비행기에서 얻은 로마에서 유명한 이탈리아 맥주 (Nastro Azzurro)

사촌동생이 이탈리아 갔다오면서 비행기 안에서 맥주를 가져왔다.^^;;

Nastro Azzurro 의미는 파란 리본이라는 뜻으로 원래 상을 받으면 파란 리본을 주는데 그만큼 자신들 맛에 자신이 있다는 뜻이다.

원래 이탈리아는 와인이 유명한 곳이라서 그런가?

솔직히 필스너 스타일이라고 하지만 맥주가 민밋한게 그다지 맛있지는 않았다. 그래도 로마에서 유명한 맥주라는데..

서서히 체코 맥주에 맛이 길들어갔나보다.

알콜농도 : 5.1%

슬로바키아 흑맥주 (Kelt)

켈트라는 이름이 무척 마음에 들어서 고르게 되었는데, 의외로 슬로바키아 맥주였습니다. 병색상을 보고 짐작했는데, 흑맥주였습니다.

신랑은 원체 흑맥주를 좋아하지 않아서 그냥 그러하고 말했지만, 저는 맛있었어요. 특히나 맥주잔에 따랐을때 거품 입자가 작아서 부드러워 보였는데, 정말 부드러워서 생크림 느낌이 나서 좋았어요. 기네스 이후로 오랜만에 만족스러운 흑맥주였습니다.

가격은 500ml 1600원이며, 다시 마시고 싶다는 생각이 든 맥주였습니다.

알콜농도 4.8%

데킬라 맛이 나는 프랑스 맥주 (Desperados)

솔직히 이 맥주를 보는 순간 맥주라고 생각하지 못했어요. 눈에 띄는 표지 디자인과 데킬라라는 말에 그냥 데킬라가 섞인 칵테일 술이라고 생각했지요. 그리고 데킬라하면 멕시코가 떠올랐기 때문에 맥주라는 것을 아는 순간 이 맥주 역시 멕시코일거라 생각했는데, 만들기는 프랑스에서 만들었더군요.

다른 맥주에 비해 알콜농도 높고 (5.9%) 화려해서인지 몰라도 가격도 비쌌습니다. 330ml 4000원

맛은... 솔직히 다시 먹고 싶지는 않아요.^^;; 데킬라 향은 나지만 데킬라 맛 자체를 못 느끼고 무척 시고 달다는 생각이 들었습니다. 개인적으로 데킬라가 들어간 마가리타를 좋아하는데 맥주는 별로였습니다.

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독특한 맛을 좋아하거나, 신맛을 좋아하거나 아니면 이쁜 병을 모으고 싶은 분들에게만 추천하고 싶어요.^^;;

화이트 맥주의 대표 벨기에 맥주 (Hoegaarden)

벨기에 맥주라서 선택 골라봤어요. 그런데 맥주를 따르는 순간 놀랬습니다. 보통 맥주처럼 밝은 황금빛이 아닌 조금은 탁하더군요. 그래서 다시 살펴보니 벨기에에서 유명한 화이트 맥주라네요.

맛은...
솔직히 체코식 맥주에 입맛이 길들여져서인지 그다지 다시 먹고 싶은 생각이 나지 않아요. 특히나 맥주는 맥주다운 맛이 좋은데, 이 맥주는 약간 달콤한 향도 나고 뭔가 섞인 느낌이었는데 나중에 알고 보니 오렌지 껍질에서 향을 축출해서 넣는다네요.

14세기 벨기에의 호가든 마을에서 제조 된 정통 유럽 화이트 맥주라고 합니다. 다른 맥주들은 일반적으로 홉으로 만드는데, 이 맥주는 밀로 만든다고 합니다. 맛은 솔직히 저는 옥수수차 맛이 나더군요.^^

가격은 330ml 1600원
알콜농도 4.9%

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화이트 맥주는 무슨 맛인가? 밀로 만든 맥주는? 벨기에식 맥주가 궁금한 분들에게 추천

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History
The village of Hoegaarden had been known for its witbieren (white beers) since the Middle Ages. However, around 1955, the last local witbier brewery, Tomsin, closed its doors. Pierre Celis, a milkman, decided some ten years later to try to revive the style. He began the new brewery in his hay loft.^[2]

Celis used the traditional ingredients of water, yeast, wheat, hops, coriander and dried Curaçao orange peel. With demand for the product continuing to grow, Celis bought, in the 1980s, Hougardia, a local soft-drink factory that he rebuilt into a brewery.

After a fire in 1985, as is traditional in Belgium, several brewers offered their help. One of these was the largest brewer in the country, called Interbrew (after a merger with AmBev, renamed InBev). Interbrew lent money for the purchase of other buildings to rebuild the brewery. Over time, Celis felt very strongly that the company used the loan to pressure him to change the recipe to make the beer more "mass market". The perspective was different inside Interbrew - some felt that Celis' tinkering with the recipe was hampering brand growth and tried to attain a permanent consistency. Perhaps simply incompatible approaches to brewing.

Celis decided instead to sell them the brewery, and with the proceeds, he moved to the United States, where he set up the Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas to continue making witbier to what he described as the original Hoegaarden recipe.

