Ah, the taste of The Ashes!

LONDON. We can't get enough travel here. One of us is off to Oz, to catch the irrelevant end of The Ashes. Another of us (me), a glutton for punishment, wanted to see just how bad London Heathrow airport was today, considering fog had shut it down for several days. Well, I made it out alive, albeit eight hours late. But some of the time was well spent...

I stopped in for a pint of cask-conditioned Marston's The Ashes Ale. The tagline was "Definitely Not for Aussies."

Well, considering the Aussies have pulled off a 3-0 victory in the best-of-5 Ashes tourney as of last weekend, England deserves something this good to drown its sorrows in. This beer is sweeter (not as hoppy) and lighter than a typical British bitter. It's pale (transparent) and light (not caramel) in color and was served colder than usual (was this intentional?). The head was whisper-thin, and rapidly disappeared. The back palette was lemony.

They should make this beer year-round. Look for it.

Last Night's Prague Pub Crawl

PRAGUE. Had to head out again with friends because we're still on a mission to sample some more "old school" beers in Prague. As in previous installments, the idea is to hit the smaller, older brews, rather than the big guys.

Tonight had it's start at Restaurant Kyvadlo on V Jame in the city center. They have several of the Bernard brews on tap. Ok, Bernard is coming up frequently enough on these pages, but hear us out. This time, the target was their 14 degree Speciální Světlé ("Special Light") on tap, known as "the Ox" because of it's 5.8% alcohol content. Terrific foam head, beautiful, rich, dark yellow color, and an interesting malty taste, coupled with a typical pilsner taste and back-palate. The higher alcohol content was noticeable during our walk onward.

Next, a new one. Really old school: 1570, to be exact. The beer is actually aged in caves beneath the brewery. World Brewery Championships (Chicago) winner in 2004. We're talking about brews brought to you by Klášter ("monastery"). We sampled their premium lager (12 degree), that has 5.6% alcohol content. Very, very drinkable, tried and true, without surprises. This is a true pilsner; smooth, crisp. Apparently, they import into the U.S., so look for it.

And a great place to try it? A still-functioning monastery, where else? Northwest Prague's own Klášterní šenk ("monastery taproom"). It's not where the beer is from, but it'll do: the restaurant is inside this beautifully restored landmark's site, which dates back to 993 AD. And the traditional Czech food in a rustic setting is, well, cool.

The night finished up at Hrom do Police (see an earlier installment), where we revisited the flagship Záviš, but went straight for their 12 degree kvasnicove ("yeast") beer on tap (it's not on their website, interestingly). Cloudy, with a huge head, and nicely sweet on the back end.

And, the kind folks at Hrom do Police were kind enough to stay open way late, until we had our fill.

Suds from Slovenia OR What I found in the Mini-bar

LJUBLJANA. Road weary, untrackable by GPS, and armed with only mediocre directions for the Union Hotel in Ljubljana I wandered up to the back door of the Pivovarna Union Brewery (founded by the Kozler Brothers back in 1864). I asked the security guards "Is this the Union Hotel?". He responded with an accented English"No, no, this place is for DRINKING!", a broad uneven-toothed smile across his face. For a moment, I considered locking the car and heading in, but the zero tolerance drinking-and-driving rules of Europe, though a good thing, are not conducive to casual beer consumption. Repositioning the "responsibility hat" firmly back on the top of my head, I hopped back in the car.

Settled into my room and feeling the effects of velocitation (8 hours of driving), thoughts lingered of the Union Brewery. "A beer would taste pretty damn good right now," I thought to myself. Scouring the room, I hoped that behind one of the doors a mini-bar would manifest. My hopes dimmed as each door literally came up empty. For giggles, I pulled on what looked like a row of drawers and BEHOLD, it was faux: Eureka!

Typically, I don't have high hopes for the mini-bar, at best there will be a Heineken. I am not a huge fan of anything bottled in green glass. My theory is that green bottled beer tastes "skunky," and to-date the theory still holds strong. Slovenes ,however, are very proud of their long history of beer brewing and the mini-bar provided me with a few Pivovarna Union Premiums. Thankfully, these 12.6 degree fellas are bottled in nice dark brown glass.

Finding the bottle opener, I quickly popped the top of the first one and took a long pull. I know that good beer etiquette would require me to let the beer breathe (preferably in a glass), and really savor that first sudsy sip. Unfortunately, I was more concerned with washing down 600 kilometers of nicotine and coffee breath. I was immediately surprised at how smooth this beer was. I skipped over to the bathroom to grab myself a glass so that I could get a better look at this brew. I discovered that it was a nice golden yellow and had a slightly sweet bouquet. I don't know if I would rank it as a "premium beer" as it really falls along the lines of a decent ale that I might serve beer-literate friends at a barbecue.

