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| Photo by Giovanni Gonzales |
Why the hell would I do this?
As
you know, I am a great advocate for craft beer. I've been brewing for
years and love drinking as many artisnal products as I can. I
believe that if you are going to drink something that's bad for you,
it should taste good. Now, it is becoming easier and easier to have
discerning tastes. Nary a bar exists in the States that would dare
NOT have at least some IPA on top. Long gone are the days when one
would be forced to drink a Miller Lite out of lack of choice.
This
said, cheap industrial lager does have its place in the world. For
one, a lot of people love them. They make up roughly 90% of the
worldwide beer consumption and there must be a reason for this. Even
in the days of craft, there are a fair few people who think many of
these “snobby” styles don't taste good at all. Not everyone likes
bitter beer. Not everyone likes hops. Some see high alcohol as a
ruiner of what should be a refreshing, easy-to-drink beverage. And
sour beer? That's enough to make many run.
As
for myself, I currently live in Budapest, earn Hungary wages, and
frankly, cannot afford to drink craft beer all the time. Living in
Norway with a good pay check or the USA with craft beer costing
between one and two dollars, I could vow to never drink a crap-lager
again. But in Hungary, things are different. Even the most ardent
lovers of craft drink cheap lager.
Craft
has become a real force in the city and the breweries have finally
got their act together and lay down a consistent product. The sad
thing is, they are all relatively small and are not able to save cost
in scale. Plus, they need to purchase most ingredients from abroad at
the same price point as the more affluent countries in Europe. So
what you get is an expensive product in a poor country. The average
craft beer costs about 3.00 euro, but most people only make less than
10 euro an hour. This makes it a price prohibitive beverage.
A
typical mass-lager costs between .70 and 1.00 euro, a good third of
the price of craft. Plus, many bars (due to restrictive contracts
with these major breweries) don't even carry craft beers. When I
choose I bar, I make sure that I only support independent bars with a
good selection of local craft beers, but I don't always choose the
bar.
Industrial
lager usually doesn't taste bad. It tastes of basically nothing. I
think that many of these beers are acceptable. I prefer a macro-lager
to most spirits. Beer is good. I've jumped around a bit in my
preferred brand. I've been a Dreher guy off and on. In my first stint
here, I drank mostly Kozel from Czech. If I see Staropramen for a
good price, I'll often grab a bottle (though it is brewed here at
Borsodi brewery and pales in comparison to the real thing.) The real
find is when Pilsner Urquell pops up for under 300huf.
What
I wanted to find is: is there a significant difference between the
typical brands of cheap lager in Hungary? Is it worth it to pay
300huf for a Pilsner Urquell when I can pay 150huf for a Rocky
Cellar?
So,
in recognition of March Madness, my buddy Giovanni and I devised the
great Hungarian Beer Bracket. Due to lack of participants (it was
just Gio and I, sadly), we limited our field to 16 beers. 32 would be
much better as we could work in such popular international beers like
Becks, Heineken, and Tuborg.
The
Planning
I
went to the store and listed all the beers that cost under 300huf.
From that list, we got 18 Hungarian beers, a good handful of Germans,
a few Austrian, Czech, and a Slovakian beer. A few beers got the axe
because they are only masquerading as the real thing and are actually
poorer quality versions brewed for the Hungarian market (why, oh, why
Hofbrau and Spaten would you allow your names on these terrible
beers?). We felt that some are just too international and didn't fit
into the whole concept, so we took away the aforementioned Becks,
Tuborg, and Heineken (even though the latter is actually brewed
under contract in Hungary).
We
were left with 19 beers. To pare it down to 16, we had three play-in
spots. We were able to divide most of the beers into four clear
categories with only two that fell outside of the concept. The first
group was the Bargain Region, for beers under 200huf (Rocky Cellar,
Rákoczi, Kőbányai, Arány
Fácán, and Löwenbrau).
Next, there was the Classic Region that features the four main
Hungarian beers found in most bars, comparable to Coors, Miller, Bud
in America (Dreher, Borsodi, Arany Aszok, and Soproni). Most of these
brands have a special brands as well, so these formed the Specialty
Region (Dreher Hideg Komlos, Arany Aszok Frissensürt,
and Soproni 1895).
There were two beers we could not easily find homes for, Szalon and
Pécsi Premium Lager,
so they faced off for
the fourth seed in the Speicialty Region. Finally, we had the foreign
invaders. Staropramen and Pilsner Urquell are as ubiquitous here as
any of the main Hungarian brands. We filled out the Foreign Region
with the common Kozel and had a play-in between the two main Austrian
beers here: Ottakringer and Steffl.
To
determine our seeding, we simply used their Untappd scores (Ratebeer
would be extremely unhelpful as it is very lagerist and partially
owned by Inbev...it's dead to me.). And so, the Great Hungarian Beer
Bracket was born!