In November 2005, InBev announced the forthcoming closure of the brewery in Hoegaarden, among other changes in Belgium. The brewery was to close in late 2006 with production moving to InBev's larger brewery in Jupille. The beer 'Julius' is said to have been an immediate casualty, and worries were that all beers that were bottle conditioned would be changed.

The closure sparked protests from Hoegaarden locals, upset at the loss of the town's most famous symbol (and largest employer).

The move was never completed. The brewers in Jupille remained unsatisfied with local production of the witbier, so on September 10, 2007 Inbev decided to keep the production in Hoegaarden. Inbev also decided to invest part of a 60 million Euro budget in the Hoegaarden site to upgrade the facilities.

After selling to Interbrew, Celis founded Celis Brewing Company in Austin, Texas, which was later acquired by Miller Brewing. He never fully relocated to Texas, but his daughter and son-in-law, who operated the brewery, did. Miller ultimately closed the brewery and sold the equipment and brand names to Michigan Brewing Company.

The witbier he brewed in Texas, which he described as the original Hoegaarden recipe, was at the same time brewed in Belgium, first by Brouwerij De Smedt and then by Brouwerij van Steenberge. The beer is still being actively brewed in Belgium.

그리스 브랜디 메탁사 (Metaxa) - 별 다섯개

신랑의 동료 교수가 권해서 마시게 된 이 술은 독주를 싫어하는 신랑조차 반하게 한 브랜디랍니다. 한모금 입에 물고 술의 맛을 음미하고 삼키는데 맛이 있어요.

일반적으로 별은 보관 연수를 말하며 세개부터 다섯개와 일곱개가 있고 그 이상은 찾기가 쉽지는 않아요. 그리고 이번에 115년 기념으로 별 12개짜리 한정판이 나와서 구입했는데, 언제 먹어볼지는 모르겠네요.^^

그리스 브랜디로 와인을 베이스로 만든 술입니다.

체코에서 구입한 가격은 500ml 280크라운 (약18000원)정도 입니다.

색 : Dark Honey

아로마 : more raisiny than fruity, subtly woody

맛 : mellow, fruity, soft, aged, slightly woody

알콜농도 : 38%

Production



Metaxa bottle in its box
The first production of the distillates begins with the distillation of various wine varieties (mainly Savatiano and Roditi) that after a double distillation are kept in cellars in relatively small, brand new, oak, of the limousine type barrels of 300-350 lt. usually made in France. Those barrels have wide pores serving therefore a more effective oxygenation of the distillates. Some of the distillates are moved in large barrels of 3 cubic meter volume to mature further and used for the main body of the blend. It will mature anywhere from 3 (the three star Metaxa) to 30 years for the Grand Reserve.

The mean time wine is being prepared for the Alexandrian and Samian Moschatto form the area of Samos, Limnos and Patras. The wine is maturing for nearly two years in used metaxa barrels. It turns to a deep caramel color with very rich aromas, from the moschatto with dominant the aromas of dried fruits, levanter, white roses and hints of various spices. Its flavor is rich and sweet.

The third part of the process is the most top guarded secret of the company and only a few people know the process and the precise recipe. A mixture of various spices and distilled water is prepared. To the base, the rose petals, spices and other herbal flavorings are added. The final product has a very complex and unique aromatic character that has aromas, of roses, pepper, bay leaf, cinnamon and nutmeg. This mixture is allowed to "marry" for at least six months, then chilled at -6°C for 48 hours, filtered, before being bottled.

Those three blends are mixed at the final blending in such a way that the quality, taste, color and aromas of the brandy are kept as constant as possible. Final steps involve the correction of the color and the balancing of the alcohol levels. Most of them are mixed with young Moschatto wine to mellow the flavor, end therefore they are slightly maturing when are kept in the bottle.

[edit] Types of Metaxa

Metaxa comes in five major varieties Three Stars, Five Stars, Seven Stars, Twelve Stars and the Grand Reserve. The number of stars represents the number of Maturing years. The three and 5 star are not as different, but the 5 star is certainly more dry making the alcohol more pronounced. The seven and twelve star are much more flavorful and complex, while the twelve is again more dry but that is because there is no addition of wine. In both cases you can literally smell and taste the barrel in which the brandy matured. The grand Reserve is the most expensive and hardest to find.

In Greece there is a 16 star version available. Additional varieties and collectors items, such as the Grand Olympian Reserve Celebration Edition, are available only in some regions. It can be served neat, on the rocks, or mixed (usually with sours).

[edit] History of Metaxa

The founder of the distillery was Spyros Metaxas, a historic figure in Greek history. In 1888, a little over 50 years after the Greek War of Independence, a young, enthusiastic, businessman thought that his tavern was not good enough. He wanted more elegance, more challenges. He created the first brandy and was involved in the foundation of the first distillation facility. He visualized a drink that would conquer the world and therefore he soon built new factories in Istanbul and in Odessa. In 1900 the first exports to the United States took place and the brandy became known as the flying brandy. Unfortunately death cut his life short, but his sons carried on his work. That brandy is the only Greek industry that survived the two world wars. In 1968 the factory was rebuilt and, although it consists of state-of-the-art equipment, its output tastes the same as from the traditional method.

Metaxa won over the toughest critics and has earned a respected position in the pantheon of fine spirits. In 1989 the company was bought by the British drinks group Grand Metropolitan (now re branded as Diageo) and was later sold to the Remy Cointreau group