Posts Tagged ‘Budweiser’
Figure 1. Budĕjovický Budvar
Introduction
Breweries from the Czech Republic city of České Budějovice started producing the original Budweiser beer in 1785, and Budĕjovický Budvar is one of those breweries (Wikipedia, 2010). The naming of the beer as Budweiser (which, in fact, originates from the city in the Czech Republic) has been the cause of many a legal wrangling between the Czech breweries and Anheuser-Busch, USA, over trademark rights (Wikipedia, 2010). Budĕjovický Budvar is a premium strength (5.0% alc. vol.).
The Budĕjovický Budvar brewery boasts a host of interesting attractions for brewery tourists, including a Brewing Pan, an Enjoy Centre, and, most intriguingly, the Stargate. The Stargate presents you with the possibility of “being suspended above a beer river. This river flows to metropolises worldwide that have been conquered by our unique lager” in a Ghengis Khan – Willy Wonkaesque manner (Budvar website, 2010).
Aim
This experiment was designed to investigate numerous characteristics of Budĕjovický Budvar Beer including, but not limited to, aroma, flavor, colour, satisfaction and vessel design.
Method
A six pack of 0.33 litre bottles of Budĕjovický Budvar was obtained from a Countdown supermarket in Napier for NZ$14.99. By the time the bottles had been transported to the laboratory, they had heated up to room temperature. Five of the bottles were placed in a refrigerator to cool them to 4 oC. The cap of the sixth bottle was removed under controlled conditions using a bottle cap leveraging device. The contents of the bottle were decanted into clean glass vessels containing between 8 and 10 small cubes of ice. Aroma was evaluated by smelling the beer. Flavour was analysed by tasting the beer and discussing it with a research collaborator at great length and, subsequently, satisfaction was assessed. The glass was held up to a standardized light to evaluate the colour and aesthetic aspects of the vessel were considered.
Results
The results of Budĕjovický Budvar are shown in table 1 below.
Table 1. Characteristics of Budĕjovický Budvar.
| Characteristic | Result |
| Aroma | Floral hoppy burst which hints at a reminder of fruit salad dressed with citrus |
| Flavour | A tsunami of hoppyness assaults the senses with zingy, floral, citrusy, bitter tastes give way to a sweeter aftertaste with a suggestion of rolling tobacco |
| Colour | A strong yellow, bordering on the pale orange |
| Satisfaction | A proven performer in a range of conditions. Budĕjovický Budvar would be acceptable in all seasons, but would be particularly pleasurable in a beer garden on a hot, sticky summers evening. Budĕjovický Budvar has also confirmed its versatility by being suitable when faced with, perhaps the most testing of beer conditions, Vietnam-style, ice-in-glass cooling |
| Vessel Design | Gold, red, white and black label with some jolly knights shown subtly in silver behind the brand name. A gold foil adorned with a ‘wax’ seal tops a standard green bottle with a fancy ‘B’ in a shield on the shoulder (see figure 1) |
| Head | A fine, fizzy white head disappeared rapidly, possibly due to the presence of ice |
| Drinkability | 8 |
Conclusion
Budĕjovický Budvar is a pleasing beer which can be enjoyed straight from the refrigerator or even over ice. It is a cruel coincidence that Budweiser from the Czech Republic, and which is a very fine brew, shares the same name as the primary fare from Anheuser-Busch and it is beyond the scope of this study to evaluate the relative merits of each of these beers. Despite the shared brand name, Budĕjovický Budvar has something that Anheuser-Busch doesn’t have, and that is a Stargate with a river of beer. What more could a thirsty research scientist ask for?
References
http://budweiser-budvar.cz/en/o-nas/predstaveni.html
http://budweiser-budvar.cz/en/navstevnicke-centrum/multimedialni-expozice/stargate.html
Journal of Applied Drink Studies International 