Beer Tasting- Israeli Craft Beer, Great Selection

A couple of weeks ago, Beer Maven Doug Greener invited me to a beer tasting. Joining us were two much younger tasters, so each bottle of beer had to be split between the four of us. And in case you're wondering, yes, the Beer בירה mosaics was made by yours truly.

All photos by me, Batya Medad

I'll start with Alexander's "DON'T" which we didn't drink at the tasting. I was given a bottle to taste at home. It's a nice tasting IPA. The name "DON'T" is in honor of the American president's statement, but I'm not going to start with politics... 

I must admit that my favorite beer is a good IPA. "DON'T" wasn't the best IPA I've sampled, but it still had a nice fruity plus hops flavor. I enjoyed it much more than the beers from the big commercial breweries that are sold in our local store.

IPA's must be very popular with Israel's craft beer brewers, because White Rabbit gave us two very refreshing ones. 

Feed Your Head is a light and fruity IPA. Day Dream is a New England IPA, less bitter but sweeter.

You can see the lovely golden color. Both are highly recommended.

We got a lager, named Bock from Alexander. It's a gorgeous dark orange color with a fruity aroma. As I sipped it, I realized that it doesn't taste like a beer and may be a good beer for those who don't like beer. After hearing my opinion on it, Doug called in someone who doesn't like beer. She took a couple of sips and agreed with me. 

Bock is like a tart fruit soda for adults, with the kick of some alcohol. If you like to taste the hops in your beer this isn't for you. 

Hatch brewed a beer it calls הגינה של רוחל'ה HaGinah Shel Ruchala, Ruchala's Garden which has a surprisingly natural mango aroma. Even the color is more like mango juice than beer. It tasted like a spiked sour citrus fruit juice. 

Previously I didn't like fruity beers, because they all seemed to taste artificial, like children's medicine. I'm still traumatized by the fruit flavored beers at the Jerusalem Beer Festival 2019. The more recent attempts to flavor beer with fruit is much more natural tasting. I'd prefer them to a sweet wine.

And then we had what could be called a "dessert beer." Hatch brewed an amazing Chocolate-Maple beer. It's almost a liquor, and I insisted that it would be great with a strong vanilla or coconut ice cream. 

This beer may also appeal to those who insist that they don't like beer.

In all honesty, the selection was the best ever. I don't remember a tasting when I enjoyed all the beers. OK, some didn't quite taste like beer, but they are all very drinkable. None tasted "funny." Try to buy them. 

Israeli craft beers are getting better and better. That's for sure.

SHEVET IPA Yum

 

SHEVET IPA

SHEVET Beer very kindly sent me a small selection of their beers to sample. I decided to start with their IPA, and I'm glad I did. It's good, fruity with a strong taste of hops. IPA is what I consider a "real beer." SHEVET's IPA has a nice rich flavor and gorgeous color. 

As you can see on the bottle, it's 5.2% alcohol, and according to their site, it's a new one for them. 

This may sound shocking, almost sacrilegious, to some people, but I'd be happy to drink beer during our Shabbat meals instead of wine. A good beer is just as festive for me as wine. I sometimes have a bad reaction to the sulfur in wines, and beers don't pose such dangers. A good IPA is very similar to a nice white wine in my opinion. Sometimes when I'm making morning kiddush on my own, it's on beer. OK, now you know my little secret.

What more can I say?

Alexander Green aka IPA Definitely Great Beer

 

I must admit that I bought the Alexander beers, because they were among the less expensive of the Israeli craft in one of the local supermarkets. Unlike the Jerusalem store where I had gotten my Shapiro Beers, in this store each brand was a different price. I'm glad that I have found a source for good craft beer at a decent price not far from home. And now I have two "favorite" brewers who are large enough to sell to supermarkets and specialty stores.

Another confession, I had no idea what Alexander had meant by "green," but I really liked the beer. So, no surprise, I consulted my beer mentor, Doug Greener the beer maven who informed me that Alexander Green is an IPA first produced by them before Israeli craft brewers were using the term. That shouldn't have surprised me, because I do like a good IPA, but I'm not professional enough to recognize them by taste. Maybe now I will be...

OK onto the beer, enough introduction-

As you can see, the beer pours to a gorgeous golden brown and just enough, but not too much foamy head. There's a clean, pure hop aroma and taste making it the perfect beer for us purists. I'm looking forward to sampling more of Alexander's craft beers.

Harvey's Smokehouse, Must Return

Last week, after attending Rothschild and Sons, I went with friends to Harvey's Smokehouse. Even though it was very windy and rainy outside, they did their best to warm us up. We were very lucky to get a perfect table without reservations. I guess Gd knew we needed a good meal.

Harvey's Smokehouse is a Bar & Grill · Barbecue Restaurant · American Style Meat Restaurant, strictly kosher, of course. It's on 7 Ben-Shetach Street, a couple of minutes' walk from Zion Square, 02-624-6444, opens 12 noon, Sunday-Thursday.

Because of the hour, we didn't order a real complete meat meal, their specialty. That's one of the reasons I must return.

