It is time for Zurich Beer Tour's Top 3 beers of the month, August edition. Simona decided to feature a fruity #sour this month, a perfect match to our recent blog about sour beers. Sandro is going back to his usual, featuring one of his favorite IPA's in a bigger and bolder version. This month's staff pick is a beer the two found on their travels to Bulgaria, a tasty pastry stout. Let's do this!
Simona's pick: St. Laurentius - Kettle Sour
The Beer:
This fruity kettle sour was brewed by St. Laurentius, a brewery from Bülach which is a city close to Zurich. Their fantastic Sour was brewed with guava, blackberry, vanilla and lactose. The beer has an impressive red/pink color and lots of fruity aromas as soon as you open the bottle. It has just a light acidity to it, which makes it a perfect summery apero drink.
The Brewery:
St. Laurentius was founded in 2015. After a trip to the US where the guys from STL learned a lot about craft beer culture they decided that they want to open a brewery, as there was no #brewery in their hometown. After a successful #crowdfunding they were ready to start. The business grew faster than expected and in June 2020 they also opened their own taproom/brewpub, that we hope to visit soon.
Our food pairing recommendation:
A frozen yogurt with wild berries
Sandro's pick: Stigbergets - Bigger! Bolder!
The Beer:
Bigger! Bolder! is the imperial (or amplified) version of one of the best beers by Stigbergets the New And Improved IPA that was originally brewed for Göteborg Beer Week in 2016. A hazy IPA with a really hoppy aroma, in the imperial version coming from Citra, Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin hops. Aromas of tropical fruit and pine. A velvety mouthfeel and some nice sharp hops in a sweet finish.
The Brewery:
Stigbergets is one of the best breweries from #Sweden, located in #Göteborg. Before we start wirting down their story, we think it's better that we just quote the "About us" section of their website:
"In 2012, we came up with the idea of making our own pilsner to be able to serve it at Kino, our restaurant in Gothenburg. In 2013, we started brewing beer. In 2014, we brewed beer. In 2015, we brewed beer. In 2016, we brewed beer. In 2017, we brewed beer. In 2018, we brewed beer. In 2019, we brewed beer, in 2020 we will brew beer." All said.
Our food pairing recommendation:
A Spicy chili con carne
Zurich Beer Tour's pick: Hop Hooligans/Metalhead Brewing - Nights Blood
The Beer:
While we were staying in Varna, Bulgaria for vacation we stumbled across a very nice but a bit hidden bar called Brand. The bar surprised us with a fantastic selection of Bulgarian beers. One of those was this collaboration beer of Hop Hooligans from Romania and Metalhead from Bulgaria. Night's Blood is named after the blood moon, a perfect time to brew a beer like this. It is brewed with sweet and sour cherries, cocoa nibs and lactose. Delicious notes of chocolate and cocoa combined with strong notes of cherries, a really fantasic stout.
The Breweries:
Hop Hooligans is a brewery from Jilava, #Romania (near Bucharest). They made themselves a name with brewing some of the best hop forward beers in the #Balkans. Metalhead is a brewery from Burgas, Bulgaria. The brewery was founded in 2018 after a few heavy metal fans had a night full of pints. They had the Eureka moment when they realized "the inextricable bond between the Brew and her majesty, Music."
Our food pairing recommendation:
Black Forest cake (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte)
These are our three beers. Which ones were your favorite brews in August? Tell us in the comments!
Stay tuned for our September recommendations!
Cheers,
Your Zurich Beer Tour Guides