Hello, beer lovers! 🍻 😎 🍻

It's very cold outside. The snow is gone, but the cold reminds us that it is winter. Well, we're in winter, so that's no surprise.

The Hive is holding up well, let's hope that the trend has turned and we will soon be sailing somewhere we've been before, or even higher, who knows?
Well, regardless, we'll follow the situation with a beer in hand. It's all easier then :) 😀

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After all, today is #beersaturday, the 291st in a row, the oldest contest on the Hive blockchain, and the future look bright. What more could you want?
Yes, beer of course. Today I have two beers in front of me again, one Slovenian, and one German, completely different and I can't wait to try them.

First the one with less alcohol. (That's supposedly the rule with #beertasting).

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Bergkönig Ironik IPA

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Brewed by Tektonik Craft Brewery, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Bottled for Hofer chain (under the Bergkönig).
Bottle, 0.5 l, alcohol 5.8% ABV, 42 IBU. India Pale Ale style.

What do the Master Brewers say?

Today, the IPA is the most popular type of beer in the craft breweries segment. It boasts a solid bitter taste and a rich hop aroma, and medium strength with a touch of sweet caramel or roasted malt. A sip however ends with a dry aftertaste. The Tektonik Craft Brewery brewed an IPA-style beer including a body strongly leaning on the British tradition, but amply flavored with American hops that give it a pleasant flowery aroma, a fragrant citrus flavor with a hint of hot pepper and licorice.
Malts: Pilsen, Caramel. Hops: Cryo Pop, Simcoe.

Yeah, last Saturday I tasted the Tektonik Ikonik Pale Ale and it wasn't bad at all. Let's be surprised.

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The beer is pasteurized and unfiltered, slightly cloudy golden in color, with a solid head. It smells of hops.
The first sip goes down the throat smoothly, and even as it flows there is a distinct hop bitterness that dominates the whole time and citrus notes in the background. There is no malt sweetness.
In the aftertaste, the citrus slowly disappears, but the hop bitterness remains for a considerable time.

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Drinkable and tasty beer. Smells like an IPA, bitter like an IPA, citrus fruit aromas like an IPA, in short, a classic IPA.

What's more, it's available here in Hofer stores, although it's among the more expensive ones (€2.59) that's no reason why it shouldn't reign supreme in my fridge.

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Beer meme? Why not!

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Ayinger Winter Bock

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Brewed by Brauerei Aying Franz Inselkammer, Aying, Bavaria, Germany.
Bottle, 0.5 l, alcohol 6.7% ABV, 24 IBU. It's a Bock/Doppelbock style beer, which means strong, rich, and very malty caramelized German lager, dark colored.

And what do the master brewers say?

A beer that has a dominant malty taste. This beer’s origins in a monk’s recipe are reflected in its heartiness. The Pope of Beers, Conrad Seidl, describes it as: “Almost black with a very slight red tone, a sensational, festive foam and truly extraordinary fragrance that at first summons up visions of greaves lard. The first taste is of mild fullness with an accompanying coffee tone, which becomes more dominant with the aftertaste. There is very little of the sweetness that is frequently to be tasted with doppelbock beer.” It's been ranked among the best beers in the world by the Chicago Testing Institute several times and has won numerous medals.

Well, that's something!
The sticker looks a bit modest, but the richness is in the content. And there's winter beer. I don't remember having tried a winter beer this winter. Just the right one for this time of year.

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The beer is dark, almost black in color, the head is solid, creamy, and persistent. It has no particular odor.A sip goes down the throat smoothly.
In the mouth, I taste first the sweetness of the malt, flavors of prunes and dates, and a little caramel, and in the background, I taste a bitterness that slowly but steadily becomes more and more dominant and covers everything else in the aftertaste.

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A very tasty and complex beer. Lots of flavors and aromas come in turn, very balanced, starting with sweetness with dried fruit and finishing with hop bitterness which dominates everything in the end.
I have finally got to know winter beer. It's not available in the shops around me but I should have it in the fridge.

Now I am even thinking of trying it hot. Like tea or coffee?
Maybe next time, because I've emptied that bottle with pleasure. :) 😁

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And what am I listening to as I write this? When I was preparing yesterday's #newtunes post, I came across the latest EP by Laibach, Slovenia's most famous band, and I immediately bought it on Bandcamp. One song in eight different versions. Worth a listen!

Laibach - Love Is Still Alive (All Tracks Continuous)