It's been a while since I did anything regarding the Off-Licence Project, i.e. that lovely Google Map which the readers of Mediocre Beer Adventures helped to populate with the City's best purveyors of East European lager and World craft beer.
The map is still here:- BIRMINGHAM OFF LICENCES
Recent additions are a couple of venues in Erdington, specialising in Polish beer and the deletion of at least one Dudley Road venue, which had gone to seed.
Now I think this still requires a little work, so I would exhort you and everyone you know to remain vigilant and look out both for interesting offies, but also good beer ranges in non-offie locations.
That was part 1 of this post.
Part 2 of this post is a plea.
Looking at Ratebeer (which I do regularly), I have been alarmed to see that my beer ticking brethren across the UK seem to be uncovering a range of East European beer treasure, which I are not clapped eyes on in Brum.
This is a worry.
It's not a worry because I'm missing out on good beer per se, but it is a worry because I'm an obsessive and one of my obsessions is questionable lager. I'll be blowed if Scunthorpe folk are getting access to obscure Polish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian stock, while I'm not. Sadly however, this seems to be the case.
So I would like to enlist you all (yes, both of you) to help me find some of these new, 'mysterious' beer treats. Here is a hit-list:
From Latvia:
Cesu Nefiltrētais
From Lithuania:
Bauskas Gaisais Specialais
Butautu Dvaro Alus Sviesus
Butautu Dvaro Alus Tamsus
Fortas Stiprus
Fortas Ekstra
Fortas Stipriausias
Kauno Senasis Porteris
Kauno Biržieciu Alus Stouts
Kupiškio Kupiškėnų Šventinis Alus
Kupiškio Magaryčių Alus
Kupiškio Keptinis
Tauras Porteris
Taruškų Kanapinis Alus Tamsus
Volfas Engelman Rinktinis
From Poland:
Książęce Pszeniczne
Lomza Export Miodowe
Perla Miodowa
Tyskie Mocne
From Romania:
Timisoreana
From Russia:
Baltika 6 Porter
From Ukraine
Zlata Praha Svetle Pivo
Please tell me if you spot any of these during you travels.
N.B. Tesco and Asda may not be the best places to start your hunt.
N.B. (2) There may be a prize for the person who locates the most - sort of like a scavenger hunt.
N.B. (3) Off licence owners of the region - please, please do not buy a crate of these beers purely on my say-so. I am, by no means, providing a guarantee of quality, nor am I certain that these will be 'big' sellers.
However, if you do want to take a punt on these, why not do so? Only please don't kick me, when you're flogging them off at 10p per can, come Christmas.
Cotteridge had baltika 6! Staveley road in wolvo has a good selection of shops, maybe a bit of a mission though?
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough Tom, my daughter and I took a trip to Newhampton Road and Stavely Road today! Yes it was a bit of a mission, but I grabbed some strange foreign treats, so I'm counting it as worthwhile trip.
ReplyDeleteMay not be strictly within the remit of the project Dan, but I've noticed a place on the Pershore rd that sells Israeli/Kosher beer. Definitely a gamble just for a Maccabee or a Goldtar, but at least you'd be on the Pershore rd with good beer purveyors not far away.
ReplyDeletehttp://geeskosher.com/products.php?view=BEER
Wow Stewart, that sounds exciting. I've never had any Israeili beer, so it would tickle all [some] of my peccadilloes to be able to write that wrong. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the name of the store but I saw cans of Timisoreana and another Romanian beer in a store on Rookery Road recently.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, it is stocked by beersofeurope.com which is where I purchased mine.
Foxo
Dan,
ReplyDeleteButautu Dvaro Alus Sviesus is available from Nowy Polka on Waterloo Road. I picked up a bottle today. At least I assume it is the same beer - mine is 5% and with a slightly different label to that pictured on ratebeer.
Unfortunately the Kosher place on Pershore Road no longer stocks Israeli beer. I asked the shopkeeper who confirmed they haven't stocked it in a while, which is a shame.
If you want to tick another country off without resorting to macro lagers, Stirchley currently stocks three Icelandic Einstok lagers. Worth checking out.
Foxo