Leffe Blond

This is my earliest memory of beer. I was in the shop with my dad, round about 8, and he grabbed this huge brown bottle. It was a 75cl bottle of Leffe and I was shocked to think he was having it all to himself. 13 years later I got my chance to try this ancient Belgium drink.

According to the marketing the Leffe brewery has been round since 1240 and if that is true of the recipe it must have been perfected by now? The beer does have the taste of the old, or at least the different, it is the most complex tasting lager I've had to date. It tastes of spices, almost liked mulled wine and does have a whiff of Christmas about it. 

It is a lovely drink but it is not a beer you could chug one after the other as the taste can get a little boring after your second pint. This is not a summer beer but I will be buying it again when the weather gets frosty.

6/10

Tsingtao lager

When it comes to lagers I love the East Asian rice beers and Tsingtao must be the everyday Chinese beer. 

This beer is the number one Chinese beer in the United States and you can see why. The taste is not strong or overpowering so you can mix it easily with the complex taste of Chinese food. It can leave a little bit of a bitter taste in your mouth but it's not off putting. I often see 660ml bottles of this beer but four packs of 330ml are becoming more common. This is good as I found the larger bottle lost carbonation quickly. 

Asian rice beer has really surprised me since writing this blog and I'll be on the look out for more obscure ones soon. 

6/10

Cave Creek chili Beer

Mexican culture is something I'm interesting in, the food is delicious and their attitudes are friendly and lively. The only thing I don't like is their drink. 

Tequila is something I really can't drink and the beer is no better. Corona and Sol have an almost off taste and people must know it as they stick a lime in the top. Cave Creek decided to forgo the lime and stick a chilli in it.

When I say a chilli, I mean a whole chilli is floating around the bottle. The beer is a mexican style and looks and fizzes like Corona. There is a very spicy taste to this beer and it works. I can imagine this being very nice with Mexican food or even as a cooking beer. 

It's a novel idea and it somewhat works. I can't say I'd be drinking this everyday but it's fun if you can find it. 

4/10