I know, I know.
When it comes to Hungary, beer is not the first thing coming into your mind. You might mention pálinka, red wine…. but beer???
Yes! In the recent decade, small, usually family-owned breweries have popped up all over Hungary. It is not uncommon now to see organic, artisan Hungarian beer on the shelves in grocery stores, some with witty, interesting names.
Just like the one that has won Gold and Silver Medals with two of their products at the Czech Word Beer Idol contest this year: Szent András Sörfőzde (Saint Andrew Brewery).
The Gold Medal has gone to their Russian Imperial Stout type beer nicknamed “Rettegett Iván” (Ivan, the terrible). True to its name, it sports a surprising 9% alcohol content. This richly spiced, almost opaque black beer was created with four types of malt, and offers smoky, chocolate and creamy caramel flavors.
Their “Bandibá Amerikai IPA” (Uncle András, American India Pale Ale) claimed the Silver Medal. It is composed of three hops resulting in rich fruity flavors like melon and strawberry.
Another Hungarian Brewery, Körös-Maros Biofarm made it too by winning Bronz Medal with their unique “alakor” (littlespelt wheat) organic beer. “Alakor búza” comes up a lot these days when looking for healthier alternatives to regular red wheat. It is considered an ancient type of wheat with higher levels of protein, fat, phosphorus, potassium and beta-carotene.
So there is something new to try next time in Hungary besides the usual shots of pálinka 🙂
Plus, here is a question to challenge you: as I mentioned earlier, these breweries are really good at coming up with witty, meaningful names for their artisan beer. Szent András brewery, for example, has a beer called HatHárom, an English type porter. Below, in the comments, can you tell me where this name comes from?? 🙂
Cheers, egészségedre,
