Golda – An Israeli Butique Brewery

After a huge wave swept the Israeli wine industry into a far better place, then it was a decades ago, it was now time for the beer industry to join along. Little by little interesting boutique breweries started appearing, producing some real nice beer. Even though I don’t consider myself as a beer expert I feel safe to say that some of the beer produced by the Israeli breweries does not fall from the level of beer produced by some world famous breweries, sometimes it shows an even more interesting character.

The Golda brewery I came to know about a year ago in the beer festival held in Kibbutz Maabarot (A small annual international beer festival held in Israel). Another acquaintance was about a month ago in NG, which held a month long event dedicated to Israeli Boutique breweries. During my visit to NG, I had the chance to see the owner of Golda brewing a Jerk (Jamaican Spice Mix) style beer.

A couple of weeks ago with the excellent orchestration of Gal, we purchased beer from the brewery, 4 brands to be precise:

• Wheat
• Liquid Smoke
• Brown Ale
• IPA

Wheat

The first beer was tasted that same day during lunch. It was a fine match for a hot summery day, as there is no better chiller, that a cold cold beer. This is a light colored fun beer that fits the Israeli summer perfect. A blond with a medium head, fruitish in flavor, and sparks in your mouth.

IPA

The great affection I hold for IPA beers, is meanly due to their golden-orange color that reminds me of a beautiful sunset and the saddle bitter flavor that lingers in your mouth after every sip. This beer is a bit fuller in body than the previous one but still fits perfectly to cool off a hot summer day. This beer would best  matched with meat dishes or spicy food, as its dominate flavor would not be lost among spices.

Brown Ale

This one is more heavy duty both in color and flavor. Earth like brown color accompanied by brown flavors such as coffee and caramel, the yeast is also noticeable both on the nose and pallet. This kind of beer I usually drink on its own, that is without food.

Liquid Smoke

With this one a very funny thing happened. When I opened the bottle the beer started foaming rapidly and no matter with I did it would not stop. It took 5 more minutes before the beer finally stopped foaming. This is one of the most sparklish beers I have yet to taste and as the name insinuates a smokish flavor was noticeable.

To sum thing up – If I had to match each beer with a time of day and a dish to accompany it, this would be my pick:

• Wheat – An afternoon beer.
• IPA – Indian food for diner or Meat for lunch.
• Brown Ale – At night in a pub with no food.
• Liquid Smoke – Afternoon Barbecue.