Euro beers (and vodka)
Here's a brief run-down of some interesting new discoveries of the alcoholic variety.
Strong beer!
Bison: Strong Beer. Incredibly cheap, tastes absolutely disgusting. I bought it for the can because one of Tanya's and my best friends is called Bison. Unfortunately the contents of the can were awful, like a syrupy imitation of beer strained through socks that were left in the dust. I didn't drink more than the first taste I had. The less said about this beer the better. So, moving on...
Green beer!
Brasserie du Mont Blanc: La Verte au Genepi. I bought this one because the beer was green and the bottle had a picture of Mt Blanc as a beer-wielding man with his long white beard as the Mer de Glace. I will accept alcoholic beverages from any mountain that offers them, so I bought this on a whim and put it in the fridge. It then took Tanya and I a very long time to work up the courage to try it, because - well just look at it. It's green! Eventually I cracked it open because we had nothing else in the house and I felt like a beer. It is, to put it kindly, an acquired taste. For me, I think I will acquire the taste for it right after I acquire a houseboat, which is to say never. It's beery at first and then way too sweet and herby. The herbiness comes, I guess, from the genepi. For me the herbiness ruined any freshness from the beer and the mix was unpleasant. Still, it has a cool bottle, so that scores it some points.
Having got those two out of the way, let's move on to the drinks that are actually good!
Blonde beer!
Brasserie Docteur Gab's: Tempête. Docteur Gab's beers were a wonderful discovery when Tanya and I set about trying some local beers. They are a very local to Lausanne, based just up the hill, and they have a whole range of delicious beers. Têmpete is their blonde beer; it's pleasantly bitter with some sweeter fruitiness. The brewery scores extra points for having a down-to-earth market stall in the middle of Lausanne every Saturday morning and for offering free tours of their brewery when they released a special spring seasonal beer.
Many beers!
Brasserie Trois Dames. Tanya gave me this pack for Christmas and we enjoyed trying them all. Brasserie Trois Dames is another local brewery, based in Sainte-Croix, which is near the French border north of Lausanne. There's a whole variety of different beers they make; all six we tried here were really nice. Their IPA was fantastic and appropriately hoppy.
Hipster beer!
Brouwerij de Molen: Blikken & Blozen. I was sold this at La Bossette in Lausanne by a waiter who claimed it's one of the best IPAs in Europe at the moment. It's from the Brouwerij de Molen which is a Dutch brewery, and it has an appealing hipster-style label, so I bought one. I'm no beer expert, but I think the waiter knew what he was talking about. It was great indeed - quite bitter and solid to start but with an incredibly smooth and pleasantly sweet finish, so that by the end of the mouthful there's no bitterness left at all. Really, extremely nice. Also, it's quite strong.
Not beer at all! There's a piece of Bison grass in every bottle.
Zubrowska Vodka: Lastly, a mention for some nice vodka. This is "Bison grass" vodka from Poland. I have no idea what it tastes like neat, but it was rather too drinkable as a cocktail with apple juice and ice. A recommended mix!
Note the Bison still lurking there on the bottle.