06 | May | 2010 | Beer Mentor

These are the top 10 beers I’ve had (in rank order) in the last 6 months. No real grading criteria except for the level of enjoyment I had then and the fond memory I have now from each of these beers:

1. Orval (Trappist / Belgian Pale Ale /Wild Yeast) at the A La Nouvelle Hostellerie D’Orval Sprl (Villers-devant-Orval, Belgium) – I rate this beer/location an A++

2. Schneider-Weisse Aventinus (Weizen Bock) at the Brewery‘s Aventinus Fest (Kelheim, Germany) – I rate this beer/location an A++

3. Westvleteren 12 (Trappist / Quadruppel) at the In de Vrede Cafe (Westvleteren, Belgium) – I rate this beer/location an A++

4. Westmalle Trappist Extra (Belgian Pale Ale) at the Cafe Trappisten (Westmalle, Belgium) – I rate this beer/location an A+

5. Chimay Speciale Poteaupre (a Witbier) at the Auberge de Poteaupre (Scourmont, Belgium) – I rate this beer/location an A+

6. Zwick’l Kellerbier (Keller (unfiltered) Bier) at the Naturfreundehaus (Vaihingen, Germany) – I rate this beer/location an A+

7. Weihenstephaner Vitus (Weizen Bock) at the Weihenstephaner Braeustueberl (Freising, Germany) – I rate this beer/location an A

8. Delerium Tremens at the Delirium Cafe (Brussels, Belgium) – I rate this beer/location an A

9. Handbryggeriet Odin’s Tipple (Russian Imperial Stout) (My Hotel Room) – I rate this beer an A

10. Antonius Brau (homemade) (Keller (unfiltered) Bier) at the Queidersbach Schlachtfest (Queidersbach, Germany) – I rate this beer/location an A

Every one of these beers is fantastic. Just check out the ratings if you’d like … ok, a couple couldn’t really get ratings … but trust me, these are 10 of the best beers you’ll get in the world … if you get a chance to try any of them, do it … and on location is even that much better!

Beer Mentor

Yes I’m still continuing the trend of 100 something beers in 100 something days … I’m up to 182 and counting…

Today, it’s something I thought I would never see again — a pull tab. Here are two pictures confirming this:

What is the beer you ask? Why, it is Zhu Jiang Beer (pronounced “Joo Jung” Beer) — or, in English, Pearl River. This beer is brewed by the Guangzhou Zhu Jiang Brewery Co (which is actually part of the InBev conglomerate).

My friend kindly brought this back to me from a trip he made to China. This was a decent lager made in the German-style.

Many times I disagree with both BeerAdvocate and RateBeer … I think the people on these sites either 1) set their expectations too high and are then disappointed, or 2) they’re too high-brow in their observation of what makes a good beer. I agree with the All about Beer list (125 places to drink beer in the world) in that a lot of what makes a beer good is the location and people with whom you are drinking that beer — that’s why the GABF is #1 on their list. Ok, enough pontificating.

I could probably drink several of these in one sitting since they are only 3.6% ABV. I would probably drink them just to pull the tab! Next thing you know I’ll be making a “pull tab necklace.”