Vilkmerges Jouduju Serbentu Stout
Brewed by Vilkmergė
Style: Flavored – Fruit
Panevezys, Lithuania
From the city of Panevėžys, in the centre of Lithuania comes the brewery Vilkmerges. The region has a long history of brewing, mainly down to the natural surroundings of the countryside and its ideal conditions for making good beers… the purest spring waters, local malts and tasty hops all produced here.
All the beers from Vilkmerges are top-fermented and unpasteurized, which is why they are filled into bottles of black glass to protect them from sunlight and preserve their superior taste and other unique characteristics.
Today the brand of “Vilkmerges” belongs to the Kalnapilio-Tauro Grupe, which is part of the Danish holding company Royal Unibrew.
Review: 0,41l bottle of Vilkmerges Jouduju Serbentu Stout: 5.5% vol.
A seasonal beer, “Vilkmergė Black Currant Stout” is billed as a dark stout beer with black currants coming in a lovely designed black bottle with imprints on the back.
Looks well, yes obviously, like a glass of blackcurrant, purple/dark red colour. Not a bad head on the pour, creamy and decent looking, but dies a quick death.
Smell is quite clear on the nose, it is a great big whiff of black currant. Smells like a Ribena. For me that’s a neutral, I am not bothered either way by the smell…..black currant doesn’t excite but its also not a bad aroma.
No surprise to tell you that the taste is like a blackcurrant juice. Very sweet and nice enough to drink, but it really feels like I am drinking a Ribena. I am really struggling to see how this is classed as a stout, its more like a fruit beer or juice.
Get a sweet blackcurrant taste, a little of the malts and a berry aftertaste, with no bitterness. Too heavy on the fruits and sugar filled but not so much on the hops and alcohol flavours.
It is nice to drink and easy to go down, but I cant find any alcohol or flavours to show this is anything but a fruit juice. The alcohol is very well hidden.
I can feel the alcohol kicking in afterwards though! But still a big disappointment, as I was expecting an interesting stout (my favourite beer style) and here I am drinking a Ribena. It doesn’t look, smell or taste like a beer! And it came in such a nice bottle, oh well……
It proved popular, having two thirsty markets on its doorstep, Dublin and the rest of Ireland one side, and Britain the other, lucky for Arthur both nations like a tipple or two. So it comes as no surprise that by the 1930’s, Guinness was to become the seventh largest company in the world. (according to Wiki!). The Germans have their BMW’s, the French their wines, the Dutch their Cheeses, we will leave the banks to the Swiss, but us Irish we have the Guinness!
It is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available mostly everywhere that you can find bars, especially Irish bars! In Ireland it is still the most drank beer, making about €2 billion worth annually. But it is not the Irish that drink the most Guinness worldwide! That honour goes to neighbours The UK, Ireland is second, and Nigeria third, with the USA coming in 4th! Africa is a major market for Guinness, with about 40% of Guinness’ worldwide sales selling on the continent. Three of the five Guinness-owned breweries worldwide are located in Africa (the other in Dublin and in London). The next major market for the brewery is to break into mainland China, a nation that is just recently discovering the beauty and nuances of European beers.
But generally Guinness are the masters of advertisements. When they bring out an ad on the box people generally take note such is the effect of a Guinness promotion. The harp itself is such an iconic symbol must people know that it represents Guinness when they see it in a bar or pub. In terms of early advertising and imagery, the artist John Gilroy‘s work, from the 1930s and 1940s, still stands the test of time. He created posters that included phrases such as “Guinness for Strength”, “Lovely Day for a Guinness”, “Guinness Makes You Strong”, “My Goodness My Guinness”, and most famously, “Guinness is Good For You“. The posters featured Gilroy’s distinctive artwork and more often than not featured animals such as a kangaroo, ostrich, seal, lion and notably a toucan, which has become as much a symbol of Guinness as the harp. These posters and drawings can still be regularly seen in Irish pubs all around the world, and the originals fetch a high price when they come up at auctions. 
Bottle conditioned and carbonate with C02, so no ball or nitro here……
When I bought a few of these cans, my sister immediately laughed saying I bought into the gimmick. It’s not like Guinness to bring out a million different versions of essentially the same thing, their famous draught stout. She thought it was a slightly more “expensive version” of the same thing. To be fair I was half expecting that too! But no, I can state there is a CLEAR difference with this to the draught. It is softer on the palate, very well balanced, has more flavouring, is tastier, and one doesn’t get that bloated feeling you get when you drink a lot of the regular Guinness. 
“Great tasting pale ale” is written on the bottle, and a pretty cool logo of a red haired lady, with old style lettering, 1950s style layout, all easy on the eye and attractive enough to grab attention. Very good. 
Onto the taste, its ok, hoppy but also a bit dry in the mouth.
Staropramen Brewery, founded in 1869, is the second largest brewery in the Czech Republic, and is situated in the Smíchov district of Prague. The brand name Staropramen, literally means “Old Spring”.
