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Chile is a wine drinkers paradise and a beer lovers dessert. However, it would seem that a country that can brew such great wine would also have the ability to brew a great Chilean Beer. Thanks to the German influence in Southern Chile, especially around Valdivia, there is some relief from the standard Cristal and Escudo beer. The new micro brewery Valbier from Valdivia in Chile's lakes region ( los lagos ) has finally given hope to beer lovers with a great Amber Ale they call Red Ale.
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In Chile, any bar or restaurant will
carry the typical national beer brands Cristal and Escudo. You will
also find the usual international suspects like Heineken, Budweiser,
and Corona. However, what I am talking about here is real beer, not
funny tasting water. There are a few micro brew beers produced in
Chile.
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When I talk about beer however, I am
talking about something that is brewed like beer, looks like a beer,
and most importantly taste like beer. Something with complexity,
character, and body. I mean beers in the European traditions of
Belgium or Germany. A beer with yeast still sitting at the bottom of
the bottle. Most importantly in Chile, I am talking about something
with hops (the bitter flavor in beer). A beer that will grab your
tung, and make your eyes pop open. So far, there are only two real
contenders, Colono and Valbier.
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One of the problems with hops, beer,
and Chile is the Chilean pallet tends to shy away from strong
flavors. Many of the beers brewed in Chile, even when the style of
beer is defined by strong hops tends to be rather on the tame side.
Kuntsmann's pale ale would be a case in point. It is one of the
strongest beers in Chile, yet still tends to lean towards the flavor
and consistency of Cristal or Budweiser in an attempt to appeal to
the widest audience.
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Valbier's Red Ale is from an entirely
different tradition. It is a classic Amber Ale, with rich malted
flavors and strong but balanced hops. The Amber Ale has the classic
golden to red colors expected of an Amber Ale. The rich flavors
boarder on fruity with a light smoke aftertaste. The hops are
properly balanced for an Amber Ale, but it still makes it
overwhelmingly the strongest hoped beer in Chile.
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There are couple warnings for people
who have not ordered beer in Chile before. This beer is brewed in the
bottle the traditional way, with a thick layer of yeast at the
bottom. Peek drinking times are about 4 to 6 weeks after production
(we are throughly testing this). One of the problems we encounter in
restaurants is the tendency to freeze the beer to the same
temperature as Cristal or Escudo. At those temperatures, the yeast
quits fermenting and stops the beer at about 1-2 weeks of brewing.
The result is that the head on the beer never has a chances to
properly form, not to mention that at those temperatures the flavors
are rather dead. Our recommendation is to ask the waiter if they have
one in stock that is not in the refrigerator. Chances are the
standard room temperature in any restaurant in southern Chile is just
about right.
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Let me repeat, Valbier is Not
Budwieser. Don't let the waiter poor your beer or you will get a
glass full of beer with a nice head of yeast. We have mentioned this
to the producers, and they are considering shipping with a label to
explain how the beer should be stored and handled.
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We might also suggest that when at a
restaurant in Southern Chile ask the waiter for Valbier or check for
the signs on the wall. We have found that Valbier is so new, it has
not made it in to many restaurant's printed menus yet. You can find
Valbier in Valdivia, Temuco, San José, La Unión,
Frutillar, Puerto Varas, y Puerto Montt. For Santiago and the central
area just a couple of online distribution center actually have this
beer, but in the future we believe it is going to get more popular.
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Valbier has only been in business for a
few months. They as yet to break into the big Santiago market, but
are rapidly getting their first brew out to all the local restaurants
and distributors in Southern Chile. We visited the brewer in
Valdivia, located in a warehouse district down a small alley near the
old train station. Unfortunately there is no proper beer tour or free
samples, yet. The owners at Valbier are focusing on producing great
beer (lets not distract them). They have plans for a Bock, that is
still under development and eventually a restaurant and beer tour to
rival the more industrial Kuntsmann tour located outside of Valdivia.
We hope they can both expand their market, and still maintain the
quality of the beer. Too many small breweries start off with a good
formula, then tinker with it until it taste like Budweiser. So far,
the guys at Valbier are doing good.
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Kuntsmann is their direct competition,
and is an example of how not to grow a specialty beer market. Of the
6 types of beers they brew, only one comes close to even meeting the
minimum requirements for qualifying for that style of beer they claim
to be producing (I am being very generous here). The Pale Ale is
their flagship beer, but is more pale than an Ale.
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We also took a trip to their
brewery/Kuntsmann experience beer tour. It was a bit offensive to see
the company propaganda trying to link what their beer is to the pure
beer laws of Germany and 500 years of quality tradition in Europe. At
every turn you are constantly reminded of just how old they are,
including reference to the original family brewery ( cousins ) that
went out of business after the tsunami that hit Valdivia in the
1960's. It turns out there is just one mention in the entire museum
of when they started the brewery. Turns out they started it in the
'90s. The whole experience, even in comparison to the Heineken
experience in Amsterdam, was kind of plastic and had more in common
with the tradition of Las Vegas casinos breweries ( Las Vegas brews
much better beer ).
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As mentioned before the only true
competitor we have found in southern Chile to Val Vier is Colonos.
Thus, our next article we will be making a trip to their brewery in
Llanquihue to give them a fair shot at the title of best beer in All
Southern Chile.
More information about Valbier can be found at their site: www.valbier.cl
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