I started with beer and was very happy that they offer on tap Shapiro's Israeli craft beer. There was a choice between Shapiro's IPA and Wheat beers. Since I wasn't sure which I wanted, I was brought both to taste. The wheat was pale and anemic both in looks and taste, but the Shapiro IPA didn't disappoint at all. My only mistake was getting a "third" rather than a "half."

One of my dinner companions ordered a fruity cocktail, which I tasted. It was absolutely perfect, too.

My companions ordered a couple of servings of meat chili, onion rings and one "cole slaw." I was offered tastes of them all. The chili and onion rings were fantastic, but I was so disappointed to see red cabbage masquerading as cole slaw I just couldn't touch any. Maybe it's the New Yorker in me, but when I hear cole slaw I expect to see white (green) cabbage and carrots. Anything else is sacrilegious, an abomination. The only one of us who tasted it insisted that the dressing was genuine, but then again, he wasn't raised in New York.

I ordered a salad that had bits of grilled chicken breast and their own "bacon bits." It was labeled as having "ranch dressing," but all I tasted was mayonnaise, and I don't like mayonnaise. When I mentioned this to the waiter, he quickly took away my plate and replaced it with a new salad, sans the guilty mayonnaise. There were simple dressings on the side, which were perfect.

We had been tempted by the lamb chops and other grilled meat, but having shared two portions each of the chili and onion rings, besides the big salad, we barely had room for a bit of dessert, chocolate mousse and apple pie for sharing.

Our driver perked himself up with some coffee, and then we drove back to Shiloh after a totally enjoyable evening in Jerusalem. Great food and company. I can't ask for more. But I really do want to return to Harvey's Smokehouse and try their meat, lamb... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

"Where's The Beer?" Jerusalem Beer Festival 2019

Doug taking notes

Last night, as I wandered around the Jerusalem Beer Festival with my beer maiven and mentor, Doug Greener, sampling the latest Israeli commercial craft beer creations, I began to feel confused. Are all of these new "beers" beer?

In previous Jerusalem Beer Festivals, the dominant taste was the "hops" some with various flavorings. Last night, granted that we were, davka, going for new beers, the word we all used the most to describe the beers was "fruity." The cherry beer pictured above, looked and tasted more like cherry soda.

oats and wheat

We tasted a very unusual "date beer," which could be made for Passover, since there's nothing in the ingredients of the forbidden chametz. I suggested to the beermaker that he markets it as a Biblical drink, since there's a good chance that dates had been used way back when, as an alternative for grapes.

After awhile and lots of sample drinks of the new versions of craft beer, all I wanted to say was:

"Where's The Beer?"

Most of the beers we drank were pleasant tasting and rather fruity. The IPAs had a nice kick. But contrary to other years, the dominant taste of hops was missing. Can it be beer sans hops or tasting more fruity than anything else?

Many of the beers we sampled, and I trust Doug to write a more detailed report, were closer to flavored fizzy wines and fruit-flavored sodas. I didn't taste the blonde beers, since I don't usually enjoy them.

Besides the smaller craft beer companies, some of the larger Israeli beers were at the fair as were some foreign ones. They served more of the classic bitter beer. I guess that the small craft brewers have found it better not to compete with those big successful companies. Craft beer brewers look for a different niche/customer.

I suggest you try for yourself. The Jerusalem Beer Festival 2019 is open tonight, too. Opens at 6pm in Independence Park, Gan Haatzmaut. Even if you don't like beer, maybe you'll davka like the beers that don't taste all that much like beer. Some people go to the Jerusalem Beer Festival just for the music and party atmosphere. There's all sorts of food for sale from a variety of food trucks.

Your opinions are welcome in the comments.

Just one more thing about flavored beer. There may be kashrut problems concerning manufactured flavoring ingredients in the various beers. If you have any questions, ask the brewer. Many I saw and met last night appear Torah/kashrut observant, but ingredients are more questionable out of Israel. The owners may not even understand your questions about kashrut.

At least the whiskey didn't pretend to be beer.

Beer as Fruity as Wine

Tonight I finally drank the third of the three Israeli craft beers I had bought a number of weeks ago. Of the first two, one, Shapiro "Jack's Winter Ale," was great and the other horrid. I'm going to cook beef with the Malka Stout beer tomorrow. It should be perfect in that role. 

Tonight I drank the Shapiro IPA, Citra. Not only is the woody orange-ish brown beer almost red enough to be a rose wine, but the taste is so fruity, I'd prefer it over many wines. It would certainly go well with a Shabbat or other festive meals. I'll have to try to buy some after Passover.

Doug, the Beer Maiven who, has been mentoring me in the drink genre of Israeli craft beer and beer tasting, uses words like "fruity" to describe beers. But in all honesty, until I drank this Shapiro IPA, "fruity" wasn't a word I'd use to describe a beer.

 As you can see in the photos, there was lots a foam, quite a head, but it dissipated quickly enough for me to drink it.

The beer went well with the cupcakes, which are leftover from Purim. NO, I didn't eat all three, only one!

On the whole, and from this small sample of three Israeli craft beers, I'm very impressed by the Shapiro brewers, and it's not just because they use a lion in their logo that resembles my favorite Israeli tackle football team. I definitely recommend the two Shapiro's I drank. What's your favorite Israeli craft beer?