Beer #127 - Taybeh Dark

My first ever post on this blog featured a beer from Palestine’s only brewery and I’m now able to add a second beer from the village of Taybeh, thanks to my girlfriend who brought this one back for me from a recent work trip. This dark lager is one of five styles brewed in Taybeh and is brewed in the German dunkler bock style. Despite my increasing appreciation of porters and stouts I haven’t yet been able to get my head around dark lagers. This was certainly quite interesting with the roasted malts providing most of the flavour and quite a bit of smokiness to it yet also a hint of sweetness. I think I’ll stick to Taybeh Golden should I find myself in Palestine again but it was great to try another beer from the brewery.

 

Brewery: Taybeh Brewing Company

Country: Palestine

ABV: 6.0%

Beer #1 - Taybeh Golden

The subject of my first post is a very special beer, coming as it does from the only brewery in the occupied Palestinian Territories. The Taybeh Brewery began brewing in the village of Taybeh, 35km north of Jerusalem, in 1995. Owing to trade restrictions imposed by Israel and the difficulty of exporting anything from Palestine, as well as the brewery’s desire to produce additive and preservative free beer, it’s pretty hard to get hold of outside the Middle East (although it is widely available across Israel). This particular bottle was brought back by my girlfriend from a recent work trip but I visited the brewery myself in 2011 and took a couple of pictures. They’re incredibly welcoming to any visitors and very happy to talk beer. Taybeh also holds its own Oktoberfest each year which attracts visitors from all over the world. As well as Golden, Taybeh produce four other varieties including a non-alcoholic version.

Brewery: Taybeh Brewery

Country: Palestine

ABV: 5.0%