Vetter "33"

Well, it's been a while since my last post. It's amazing how much of your time planning for a wedding, getting married, going on holiday for a couple of weeks and then trying to sort out everything that you've been putting off for the past month takes. Actually, no it isn't. Anyway, here's to picking up where I left off. I wanted to write some posts about food and drink.

There are many beers in the world. Dark and light, thick and thin, strong and weak. However there are only a few beers which can claim the title of "the strongest beer in the world", one of those is Vetter "33" made at the Vetter Brauhaus in Heidelberg. It's a pretty dark thick concoction and surprisingly doesn't taste all that bad (in that it's actually drinkable). I've made a few strong beers in my time, but never anything approaching 33% abv. Usually the issue with strong beers is that the yeast can't keep up and dies before all the sugar has been converted, leaving you with a sweet and sticky mess. The other problem is they end up tasting a bit like cheap wine, and by that point you'd be better just drinking wine.

Vetter they have managed to make a strong beer which tastes like beer. It's got a nice roasted malty flavour followed by the kick from the alcohol when you swallow. I'm not sure what kind of yeast they used to get it that strong (possibly champagne?) but it must have been hardy stuff. I don't think that they cheated (ice distillation and the like) so fair play to them. It's not the type of beer you'd drink often, or have more than one glass a night. Sharing a glass with friends it was pleasant enough to sip and pass around. If you're in Heidelberg and like beer then I recommend stopping in for one, unless you're on your own or driving, it's certainly an experience.

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