This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Herzl Brewery's Dolce De Asal.
Besides shopping in Beer Bazaar, I also made one other incursion to a wine and beer store on Agrippas Street right outside of the Shuk Machane Yehuda. This store had mix your own four or six packs (for beer) with prices running from 49-59 NIS for the four packs, depending on which shelf you mixed from. One of the more interesting beers that I added to the pack was this Herzl Dolce De Azal, which had limited English content on the bottle and some rather dense Hebrew, but from what I could understand it was a Strong Ale with Honey, so how could I go wrong?
Once I got back to the US, I put this on the shelf and forgot about it until we had company coming for Shabbos who were makpid on Yoshon, so I grabbed this and put it in the fridge before Shabbos, thinking that since the beer was certified kosher by the Rabbanut of Jerusalem it would be Yoshon (my friends later explained to me that everything is Israel is Yoshon).
Wanting to understand a little more about this beer, I went on the Herzl website (www.herzlbeer.com), which states
Infused with Israeli honey, coriander seeds and oatmeal, *Dolce* is a strong beer who makes its presence felt while owning a gentle bitter taste. This one’s for you if you’re not into bitter beer, or if you’re looking for a beer that’s strong and intriguing!
Strong as a bull yet silky smooth, loaded with honey and seasoned with a mixture of spices. No bees were harmed during the production of this beer, and neither were rabbits when you think about it...
In Israeli Slang we sometimes reply to “how are you?” by using the Arabic words for honey and onion and saying “Yom Asal, Yom Bassal.” Basically, “Some days are honey days, some are onion days”. *Dolce* is made for all types of days.
The beer poured a rich dark golden color and was more carbonated than I would have expected for an English Strong Ale. The honey was present as was the coriander, but both were somewhat subtle and melded well with the slightly stronger alcohol taste. We had this in between courses at Shabbos lunch and since I poured for 4, I did not get to pair this with food, but I feel that it would work with turkey, duck or dark meat chicken.
The Dolce De Azal is under the kosher certification of the Jerusalem Rabbinate and their certification is on the label.
As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.
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).
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!
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KOSHER BEERS PURIM BEER GUIDE
Please note that there is no mitzvah to get stone drunk on Purim. The mitzvah is "ad d'lo yadah" which can even be accomplished through sleep (since while one is sleeping they do not know the difference between Haman and Mordechai). Furthermore, if you have been drinking on Purim (or any other day) please do not get behind the wheel of a car. Purim is a day of simcha and should never be marred by the tragedy of DWI
For those who do utilize alcohol responsibly as part of their seudah, the following is a brief guide to beer.
Does beer require a hashgacha? The major kashruth organizations utilize the chazakah that unflavored beer does not require a hashgacha as unflavored beers are made only from four ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and yeast. Please note that the Star-K has limited this application to beers from the USA, Canada, Belgium, England, Germany, Mexico and the Netherlands. The CRC continues to apply the chazakah without geographic limitation, but has also indicated that beer known to be produced at microbreweries, pub breweries, or craft breweries requires certification. The CRC publishes a kosher alcohol list which includes beers not kosher certified but deemed acceptable to the CRC based upon chazakah which can be found here - http://www.crcweb.org/LiquorList.pdf.
For a great article by Rabbi Tzvi Rosen of the Star-K on kashruth in alcohol, including an in depth analysis of beer production, click here - http://www.star-k.com/kashrus/kk-thirst-highspirits.htm. Rabbi Akiva Niehaus of the CRC has also published an article which reviewed the history of beer making along with a view on modern kashruth issues related to beer production. The article can be found here - http://www.crcweb.org/kosher_articles/Beer.php
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