Beers of Europe have the Paulaner Salvator but it is currently sold out. It will certainly be in my next order!
I'll have a trawl through their German section and see what they've got. Usually only view the Belgian stuff...
I'll also try one or two other little sources that I know. my taste buds are rippling in anticipation!

If you find Andechs that would be a good choice as well. I guess I have to try some of those Belgian beers, what are your two or three favourites?

These are the beers that I can choose from:
Belgien Barbar Honigbier 0.33
Belgien Chimay trappist bleu 0.33
Belgien Chimay trappist rouge 0.33
Belgien Chimay Cinq Cents 0.75
Belgien Chimay Premiere 0.75
Belgien Chimay Grand Reserve 0.75
Belgien Delirium tremens 0.33
Belgien De verboden Vrucht 0.33
Belgien Deus 0.75
Belgien Duvel 0.75
Belgien Grimbergen Blond 0.33
Belgien Grimbergen Dubbel 0.33
Belgien Kasteelbier dunkel 0.75
Belgien Kriek lambic St.Louis Kirsch 0.25
Belgien Leffe blonde 0.33
Belgien Leffe brune 0.33
Belgien Orval trappist 0.33
Belgien Stella Artois Lager 0.33
Belgien St. Louis Framboise 0.375
Belgien St. Louis Gueuze 0.375
Belgien Watou tripel 0.33
Belgien Westmalle Trappist Dubbel 0.33
Belgien Westmalle Trappist Tripel


Had the Andechser Bergbock Hell on the train to the ground. It had the distinct taste of Andechs. Being lighter than a Doppelbock doesn't mean that it's a thin beer - well, public transport is not the best moment to taste the details. It didn't impress me, but it's not too bad. Will try their Doppelbock next time I'll get to the shop.

I had a discussion about russian and czech beers last night , has anyone tried /heard of redds (russia) and velvet (czech) ? Are they nice?

astro wrote:

If you find Andechs that would be a good choice as well. I guess I have to try some of those Belgian beers, what are your two or three favourites? These are the beers that I can choose from: Belgien Barbar Honigbier 0.33 Belgien Chimay trappist bleu 0.33 Belgien Chimay trappist rouge 0.33 Belgien Chimay Cinq Cents 0.75 Belgien Chimay Premiere 0.75 Belgien Chimay Grand Reserve 0.75 Belgien Delirium tremens 0.33 Belgien De verboden Vrucht 0.33 Belgien Deus 0.75 Belgien Duvel 0.75 Belgien Grimbergen Blond 0.33 Belgien Grimbergen Dubbel 0.33 Belgien Kasteelbier dunkel 0.75 Belgien Kriek lambic St.Louis Kirsch 0.25 Belgien Leffe blonde 0.33 Belgien Leffe brune 0.33 Belgien Orval trappist 0.33 Belgien Stella Artois Lager 0.33 Belgien St. Louis Framboise 0.375 Belgien St. Louis Gueuze 0.375 Belgien Watou tripel 0.33 Belgien Westmalle Trappist Dubbel 0.33 Belgien Westmalle Trappist Tripel Had the Andechser Bergbock Hell on the train to the ground. It had the distinct taste of Andechs. Being lighter than a Doppelbock doesn't mean that it's a thin beer - well, public transport is not the best moment to taste the details. It didn't impress me, but it's not too bad. Will try their Doppelbock next time I'll get to the shop.

Westmalle Tripel
Chimay Bleu ( The Grand Reserve is just a bigger bottle of the Bleu)
Orval

These would be my three favourites from your list but wtf try them all eventually (and write your reviews). I have reviewed some of them and tried most of them. In fact the only ones I haven't had are the Barbar and the Deus.

To help drown my sorrows tonight I decided to have a bottle of Piraat. It's brewed by Van Steenberge and comes in two strengths, the weak one at 9% ABV and the strong one at 10.5% ABV. I had the weak one tonight although I've had both many times. The labels are different, the 'strong' version has a comedy pirate on it, complete with ship, while the 'weak' one has some nice piratical font and no picture which suggests something more serious or grown up.
I used my Piraat tulip glass. The beer poured smoothly with a weak transient head which quickly sank into the golden ale. The body was fizzy without being gassy and gave off a hoppy, flowery aroma like a bottled pale ale. There was a smooth light malt taste in the first mouthful and the swallow gave none of the heavy alcohol notes that assault your palate with the stronger version. This is a much more rounded beer, the cracker biscuit and citrus-like malt taste filling the mouth and cruising over your taste buds before setting sail for the uncharted reaches of your gut.
I much prefer this to the 10.5% version.
While I waas drinking it my Geologist son was telling me about a tshirt that one of his lecturers wears with 'Pyrites of the Caribbean' emblazoned across the front.

