Israeli beers: Maccabee & Goldstar

Tempo (טמפו) is Israel's largest brewing company. Tempo produces Maccabee, Goldstar and Nesher Malt non-alcoholic beer.

Maccabee (מכבי), is a 4.9% abv Pilsner which began production in 1968 and is sold in Israel, Europe and the US.

Presentation 500 ml green glass bottle with freshness date stamped below the neck.

Appearance- Light gold with a thin bubbly head which leaves a little lacing on the glass. Big bubbles cling to the side of the glass along side streams of little bubbles

Smell- Malty, Grainy, hint of sweetness, Bitter, grassy.

Taste - Crisp, grainy, malty with a hint of sweetness balanced by a "hoppy" bitterness, a hint of smoke and a slightly metallic taste.

Mouth- thin-medium body, low-medium carbonation

Bottom line: a decent beer which can be consumed easily in quantities. I remember Maccabee being worse, very watery, I recently tasted it and it either has improved or I got a lucky with that specific bottle.

** (out of 5 *)

Goldstar (גולדסטאר), is a 4.9% abv Munich Dunkel Lager which has been in production since the 1950's. Each year Tempo sells 30 million bottles of Goldstar

Presentation- 500 ml brown glass bottle with freshness date marked on the glass just below the neck.

Appearance- Produces a nice thick white creamy head which lasts for a short while and then becomes close cropped and thin. There is some lacing. The color can be described as dark amber. Lots of tiny bubbles.

Smell- Malty, some hops, grassy and some bitterness.

Taste- Malty sweetness, some hops, bread, slightly bitter finish.

Mouth- Lively, lots carbonation, medium bodied with a nice creamy feel.

Bottom line: Not outstanding, but, it lives up to its expectations as a beer which was meant to be consumed in large quantities at Mangals (Israeli BBQ s). I cold have a few of these along with some kebabs and skewers of meat.

** 3/4 (out of 5 *)

These two beers were not outstanding but neither were they horrible by any means. They work well as an accompaniment to grilled meats and fish but would not be sipped on their own. I would like to try some other Israeli offerings such as Layla and Dancing Camel should I come across them.

Danish Beers on tap: Tuborg Green and Carlsberg

On a side note I also tried Tuborg Green (Lager) on tap at the same wedding. Very light yellow, clear with almost no head and a lot of large bubbles. Grainy smell, along with yeast and slightly grassy. Crisp, dry grainy taste with a slightly bitter finish. Nothing to go out of your way for, an easy to drink beer.
*1/2 (out of 5*)

A few days ago I ordered a Carlsberg (German Pilsner) on tap. Thin white head which quickly disappeared. Little bubbles with a bright pale yellow-golden color. Malt and some hops, yeast, grain on the nose. Crisp, grainy taste which seems to be balanced, with a light and thin feel to it. Another easy to drink beer.
** (out of 5*)

Dutch Beer: Grolsch Premium Lager

Grolsch, is pronounced: Khrolsh or Chrolsh, in Dutch the "G" is pronounced similarly to The "kh" in Kharkov or "ch" Loch. The brewery was founded in 1615 Groenlo (Netherlands) and is currently located in Enschede (Netherlands). After Heineken, Grolsch is the second largest brewery in the Netherlands, and the 21st largest provider of beer worldwide.

Grolsch Premium Lager (aka Grolsch Premium Pilsner), has a 5% abv and comes in two types bottles (which I am aware of), I used a 330 ml bottle for this review. It is also available in a distinctive shaped bottle, known as the beugel or "the gurdle". These bottles have a swing-top cap with a rubber stopper, which eliminates the need for a bottle opener and allows you to re-close your beer. The export beugel bottles I purchased contain, I kid you not, 473 ml (47.3 cl or 15.99 oz), you can enlarge the thumb nail if you don't believe me!

Anyway... on to the review:

Appearance- Light yellow gold with a steady stream of tiny Champagne like bubbles. A nice white fluffy head with decent retention, It lasted for a bit, which shrinks down to a thinner layer of head.

Smell- Grain, hops, yeast, with a clean grassy and herbal scent. Maybe even a tiny drop skunky.


Taste- Smooth, crisp, grainy bitterness along with some sweetness and some herbal/medicinal notes.

Mouth- Nice carbonation and medium body.

Drinkablity- I enjoy this beer, I like its smooth-bitter-herbal/medicinal taste and I'd gladly have another one. I'd take this over Tuborg, Carlsberg ect...

*** (out of 5 *)

Czech Beer: Paka Pramen

Paka Paramen is a výčepní light beer brewed in the NovoPacké Pivo Brewery located in Nová Paka, Czech Republic. The ABV was only 3.7% and it came in a 1/2 liter brown glass bottle. Why do I stress glass? well if you go to their website you will see that they also sell some of their beers in a 1.5 liter plastic bottle. This struck me as strange, but hey, the Czech Republic is know for its heavy beer consumption and I guess putting beer in large plastic cola bottles helps facilitate this. I remember when visting Prague seeing advertisements for breakfast, brunch and lunch specials which included a beer, Gotta love 'em.

Appearance: yellow, golden, with lots o small bubbles. This beers retains its head only for a matter of seconds and then it quickly disappears.

Smell: very weak, sweet, hops, yeast, citrus.

Taste: It took a while until I could distinguish the flavors. The flavor was pretty weak, dominant bitterness, over ripeness and yeast.

Mouth: Over carbonated and watery.

The bottom line:

Although some of my favorite beers are Czech beers unfortunatly I did not enjoy this beer as much as Pilsner Urquell, Staropramen Premium Lager and Velkopopovický Kozel Pilsner. The smell and taste were dull/weak and there was a lot of yeasty bitterness as is expected from a Pilsner, but, not the kind which I enjoy. I don't believe that I will be trying this specific beer again anytime soon but I would like to try some of the different styles available from the NovoPacké Pivo Brewery.

* (out of 5 *)