Tasting
Logistics
The
set up was simple. It was single elimination tournament. Two beers go
head to head, we taste, rate, and pick the one we liked best. If we
disagreed, then we averaged our scores to find the winner.
The
beers were tasted from two identical wine glasses. On the bottom of
each was a post it with a tiny “A” or “B”. After pouring, we
would mix up the two glasses, play with the dog a bit, then mix it
some more. For the most part, this masked the identity of the beers.
Only a few had a different color.
We
both did extensive tasting notes for each beer, but I won't be
sharing them here. In general they were all quite low in flavor and
were brewed with 100% pilsner malt (some adjuncts in a few of them)
and Saaz hops.
Region
1: Bargain Region (Rocky
Cellar/Rákoczi
vs.
Löwenbrau,
Kőbányai vs.
Arány
Fácán)
We
figured it was wise to start with the “worst” beers. Just so they
could taste fine comparatively. It was a wise choice. From the start,
Rocky Cellar was a clear loser. It was the worst beer I've ever
tasted (actually no, Black Label and Steel Reserve are still the
bottom). Rákoczi
actually tasted good in
comparison. However, when stacked again Löwenbrau,
it was no contest. It
is amazing how much comparison brings out the flavor of things.
Rákoczi tasted
good when compared to Rocky Cellar, but when drank with Löwenbrau,
we were both compelled
to spit it out. We actually disagreed between Kőbányai
and Arány
Fácán. However, both
were absolutely terrible. Arány
Fácán was hoppier and
watery, but had a horrible poo-like aroma (Gio described it as
vomit-smelling). Kőbányai
actually had a pleasant
malty aroma with some nice toast and corn. However, it was a bit sour
with an unpleasant off-taste. In the end, we let Kőbányai
move forward to the
next round. It was no contest. Löwenbrau
was easily the best
beer under 200huf. We dumped the rest down the sink without
hesitation.
Winner:
Löwenbrau
The
Classic Region (Dreher vs. Arany Aszok, Borsodi vs. Soproni)
We
chose to do the classics next. These beers were all the same style as
in the budget round, so the shift wouldn't be jarring. Yet, it was
jarring!
Even
in initial pours of Borsodi vs. Soproni, it was clear that we were
jumping up in quality. Gone was the excessive DMS and booziness that
characterized all of the previous round (I could not believe that 4%
beers could smell boozy). Now, I'm not saying that these were good
beers. The comparisson was reflected in our scores, which went up a
few points from the bargain round, but they moderated quickly.
Borsodi
was richer and heavier with a nice malty aroma. Soproni was light and
easy-drinking, but it did have an off-taste. We had a hard time
picking this one. I picked Borsodi and Gio picked Soproni. We tasted
both against each other a few times (non-blind) and eventually
decided to go with Borsodi. We both found Soproni to be more
pleasant, but it wasn't a clean beer. Borsodi was a better product.
For
Dreher vs. Arany Aszok, one of the two had a lovely, floral aroma
that was so clear and lovely, I could whiff at it for a long time. It
was clearly the best smelling beer we'd had at that point. The other
was boring and had clear off-flavors. It was Arany Aszok.
The
final battle between Borsodi and Dreher was no contest. Dreher
smelled delicious and tasted delicious. Borsodi was merely drinkable.
Winner:
Dreher
Specialty
Region (Szalon/Pécsi Premium
lager vs. Soproni 1895, Dreher Hideg
Komlos vs. Arany Aszok Frissensürt)
Despite
dumping the vast majority of the beer at this point, we were already
feeling a bit woozy. So we took the dog to the park to clear our
heads and taste buds. We returned ready to go.
Pécsi
Premium Lager was exceptionally better than Szalon. However,
I must say that Szalon, at 199huf, is an good budget buy. It did have
some off-tastes, was a bit sour, but it was better than everything in
our budget round.
For
the first main taste-off, Soproni 1895 Premium took on Pécsi
Premium Lager. Both beers were
fine enough. It was a bit tough, as they were different style beers
(Pécsi was bordering on a Vienna Lager
color, whereas 1895 was just a typical light lager).
In the end, we gave the win to Péci
Premium. As we started tasting
multiple beers from the same brewery, the yeast character became more
obvious. There is something bad about the beers from Soproni. All
their brands have the same not-pleasant, burnt-hair aroma and a bad
edge. I was not impressed by any of their offerings.
I
think it's a bit unfair for any beer that had to face Dreher Hideg
Komlos. Basically, it's Dreher, but dry-hopped with Citra. It's a
cheater hop. Everything it touches becomes nice and fruity and Hideg
Komlos was no exception. That said, Frissensürt
is a horrible beer. For a can
that has a bunch of hop flowers on the label, there was barely a
trace of hop aroma or flavor. It was boring garbage.
