Svijetli Ale
Pivovara Medvedgrad in Zagreb, City of Zagreb, Croatia 🇭🇷
Golden / Blonde Ale Special Out of Production|
Score
6.08
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Iznogud (14627) reviewed Svijetli Ale from Pivovara Medvedgrad 11 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
On tap at Mali Medo, Zagreb. Pours hazy golden with white head. Light hops in aroma. Malty sweet, light hoppy and bitter. Bit watery. Boring and bland.
ogivlado (19466) reviewed Svijetli Ale from Pivovara Medvedgrad 11 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
On tap at the brewery event at Medvedgrad. Slightly hazy golden coloured, medium sized white head that stays for a while, weak hoppy nose. Sweetish malty, mild hoppy and touch of herbs with mild bitter finish. Not bad but still need some improvoment.
Marko (22181) reviewed Svijetli Ale from Pivovara Medvedgrad 11 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
On tap & nitro at the tour/tasting/dinner at their Samoborska brewpub/brewery. An extremely generous gesture from the brewery folks (very cool people in general) towards the representatives of the craft & homebrewing beer scene in Croatia, hats off and huge thanks.It’s been a decade since I got into (craft) beer. The Croatian scene has grown slightly during that time (without real progress) then shrunk again dramatically and then, finally, in 2013, started to grow and develop exponentially. It’s been a long wait for a brewery to do a pale ale and/or a stout, and Medvedgrad finally delivered, after teasing us for some time with promise of 2 seasonals released at the same time. A ballsy move on paper, and much appreciated one, as people are, in general, getting more and more aware and knowledgeable now that those styles are getting more and more readily available after we joined the EU. My hopes were high - Medvedgrad was known to do some very good stuff (for the style in hand), but I’d expected anything... Despite the name - this is a golden ale... and the color, quite clear, reflected it. Medium sized thick white head / nitro head on the other version. The aroma wasn’t the hoppy burst I was secretly hoping for... slightly, just slightly fruity (melon?), vaguely malty - husky. Not entirely bad, but a letdown. The taste was even more so. Empty, malty, sweetish taste, vague caramel maybe. Very light bitterness near the end, more noticeable in the aftertaste, showing a touch of the herbal hop profile (from Aurora I guess)... They wanted to make a beer that was akin to their Zlatni Medvjed - which is a very good lager with a distinctive hop profile. The situation being like it is in the country, where beer culture is and was being ruined by the macros, they needed something that wouldn’t offend the lowest common denominator and would sell. And they overdid it, making a beer that’s as plain as can be. Using Styrian Goldings and Aurora, especially the former, they could’ve made something bolder yet still very appealing to the general populace. Ale yeast does not magically create a special beer - but it can help. There are true enthusiasts and knowledgeable people in the brewery. and I hope that they take this as a lesson of sorts and, as the awareness of the craft beer culture grows, release something bolder. The reception might actually surprise them. Despite several tries now (Black Turtle, Sabaja, Kabinet, perhaps Oldbridž...), Slovenians seem to remain the only ones in former Yugoslavia who do proper Pale Ales, having to follow in the wake of Human Fish. Let’s hope that the next generation of micros delivers - or that the old ones take the plunge and slightly risk making something with more flavor than what the average Joe here is used to.