Something a little bit different and certainly VERY fruity !
Disadvantages:
Will be too sweet for many palates .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
For the second of my reviews of beers I sampled at the recent Wetherspoons Spring Beer Festival I am moving from Japan to Poland. This beer was one I had wanted to try after seeing it in the beer festival programme, so I was really glad when we called into The Portland Hotel, Chesterfield for tea one night and saw it on the current What's On the Bar list. This little Polish Gem is Namyslow Original Plum Beer!
THE BREWERY
Namyslow Brewery is probably the oldest brewery in Europe, dating back over 600 years, to 1321. I that year, the first written document naming the brewery showed Duke Konrad I granting the Namyslow malt and brewing house exclusive rights to brew beer for the town and the surrounding area. The brewery can be found in the Polish town of Namyslow, in the capitol of Namyslow County. Mike Gostomski, of Winona in Minnesota, is the lead shareholder of three partners who bought the brewery in 1999. His son Ryan Gostomski is the brew master, president and manager of the Namyslow brewery.
Their beers are available via export from Poland around the world and include Golden Denarius (a pale lager style beer at 5.5% ABV), Zamkowe Jasne (a premium lager at 5.5% ABV) and Zamkowe Ciemne (a dark beer, also at 5.5% ABV).
THE BEER
***Vital Statistics***
Namyslow Plum weighs in at 4.0% ABV and is brewed using Perle hops.
***Look, Aroma & Texture***
Looks wise this is a deep copper red coloured beer with a long lasting, tight white head, providing a nice contrast between the beer and the top. Aroma is a pleasant mix of sweet and sour (tart); rather like sniffing a jar of plum jam or some prune juice! There is a slight hint of yeast lurking behind, but the scent is definitely dominated by the fruit. Texture is slightly syrupy, yet quite light and very easy to drink.
***Tange's Taste Test***
Taste wise Original Plum lives up to its name! Dominating all other flavours is the sweetness of plums. This sweetness does give way to more tartness as you drink, with the finish and aftertaste combining both these elements. To be honest there isn't an awful lot more to the taste than that! It is simple, fruity and undoubtedly plumy!
WHAT I THOUGHT
Although I really enjoyed my Original Plum I'm not sure that I could drink more than a couple of pints in one sitting. I can also see that for some it would be their ideal of beer hell! It is really, really fruity and may be far too sweet for many people's palates - in fact my husband, who normally likes a sweeter beer, said it was a little too much for him and that a couple of sips of mine were enough. I liked it immediately and persevered enough to allow the beer to warm a little, the flavours to develop and to get the full effect of the sweet and tart. More than a few sips revealed slightly more of a flavour balance than the first impressions gave and letting the beer warm up a little really helped.
I also thought that this was quite a nice looking beer; the copper red colour looked like the fruit that it tasted like and the white head complete the nice appearance. Mine was served a trifle too cold to begin with, but cupping the glass in my hand for a little while soon countermanded the chill. Unfortunately serving beer at a little below the temperature I would like is a trait with Wetherspoons pubs, but for the bargain price of £1.39 a pint, waiting a little while for the optimum temperature wasn't too much of a hardship. Mind you, a lot of people expect fruit beers to be served a little colder, so maybe some would prefer it chilled!
Namyslow Original Plum Beer is something a little bit different and makes a pleasant change on a night out. It isn't something I would drink all the time but it was one of those lovely evenings where a beer just fitted my mood and tasted exceptional. I actually texted a few of my beer drinking friends to tell them about it, so it must of made some sort of impression on me. I therefore can certainly recommend this extremely fruity beer and urge you to give it try if you happen to see any bottles or draught Namyslow Original Plum on your travels.
BREWERY DETAILS
Browar Namysłów ul. Bolesława Chrobrego 26 PL-46-100 Namysłów +48 (077) 40 39 100
http://www.ryan.com.pl/ (was listed as the website of the company .but I couldn't get it to work)