It
was tough to decided between Pécsi
Premium Lager and Hideg
Komlos. There was no illusions of blindness. Citra is a clear stamp
on any beer. I did find that compared to pleasant clean maltiness of
Pécsi Premium
Lager, Hideg Komlos tasted a bit off and sour. Both Gio and I gave
the two beer equal scores. It really was a matter of taste. However,
in the end, Hideg Komlos got our final stamp of approval.
We
both agree that either beer is well worth their price. I mean,
they're not world class or anything, but surely good buys if you want
to drink on the cheap.
Winner:
Dreher Hideg Komlos
Foreign
Region (Ottakringer/Steffl vs. Staropramen, Pilsner Urquell vs.
Kozel)
Gio
and I were both excited for this one. Not that we didn't know which
beer would win. There is a true pillar in that category. Most of the
beers in this Region were true pilsners. I won't go on a tirade
against the way that word gets flung around so willy-nilly, but the
real thing is hard to beat.
For
our Austrian play-in, Ottakringer edged out Steffl. For me, the
tipping point was the high level of sulphur aroma in the Steffl,
which I'm very sensitive to. That said, it still wasn't a great beer.
Ottakringer was at least cleanly brewed.
Sadly
for Austria, it could not hold its own against Staropramen. Now, this
is a matter of taste though. These two beers are different styles.
Staropramen is a Czech Pilsner and Ottakringer is a German Pilsner
(or maybe a Helles...it wasn't very hoppy). Staropramen was richer,
fuller and made Ottakringer come off as boring.
I
feel a bit bad for Kozel. It's not a bad beer at all (despite its bit
of sulphur), but it had to face Pilsner Urquell, a world-class
pilsner. Everything about Pilsner Urquell was better. It had a
cleaner malt profile, a richer hop flavor, and a beautiful aroma.
It's truly a great beer. Even compared to Staropramen, it was a good
step higher in quality.
Winner:
Pilsner Urquell
The
Final Four (Dreher vs. Löwenbrau, Dreher
Hiden Komlos vs. Pilsner Urquell)
Did
any of the budget beers have chance against the others? The simple
answer is no. Löwenbrau was
over it's head. Dreher is a cleanly made beer, with a nice hop aroma.
Löwenbrau is
the same style, just a lesser version. Plus, it wasn't completely
clean. It had a yogurty fruitiness to it which I didn't like.
The
citra hops in Hideg Komlos were not enough to take on the original
Pilsner. Eariler, Gio and I were delighted by the wonderful
brightness and refreshing quality of Hideg Komlos, but Pilsner
Urquell is delicious. Hideg Komlos is merely acceptable.
For
the final round, we went out and purchased fresh cans of each. Again,
compassion will reveal a lot. In the earlier rounds, Dreher was
lovely, floral, smooth and tasty. Now, sitting next to beer that just
does everything right, it even tasted a bit bad. It wasn't a contest
at all. Pilsner Urquell reins supreme.
We
did a follow-up tasting to determine true second. Staropramen won out
as being better than Dreher. Still, I must say that this competition
showed that Dreher isn't that bad of a beer. It's not going to take
over the world or anything, but it is a clear choice at most bars in
Budapest.
Grand
Champion: Pilsner Urquell
Take-away
lessons
First
off, let me say that I do not recommend doing this. It was far too
much tasting. We were both exhausted, buzzed, and by the end, didn't
really care much (thankfully, the winners were obvious). If you do a
tasting, limit it to a maximum of 10, and even that is a stretch. 20
beers is far too many.
Neither
of us were surprised by the results. If we had a done a bracket
betting challenge before the tasting, it would have played out
exactly how I'd predicted. There was not a single surprise here
(except that the Pécsi Premim Lager is a
pretty good beer).
The only upset of the whole tournament (so the only one that went
against the Untappd ratings) was Borsodi over Soproni, and that one
was close. Also, the quality lined up with the prices as well (as in
the more expensive, the better the beer).
Based
on my analysis of scores to price, here are you best bargains:
Dreher,
Dreher Hideg Komlos, Steffl, Löwenbrau,
Szalon, Staropramen, Pilsner
Urquell.
The
worst buys:
Soproni
1895, Ottakringer, Frissensürt, Arany
Aszok, Rocky Cellar
For
me, this really shows the importance of comparison tasting. Rocky
Cellar aside, if you only drank the terrible beers, you probably
wouldn't find much wrong with them. Yes, these had off-flavors for
sure, but they really become obvious when compared to a clean beer.
I'm not saying that Arány
Fácán will
ever taste good, but I can understand how some people could buy it
time after time. Sure, if you have a better beer, you'll know it's
not good, but after a few days, most people's palates will adjust to
the bad taste.
I
really wish we had more people on this. I also wish, we'd had some
devoted lovers of one of these brands, to see if their preference is
more based on packaging and habit than taste.
Still, if you see Pilsner Urquell for under 300 (sometimes it is more), do not hesitate to buy it. It is worth those few extra forint.
All
this aside, I don't plan on quitting craft beer anytime soon.
