Sunday Night Suds - Beer Bazaar Fat Cat Pale Ale (aka Chatul Shamen)

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Beer Bazaar's Fat Cat Pale Ale (aka Chatul Shamen).

Prior to our trip to Israel in January, many friends had told me that I needed to make a visit to the Beer Bazaar in the Shuk Machane Yehuda. After arriving in Israel, our surrogate daughter Nomi reinforced this by telling us about her visit to Beer Bazaar and the amazing selection they have. Well, Mrs KB and I made two trips to Machane Yehuda but each time the Beer Bazaar was not yet open. But on our last night in Israel I made a stop in and they were open!

The Beer Bazaar had numerous shelves of Israeli Craft Brew sorted by styles. I made a beeline for the IPA's but was also drawn by the cute logo on this bottle. They let you mix a six for 79 shekel (about $21). Its a little on the expensive side, but hey, what else do you do on vacation but splurge a little.

So what does the Chatul Shamen taste like? Its hard to really pin it down as the beer is no IPA and even a bit light for an American Pale Ale. There is a little bit of pine, but almost no citrus to speak of. The beer has a relatively low alcohol content (5.2% abv) and that also may be a contributing factor. I had the beer with Mrs KB's homemade chili and unfortunately the beer did not stand up to the rich flavors of the chili. When I had some by itself, there was a semblance of hops, but really you can't judge (or purchase a beer) based on a label.

The Fat Cat Pale Ale is certified kosher by the Rav Ha'ir of Kiryat Gat and there is a certification mark on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew (yes its on BA), please follow this link beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34175/177719/. 

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

Also, if you are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please check the label on the bottle you are purchasing (since the the kosher beers list link does not include beer brewed in Israel).

Lastly, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!