Not been very successful tracking any Doppelbock.
Useful/interesting link?

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GeordieLes wrote:

Not been very successful tracking any Doppelbock. Useful/interesting link? Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!

They mention Schneider Aventinus in that article. Was my favourite beer for quite a while. 8% alcohol, two of them and u r quite drunk, the third kills you. In Dublin, it can be found in The Porter House, Temple Bar, nice place for trying different beers anyway, except for the prices...

One side node about Doppelbock: many of their brand names end with "ator", such as Salvator. Salvator was the first well-known Doppelbock and the other breweries tried to profit from that established name.

I tried the last one of my three candidates yesterday:

Gut Mergenthauer - Dunkler Doppelbock, 20.6% wort, 8.9% vol. alc.

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Didn't like it that much. It looks dark red. The head sank quickly. I am not that familiar with English beers, but it reminded me of a red ale (?). I had brown bread to accompany the beer and it was alright, but not impressive. I can recommend German (or generally middle to east European) dark bread and good smoked ham as a snack while drinking beer anyway. It's a bit like wine and cheese, the flavours add up nicely.

Thus, the winner of this wee competition is the Doppel-Hirsch, followed by the Andechser Bergbock. There's an Einbecker Winterbock in my fridge, I guess I'll have that later today. Next time I'll get another bottle of Doppel-Hirsch for reference, Andechser Doppelbock and some other + 2 or 3 from Belgium. I am especially interested in that Barbar, as it contains honey.

beers of Europe have Aventinus:

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and Andechs Doppelbock, I really like the tasting notes ("a meal in itself"), though it's strange that they categorise it as a "German version of a Belgian Christmas Ale"...

And I just found another interesting candidate: Mönchshof Schwarz and Mönchhof Bock

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There are some truly beautiful Schwarz (Black) beers ...

In England we have a bottled beer with honey called Waggle Dance which is quite nice chilled in the Summer. The name refers to the communication movements that bees use to tell each other about food sources. It's available in most large supermarkets but I forget who brews it. Youngs?
Surprise, surprise my local ASDA has Aventinus at the moment. I'm guessing that's the one with the purple label? They also have Schneider Weisse. Must go shopping tomorrow.....

GeordieLes wrote:

Surprise, surprise my local ASDA has Aventinus at the moment. I'm guessing that's the one with the purple label? They also have Schneider Weisse. Must go shopping tomorrow.....

yep, that's it. actually there is only one Aventinus. Dunno if you like it, it's a bit special and I haven't had it in years - anyway, worth a try. But it is different in taste as a normal Bock or Doppelbock as it is a Weizenbock. As far as I remember the other Schneider beers are of good quality, not very special but decent any-day beers.

talking of beers with honey: do you know St. Peters Honey Porter? It's from the UK, they have it in my local beer shop.

PS: what does ASDA mean?

It's short for ASsociated DAiries. They are part of the WalMart empire.
Their range of products is extensive but they are guilty of unacceptable work practices and badly treating their staff. I switch my conscience off when I go in....

GeordieLes wrote:

It's short for ASsociated DAiries. They are part of the WalMart empire. Their range of products is extensive but they are guilty of unacceptable work practices and badly treating their staff. I switch my conscience off when I go in....

thanks. Wal Mart got a bloody nose when trying to enter the German market though that doesn't mean that our supermarkets etc. offer better work practices. At least my favourite shops for beer and spirits are still run by their owners.

Unfortunately I'm restricted to online buying, chains, supermarkets and department stores. There used to be a great shop in Heaton, Newcastle called 'Legendary Yorkshire Heroes' which was an Aladdin's cave of British and European bottled beers as well as having several real ales on draught that it would sell in reusable plastic bottles. I think that it might have had a sister shop in Jesmond as well. Sadly both are closed.

Small businesses often need some kind of extra activity. My beer shop Bierland works as a newsagent and a pickup point for DHL as well. For political reasons, they don't sell the newspaper BILD (Germany's Sun)

The wine and spirits merchant set up an online shop quite early to be able to get the sales to offer cheap prices. I am grateful that they don't accept credit cards in the shop, I'd ruin myself in no time

GeordieLes wrote:

In England we have a bottled beer with honey called Waggle Dance which is quite nice chilled in the Summer. The name refers to the communication movements that bees use to tell each other about food sources. It's available in most large supermarkets but I forget who brews it. Youngs?

It is Youngs

I quite like Waggledance, especially since it comes out of the fridge at our local which is great in summer when you don't want beer at room temperature (prepares for ourcry from CAMRA activists)