As you may have noticed if you read my earlier post I wrote about Lanzarote beers, there was a distinct lack of darkness involved in the beer selections on show from the Canary Islands. There were two exceptions to this rule, one of which I stumbled upon by accident and will seem completely out of character when I write it up, the other was an interesting find from a supermarket, Mahou Negra.
Mahou Negra - brewed by Mahou Brewery (Grupo Mahou-San Miguel - Carlsberg)
Having visited mainland Spain and various Spanish Islands on many occasions I’d always found it a similar story, San Miguel, Mahou & Mahou Classica in abundance, all of which is fine for a mainstream holiday beer, but none that I would say would be a beer of free choice at home. Then I stumbled across this, Mahou Negra, I had no idea how long it had been part of the Mahou range but had to try some.
It’s a Dunkel or dark lager, refreshing but has roasty malt flavours too, in fact the sort of beer I naturally gravitate to in the summer months at home when I start to find real ales are not cool enough to quench a thirst.
I did write a few notes at the time, as I sat drinking it on my hotel balcony catching the last remnants of warmth of the late afternoon sun, but sadly my iPhone appears to have eaten them…grrr.
At the time I seem to recall a similarity to one of my favourites of a similar style, the beer Czech Budvar Dark. It’s hard to compare really as it was a one off trip to the dark side amongst sea of Spanish lagers and I suspect that in the cold light of day it may not stand up to a decent Dunkel. That said, at the time it was a welcome change and I would definitely give it another try if I saw it again.
Yes, I realise it’s not brewed in the Canaries, but hey I needed a title.. 😉
CHEERS!
Beersay 