Crafty KREECHR

Following on from my recent post about craft beer and the debate continuing on other people's blogs, I had an unusual bottled beer to try the other day that makes a real point  of being a "Craft Beer", so much so that even the crown cap carries the message "I Drink Craft". I acquired the beer, courtesy of  Tandleman, who kindly gave me a bottle to try, when I met him at GBBF last month.

Called KREECHR, the beer is an unpasteurised strong, 6.5% abv lager, craft-brewed in Bavaria, (name of brewery and exact location, unknown), and  marketed by an organisation called brewersandunion.com,  who are a South African/Portuguese brewing co-operative. There's a tie up with international sportswear  manufacturer Puma. "We created KREECHR in very limited quantities (600 cases) especially for PUMA in celebration of their entry in the 2011 Volvo Ocean Race.". There's also a tie up with  Oh Beautiful Beer ,  which as far as I can make out is a design house that  "celebrates remarkable graphic design from the world of beer."

As I'm not particularly sporty, I'm not that familiar with Puma's range of sportswear, but a look on their website reveals that Kreechr is the brand name of  beach shoes/sandals produced by the company, for toddlers and young children. Quite what the health police will make of this particular tie-up remains to be seen, but naming a beer after kids' shoes probably doesn't comply with ASA guidelines!

Still, that's not my problem, and as for the beer itself, I have to admit it's rather good. Smooth tasting, as one would expect of a beer that boasts a brewing time of 8 weeks, and with a nice hop character from the choice aroma hops used in its production, probably Saaz or Hallertau. Plenty of character and dangerously drinkable, despite its high strength, is my verdict on the beer. Thanks for this one Tandleman!

The Brewers and Union's website shows that they produce seven different beers, all nicely packaged and most of which are lagers. There is also a wheat beer, plus a Tripel. The website seems very keen on promoting the concept of craft beer with sections entitled "What is Craft Beer", "Craft Beer Nutrition" and "Craft Beer Care". These are illustrated by some entertaining videos, but most importantly, so far as the beer drinker is concerned , is the "Find Our Craft Beer" section; either here or in South Africa.  Most of the UK outlets are in London, as might be expected, and appear to be either up-market wine-shops or boutique-style bars. Nevertheless, I'll be looking out for when they start to become more widely available in order to give some of the other beers a try.

Well, no more blogging for a week or so. On Tuesday I'm off to Prague for a short break. No doubt I'll be enjoying a few "Craft Beers" out there! Cheers!