Cheap can of beer in a six pack, from the off license, sold to cater for the local Eastern European community. Damn them and their good lagers and pretty women! Prazsky uses only the finest Czech hops, malt and water. Can be found in bottle and on draught as well.
A light tasting lager, that is nice and easy to relax with, goes down simple enough, smooth and very quenchable, no problems here. 
John Smith acquired the long established Backhouse & Hartley Brewery in 1852. A well run organisation and always utilising modern technology, John Smiths expanded rapidly. Following a series of acquisitions in the post-World War II period, the company became one of the largest regional brewers in the country, operating over 1,800 licensed premises. Although these acquisitions diluted the original family stake in the business to around than 10%. The company was taken over by Courage in 1970 for £40 million, who extended distribution of the brewery’s products into the South of England. Courage was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle in 1995, and the operations were purchased by Heineken in 2008.
John Smith’s became well known for a series of highly successful “No Nonsense“-themed television advertising campaigns, featuring the dour Yorkshireman character “Arkwright” during the 1970s and 1980s, followed by the comedians Jack Dee during the 1990s and Peter Kay since 2002. The brand also has an association with horse racing, both jump and in the flat, it was the principal sponsor of the popular English Grand National between 2005 and 2013.
Yes, the appearance looks fantastic, very good creamy white head, with a copper colour. Looks as good as one can expect. Lacing present. 100% on the looks.
With Covid reeking havoc on my football schedule in the year 2021, I could only get to do one Swiss football groundhop for my blog. I managed to get a game in the scenic town of Schaffhausen to see the local team play against FC Aarau.
The name of the town derives from Scafhusun which comes from Schaf (a sheep), as a ram (now a sheep) formed the ancient arms (traceable to 1049) of the town, derived from those of its founders, the Counts of Nellenburg. Todays coat of arms for the town still has a representation of a ram and a castle. 
I have on many occasions ventured from Schaffhausen to the Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, and why not. It really is the only reason people visit Schaffhausen, lets be honest. You can get a direct link there via train, or by bus from the town. You can actually hop on a self driving bus to the falls, if you dare! 
Knowing I could walk from Schaffhausen to Neuhausen am Rheinfall, I decided to make a trip to the family run Restaurant CM Brauhaus as I read they brew their own beer, and felt it might be an interesting place to see. 
The CM Brauhaus restaurant opened its doors for the first time as a Brauhaus restaurant in 2016. The interior has a very modern feel to it yet their is also a nod to its vintage location as there are some artifacts to brewery and local history dotted around. Its a nice place to sit down and relax. I ventured in to see the copper tanks, but many people were seated outside enjoying their food and beers with the lovely day that it was. A nice atmosphere at the brewhouse, everyone enjoying themselves. A definite touristy kind of feel going on, happy to be out and about. 
FC Schaffhausen is a Swiss football team from the town of Schaffhausen. They participate in the Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. Founded in 1896 as “football club Viktoria”, they are one of the oldest teams in the country.
As for honours, they won the third division titles in 1945 and 1984, and in 1963 and 2004 second division titles, and qualified for the final in the Swiss Cup in 1988 and 1994. Not a whole lot for the old club to be fair. 
(At half time I managed to go out of the stand area and get some cash from an inhouse cash machine, with the help of one kind official, so was able to buy some more beer, and pay for the free beer, afterwards)
That was the kick up the backside the home team needed, as less than ten minutes later they managed to scramble the ball home, Qollaku shooting home from close range, albeit it looked well offside to me, but there you go, the fightback was on.
But then the referee had a brain fart and sent off the defender, Kaiser in the 71st minute, for the most gentlest of tug backs, and also award a penalty to FC Aarau, the bastard! Never a penalty. Slotted home expertly, right hand top corner, by Schneuwly, who came on as a substitute and was involved in everything in the latter stages for the away team. A good player to spring from the bench. 
Founded in 2011 by four Estonian beer enthusiasts, Põhjala are now the largest craft brewery from the Baltic countries.
Comes in bottles, cans and kegs. The name Kosmos refers to the IPA you are about to drink, as described by the brewers, “an intergalactic IPA brewed with huge amounts of citra and mosaic”, ……. hitting the stars, well lets hope so!
The aroma is very nice, a typical IPA aroma that hits the nose immediately after opening resulting in a very pleasurable smell. I get the citrus and assorted tropical fruits, the malts, the hops, pine, very nice.
Feldschlösschen is the best known beer brand in Switzerland. Their beers have been brewed at the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden, the biggest brewery in Switzerland, since its foundation in 1876 and has been the leading Swiss beer brand for more than 100 years. Today its by far the leading brand in the country with 45 per cent of the beer market, with more than 40 Swiss beer brands, mineral waters, soft drinks and wine produced and shipped all over the country and beyond.
Comes in an all brown can, not the prettiest sight but it will do. Also can get in bottles.