Alexander Beer wins two European gold medals

Hearty kudos to Israel's own Alexander Brewery, which last week won two gold medals in the very prestigious 11th European Beer Star Competition in  Nuremberg, Germany.  This is a great honor for Israel, and it proves that nice guys sometimes finish first.  (Leo Durocher, can you hear me?)

All in all, 1,613 beers from 42 countries competed for 156 medals in 52 categories.  Most of the other Israeli craft breweries competed, but only Alexander took home medals.  

The two Gold Prize winners:
Alexander Blonde (left) and Alexander Black.

For the second year in a row, the Alexander Black won first place in the Baltic-Style Porter category.  This is a sub-category of porter beer which developed when English porters met Russian imperial stouts in the Baltic countries and East Europe in the 18th century.  It's sweeter, maltier and more alcoholic than the British version.  We noticed this when Alexander Black was judged on our recent Porter Beer Tasting Panel (read it here).  Some of the judges' comments included "sweet" (three times), "chocolate" (three times) and "malty."  At 7% ABV, it was the strongest porter we tasted. 

The Alexander Blonde won first place in the English-Style Golden Ale (Summer Ale) category.  Golden ale, or blonde ale, is a very light-colored and moderately alcoholic style, crisp tasting and well balanced between hops and malt.  We mentioned this beer when we reviewed the Alexander Organic Blonde earlier this year (read it here).  Alcohol by volume is 5.3%.

Ori Sagi (second from left),
accepting the Gold Prize in Nuremberg.

The Alexander Brewery was founded in 2008 and is located in the Emek Hefer industrial park between Hadera and Netanya.  Their beers have won prizes in other international competitions, as have a few other Israeli craft breweries.       

Ori Sagi, founder and owner of the Alexander Brewery told me that he's "proud and happy to make Israeli beer that stands in the same line with some of the best craft breweries in the world."

We all should be.  Now go out and buy some Alexander beer.  It isn't often you can find an international prize winner right here at home.