Beer Review: Hevelius Kaper

This one's another recommendation from a friend. After posting about my beloved Zywiec Porter a little bit ago, I was encouraged to give Hevelius Kaper a try. I definitely enjoy this beer, but am slightly on the fence about its ability to challenge my beloved Zywiec. It's brewed by the same company, but is a very different kind of beer from its cousin. Where Zywiec Porter focuses on a dark, bitter flavor that removes the illusion that well-crafted beers a recent trend, Hevelius Kaper is evidence that the lighter beers of the world can still pack a high alcohol content and great flavor without compromising on smoothness.

Hevelius Kaper pours a rich amber color with a thin yet noticeable head. There's a very faint aroma of honey, it seems, but it's nothing I can taste when I drink it. This tastes like a more sophisticated, complicated version of the beers I drank when I first reached legal drinking age. As a pilsner, it makes sense. Most popular cheap American beers are variations on the traditional pilsner, which may be why I am always reluctant to consume a pilsner. Despite the negative connotations the term has in my mind, I'm finding this to be very drinkable and delicious. With a higher alcohol content, there's a bit more of a refreshing bite at the end of a sip and there's very little of the the effervescent quality that most beers of this nature carry. So instead of belching my way through a bubbly beer, I'm enjoying a nice spike of alcohol at the end of every smooth and delicious sip.

While this beer is not quite ready to make its way into my personal hall of fame, it's definitely got me eager to try more light, smooth beers. I guess this demonstrates that, like everybody else, I could seriously benefit from challenging my own perceptions more often. I'm really glad I gave this beer a chance, and I hope you'll all try it at least once as well. I can't find an official website aside from the Zywiec site, but there's little information about this beer outside of beer rating website. Should somebody responsible for the creation of this beer happen upon my blog, please link me to your website so I can direct my readers to you.

Beer Review: Zywiec Porter

This one's a tongue-twister even before you've caught its surprisingly strong buzz. Pronounced "je-vi-ets" according to a quick Google search, this is probably the single most frequently consumed beer in my house. If I'm to believe the bottle, this recipe has been unchanged since 1881 when presumably some awesome guy in Poland decided to make a better porter than all the craft beer nerds would make 130+ years later. One of the best parts of drinking this beer is imagining men with excellent mustaches drinking this back in the old country. In order to get a proper sensation of a time gone by, I'm listening to Ulver's legendary "Kveldssanger." It's not Polish, but much like this beer, it's an archaic recipe in a modern context and the two go perfectly together.

As I said before, I drink this beer more often than I drink any other beer. It isn't my absolute favorite beer on earth, but it's incredibly delicious and drinkable, as well as retailing for a measly $2.99 at my local market. This beer is so dark it's almost a stout, but it's got the malty sweet aftertaste of a strong porter. Upon pouring this beer, you'll notice a dense coffee color and a thin head. There are almost no bubbles and the scent is rich and earthy in the best of ways. This beer is surprisingly smooth for such a dark, thick beer, and if I weren't careful I'd drink it like water. The thing that prevents me from destroying cases of this liquid at a time is the fact that this beer has an alcohol content of 9.5% hidden somewhere in all that delicious flavor. There's none of the bitterness or strong alcohol flavor of most beers this potent. I usually share a bottle with my partner and we're both quite content with the portioning that way.

I know this beer doesn't have all the exciting packaging or clever marketing that most modern craft beers have. Honestly, it doesn't need it. I'm usually a sucker for a well-marketed beer, but I'm glad this one made its way into my hands. My brother in beer, Derek, shared the word of Zywiec porter with me months ago and since then I've rarely been without it in my fridge. I'm pretty sure it's distributed by Heineken in the US, so it should be relatively easy to obtain. If not, talk to the manager of your local beer purchasing establishment and inquire. It's worth the extra effort.