Despite the beers mislabeling, I found its quite drinkable, considering I drank both out of the mini-bar and repeated the process the next night. I am disappointed that I did not get to go to Pivovarna Union Brewery. They have three different "light" beers available, a 12 degree ale, a 11.6 degree pils, and the 12.6 degree premium. On the menu is also the Crni Baron (Black Baron), a 14 degree dark beer and the Union Radler, a devilish concoction of lemonade and beer (*gag*). A cab and this brew pub are absolutes for my next visit to Ljubljana after the new year.

Chelsea Piers: Beer and Golf

NEW YORK. So, the secret is out. We've found heaven in NYC. Chelsea Piers, at the end of Manhattan's W.23rd St.

We're getting into winter and have to keep swinging the sticks, right? Beer can be done anytime of year. So, where to go? Hit the massive vertical driving range (52 stations on 4 stories) at the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex, and then toss back a few pints downstairs at the Chelsea Brewing Company.

So that's where we found ourselves recently. The range was nearly empty on a Tuesday night, after work, but the lights were bright (and they're open until 11pm!!). Nothing quite matches the feeling of firing balls off over the Hudson River, right at New Jersey.

Several hundred golf-ball casualties later, we bellied up to the bar, staring at the big, copper vats. A big array of choices faced us, reading off the chalkboard menu: CheckedCab Blonde Ale, Hoppy Holiday, Sunset Red Ale, Amber Wheat, Blueberry Wheat, Chelsea Pilsner, and Imperial Stout. (They were out of the Chelsea Porter and Pale Ale.)

We went for the Hoppy Holiday, the Pilsner, the Red, and the Amber. Fresh and delicious, all. The taste, however, was very much ale, mellow and smooth. We were particularly enamored of the Amber and they always do the Red Ale well (and we've taken down many Blondes in the past too). Rather than going into too much detail, get yourself down there ASAP.

Saint Bernard, Tried and True.

PRAGUE. We've blogged about the Czech Bernard brewery before. This time, we're hittin' the bottle, though.

You can only get the "Svatecni lezak" ("Celebration Lager") in bottles, and it comes with the lovely old-fashioned lightning/swing-type closure (ala Grolsch) that can be re-closed. We have absolutely no idea why anyone would re-close this beer, however.

Final fermentation in the bottles and unpasteurized. Full head, beautiful color, yeasty aroma. Fantastic. Sweet, like Bernard's other beers, but with a very clean finish, and just the right amount of pilsner bitterness. Incredibly drinkable.

The name is so right. "Svatecni" is a Czech adjective meaning, literally, "sainted." It, of course, also means "festive," "holiday," etc., owning to the Slavic tradition of having "name days" (sg., "svatek") for saints (and those named after the saints). St. Bernard. Ergo, the best day to drink this beer must be Bernard's name day: August 20. We'll be back...

Cuban Smokes

PRAGUE. Ok, so we "got Cuba on our minds." The FT last week was chock full of pieces about Cuba, but this time, about the perfect golf and beer companion: smokes.

The author picked up some cigars and met up with two of London's famous cigar aficionados, Edward Sahakian, from Davidoff of London, and Paul Bielby of JJ Fox & Robert Lewis.

They sampled lesser-known, and non-exported (not that it matters much to Americans, who can't buy anything from Cuba), cigars, including Reloba, El Colosso, Bauza, and a few bought from a tobacco farmer in Pinar del Rio (the western-most part of the island, known as having the best tobacco). The farmer cured his leaves with fruit juice and sugar.

The verdicts? The Bauzas and the farmer-rolled, no-names. The others were "hot air" and "a bit harsh." But, even though they were rolled pretty loosely and burned unevenly, and were not as smooth as they could have been, the experts labeled everything as a 'good bargain." Which is not too surprising, considering the author paid about one Cuban peso each (about 4 U.S. cents).

Cuban Greens

PRAGUE. Although out of our reach because of the continuing U.S. embargo, we're waiting for the chance to go to Cuba and sample some of the local goodies.

Those goodies include Varadero, Cuba's only 18-hole golf course. The Financial Times just ran a piece on the course that had us intrigued. Apparently, the back nine is still "green," in the sense that it's only a decade old. But, the environs sound awesome: it's on a spit on the north coast of the island, with "spectacular" eighth and eighteenth holes beachside.

Varadero is Cuba's largest resort, so other amenities are found in abundance, particularly at the 5-star Hotel Melia Las Americas next door. The clubhouse, "Xanadu," once part of a 1328-acre estate, is the 1930's-era former Dupont family mansion (where the millionaire would winter). And one can't forget the 20-km-long white sand beach adjoining.