REVIEW: URSUS PREMIUM

European Beer Challenge #46 Romania

STATS

I had to significantly alter my drinking plans this morning when my package from a Moldovan reader arrived. That beer will have to wait as the European Beer Challenge is the pinnacle of this blog. Country 46 is Romania, one I never would have expected would be this hard to get hold of!

Romania has one of the highest consumption of beer per capita of any country in the world, let alone Europe! This is one of the countries that I thought would be easier to get than it was. The country has a population of around 20 million people, similar to that of Australia. Ursus Premium is the highest selling beer in the country and now I’m finally getting to try it!

So the pour of my first ever Romanian beer is quite light in colour. It’s quite a standard yellow straw colour that is common in macro lagers around the world. The head however really stands out; it’s about 4 fingers high of tight white foam. It has reasonable retention and leaves a nice trail of lace down the glass as you drink it. Purely for the head alone I would rate this an above average looking lager.

Ursus Premium claims that it is an all malt lager and this claim certainly seems valid after first smelling it. It’s aroma is initially mostly made up of sweetish malts and that unmistakable corn adjunct aroma. There are some hops detectable after a while and they have a slightly spicy hint to them while having a predominantly floral characteristic. It’s certainly not an appealing smell, but it’s also not one that would dissuade you from drinking it.

Much like the aroma Ursus Premium is initially particularly malty before it mellows out and the hops kick in. Although not particularly bitter they do just about enough to balance out what seems to be a very sweet malt base. The finish is the tiniest bit dry and the spiciness left behind by the hops really leaves you craving another. It’s a pretty decent macro lager.

The beer that calls itself “The King of Romanian Beers” did enough to justify that name in my eyes. A clean crisp lager that would be very drinkable in a number of situations. If you get the opportunity to try this beer I certainly wouldn’t say no, although I probably wouldn’t be jumping through hoops to get it either. A huge thank you is owed to my friend Mircea for providing this and a number of other Romanian beers for my consumption. If you can help with any of the remaining countries I’m looking for please drop me a line and we can work something out.

Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!