pint – is a unit of measurement that beer is often served in in drinking establishments. It is an eighth of a gallon or half a quart. The word entered Middle English from Old French, presumably from a Latin origin. Some suggest it is related to “painted”, referring to a mark on a container to show certain amounts. It is used to represent beer when going out to drink, especially in the UK, whether drinks are served in this amount or not.
So finally we had some rain yesterday, a good day for sitting in the window and sipping on a nice dark beer. I kept my porter until today, though. When I was browsing, there it was, sitting proudly on the shelf, all in its brown bottle, like a cone of chocolate. Onso porter might not have that chocolate touch, though, being porter rather than stout. There will probably be a little fruitiness to it, which is acceptable. Now that it’s not 100 damn degrees out, even a little black beer stickiness won’t be so bad. Cerveza Rodonda, show me what you got.
Extra foamy, and I’m a little surprised the bottle didn’t overflow on opening. The head is barely tinted beige, but the beer carries a pretty good dark color. It’s dark brown, not black, but good enough. There isn’t a strong puff of aroma at first, but letting it sit out allows just a hint of pickled plum to waft out and settle over the area near the bottle. In the glass there’s more of a light raisiny scent. The taste also has a lot of dried fruit rather than fresh, prunes and raisins over plums or apples. As a porter I would expect it to have some fruit to it, and along these lines. It’s a very subtle and unassuming flavor, displaying a little heft in the mouth but going down softly and not leaving hardly anything behind. Left to its own devices, the beer develops a wisp of smoke in the aftertaste, adding some interest and complexity to a solid but otherwise simple brew.
Supplier: Birra Y Paz
Price: €3.70
μπίρα – is the Greek word for beer, pronounced [‘bi ra]. It is a borrowing of Italian birra, and also spelled, more popularly, μπύρα. Although Greece has not been considered a beer country, there is evidence that beer was drunk even in antiquity, with finds pointing to the Bronze Age. Modern industrial beer began in the mid-19th century, with a push from a king of German origin.
Squeezing in another purchase before a short vacation, I grab a couple of things from Birra Y Paz (they’re going on vacation, not me.) I feel like I ought to be getting some things that I don’t normally subject myself to, and actually the bars are full of various types of ale more than anything else. A lager here and there, but there’s a downright shortage of sours this year, plus the typical lower offer of stouts for the summer. As interesting as lambics are as a style, I just can’t get into them as much as a taste experience. I do, however, deeply enjoy a black currant drink. It’s one of Lindemans lesser-seen lambics, at least in Madrid, but I think Cassis is worth a shot.
Slightly winey smell, fruity, but old fruit. Like a lot of lambics, it has a deeply tinted appearance with the essence of its most promoted ingredient. It looks a lot like black currant nectar, in fact, but with a rosy head on top. It has that fruity lambic stickiness, and a good amount of sweetness with no bitter at all, very much like Mort Subité, for example. It’s maybe even heavier than currant nectar, with more body and staying power in the mouth. It builds in sourness, but maintains a refreshing cleanness to the flavor that allows it to take a place among summer beers.
Supplier: Birra Y Paz
Price: €3.15
Suds – is a colloquial term for beer, especially in the US. It refers to the head of the beer, which in the most popular 20th century styles is fluffy, airy, and seen as a desirable characteristic of the drink. It was used in the somewhat infamous Budweiser commercial in 2015 to promote a chummy feeling among drinkers of that particular product versus fans of other, some would say better, styles.
Leann – is the Scottish Gaelic word for beer, also used in Irish for light colored beer or pale ale. The origin is Old Irish linn (drink, liquid, brew), but in the plural can refer to bodily humors.
Cerve – another Spanish nickname for beer, obviously a shortening of the longer cerveza. The short form shows some similarity with the Welsh cwrw, which, being a Celtic word, is probably related. Of course, some people just have to insist that absolutely everything comes from the Romans, in spite of the fact that beer was admittedly not popular among Roman people and closely associated with Barbarian tribes outside the empire, like the Germans and Celts. Notice how even the Slavic pivo is ultimately Latin in origin. Some people…
Birrote – another nickname for beer in Spanish, based on the borrowed word birra. The appreciative suffix -ote is often used to indicate something bigger or better than normal, although its origin seems to be from the French diminutive suffix -ot. In Mexican usage especially the suffix may be related to the Nahuatl -otl (according to Wiktionary, anyway). The birrote is an especially strong or impressive beer.
Beoir – is the Irish Gaelic word for beer. It is used for blond beers rather than dark beers, and for a beer in general such as, “We had some beers.” (Bhí cúpla gloine bheorach againn). It shares the same etymology as English beer, German Bier, Italina birra, and more, but was taken into Old Irish from Old Norse bjórr.
It’s still regular summer temperatures, but somehow it’s worse than what it was before. Maybe because we can’t marvel at the numbers, so we just sit and suffer as usual. As much as I like my stouts (and there will be some more) it is a good set of conditions for lighter beers, especially ales, and pale ales at that. Just before Cervecissimus closed up shop for their summer vacation I picked up a new one for me, (full flavored) Pale Ale from 28 Brewery. Their little blurb on the back gives some history to the brand, saying it was already in existence in 1842, and their website says they were established “100 years ago”. Later they say 1912 is the year they expanded from the basis of their most successful (I guess) beer, Perle 28. Interestingly, it’s touted as a low-carb beer, which is not something craft beers have paid much attention to. There must be a time for everything.
For such a light colored beer it has a powerful aroma. It’s plenty ale-y too, with good notes of citrus and fruit, not a lot of more traditional elements. The head doesn’t disappear completely, but it does die back pretty quick. The flavor is on the oddly sour side, with just a bit of bitter chasing it down. It’s generally clean, but there’s a touch of astringency too, trying to clean up after. There isn’t much grain or bread, and the bitterness has more of a healthy fruit sensation to it than regular old beer bitter. I’m not sure if I notice any particular lightness to it, but maybe if I focused on this line of beers I would find myself with less of a beer belly, you know, magically.
Supplier: Cervecissimus
Price: €3
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