4/6/2013 Vaya Con Dios Bier Festival

Sűmegi Házisór Weizen - the
clear winner at this fest!

We don’t often post in real-time, but the fest is still going on, so here we go.

The Vaya Con Dios Bier Festival in Vonyarcvashegy.  Astute reader will remember the I have no clue how to say “Vonyarcvashegy.”  No one does.  Because how ever they say it around here, it is not the way you or I would sound it out.  Hence “Vaya con dios.”  The town before it, fyi, is “Buenos días.”  And, yes, I had an initial shudder or two about a festival of Hungarian Beer.  We were both wrong...

So the beers…

Entry number one: Sűmegi Házisór Weizen – probably about 5%.  Nice yellow pils color and creamy head with compact bubbles.  A nice balanced nose that favors hops.  Aggressively hoppy – ala a great northwest IPA, but well in balance with the malt.  That’s right folks, a hophead beer in Hungary!  We have us a winner!

Blonder Bier - eh.

Entry number two: Blonder Bier – probably in the high 4.8%.  The local suds from Vonyarcvashegy.  Darker in color than the Sűmegi, but with a head that disappears far too quickly for a pils.  More malty than the norm here, but nothing special.  Eh.

Entry number three: the house beer from the langalló stand.  Probably 4.5%.  Nice dark yellow in color with a creamy, compact head.  A nose that favors the malt side of the equation.  A good hop/malt balance with emphasis on the malt side of the equation.  A langalló, by the way, is a Hungarian snack.  Think a pizza without the sauce, but with similar toppings, and cooked in a traditional oven.

The house bier at the langalló was a
good second place  winner.

Entry four: Litovel Dark – probably about 5%.  Dark brown, almost black in color, with a creaky, compact brownish-white head.  A smoked malt nose that carries into the flavor, but well in balance with the malt and hop bill.  Nicely, the smoke doesn’t obliterate everything else.

We had cream ale on the way out – but the electrical storm that was rapidly approaching kept me from making notes.  I liked it, but no one else did.  If you like English-style cream ales, you would have liked it, too!