torch behind it ) with a small settling tan head. Lots of roasted malt, some licorice and mild bitter hops on the intake while the finish is sweet, almost has a tinned del monte fruity sirup like sweetness. The short aftertaste has a mild chocolate and leather ! taste. Watery mouthfeel on this one.

Not a bad beer but not one I'd bother buying again though as pretty much always I would not say no if offered one. My gripes being it is too watery for me and I am not too keen on the tinned syrup like sweetness and the chewing on leather aftertaste. A positive is at least it is not a drainpour.

After my rather generous score on the 'happy it was not a drainpour' Kellerpils, this scored a more normal 4/10 on my 'you get what you pay for' Beerometer.

Alc : 5.2%

Where to buy CPH : Kiwi

Premium Cream Ale

Again, a small waft coming off the pour, this time citrus and a mild floral hops.

Cream Ale pours clear gold with a medium frothy white head. Medium sweetness and fruity on the intake with what tastes like a bit of strawberry. Very mild floral hops in the quite bland finish. Floral hops and a hint of jif lemon like citrus in the aftertaste. Too watery in the mouthfeel.

Quite a bland Cream Ale this one without being a drain pour, a small positive. There is oats in this for creaminess but just not enough. Not one I would buy again and I'd probably pass on it if offered one.

This scored 3/10 on my *bottom of the VFM slash discount beer class you go' Beerometer. 

Alc : 4.5%

Where to buy CPH : Kiwi

Small round up of this 'Premium' series : A huge step up for the utterly crap, brewed for a certain price, Støckel series. Well, this is as well of course but there seems a little more quality to it and certainly the Kellerpils and Chocolate Brown surprised a bit.

Vestfyen - Premium Kellerpils

Vestfyen are most known nowadays for brewing all the cheap crap available at discount supermarkets like Aldi, Kiwi and Lidl.

I have to admit I absolutely hate Vestfyen beer, well it is not to hard to hate as most* of it is so bad you might as well buy it to clean your drains with. My last outing with them was their Støckel series, the Weissbier being so bad I thought the can was bad/off so bought another to try it again...ohhh no, it really was meant to taste like industrial drain cleaner.

*Exceptions for me being their Schwarzbier and normally the Willemoes christmas.

So while out shopping today the self-masochist in me being curious I picked up the three of their new 'Premium' range which consists of Kellerpils, Cream Ale and Chocolate Brown for the lowly discount sum of 8 DKR each. If the Kellerpils does not end up in the drain I will blog about the other two at another time, very low expectations here eh ?

If anything, it's claim to fame can be it is the first canned beer to feature on this blog.

Kellerpils pours an unfiltered cloudy straw gold with a quick diminishing white soapy bubble head.  Citrus, peach and hops on the intake with a short mildly bitter finish. In the short aftertaste there is some mild floral hops. Mouthfeel is quite good and not as watery as I thought it would turn out to be.

Quite a surprise this one and a lot better than I expected ! Perhaps it helps when starting off with really really low expectations. At this price it is hard to gripe though I do have one..the beer is totally lifeless in the glass not long after pouring. I would have no problems buying this again, cheapskate that I am.

This one scored 7/10 on my 'VFM - value for money' Beerometer.

Alc : 4.8%
Where to buy CPH : Kiwi