At a homebrew tasting in the pub last night one of the guys (hi Kevin) brought out a beer he'd picked up in Malta, a milk stout rejoicing in the name of Lacto. It's my second milk stout in the last week, and ever.There's even less to it than there is to the Left Hand. Again with the smooth milky texture, but basically no stouty roastiness: just a very sweet condensed-milk or Caramac flavour. What it reminded me most of was the malta soft drink I had in Cuba back in May -- just as easy drinking and, at 3.8% ABV, only a smidge more alcohol. It could pass for a lot weaker too.
I've never been to Malta, but it's somewhere I would like to visit (one of Mrs Beer Nut's distant relatives was shot down over it during the siege). I'm guessing that, faced with the the usual dull hot country lagers, Lacto is probably welcome relief when drinking Maltese beers. At a table in one of the best-stocked pubs in the country, however, it loses its special status quite quickly. Nevertheless, thanks Kevin, even if you only brought it to make your all-grain stout look good...
I remember having Chiltern Brewery's Glad Tidings spiced milk stout a couple of Christmases back. To date my only experience of milk stout and one which I enjoyed immensely. Although, the seasonal spicing may have improved what otherwise might have been quite a bland brew.
ReplyDeleteWe've had the Glad Tidings too - can't really work out what was milky about it (it did have sour notes, but more in a fruity way)
ReplyDeleteHah. I enjoyed your post. Here Lacto isn’t soo popular. People mostly drink Cisk Lager, which we affectionately call simply “Lager”.
ReplyDeleteI discovered your blog just now. I haven’t drunken tooo many different beers, but from the ones I have and whose name I haven’t forgotten, my favorite (excluding Cisk) has to be Hoegaarden, followed by Leffe Blonde :)
And the place where I’ve most enjoyed drinking beer (excluding bottles of Cisk under the Maltese sun) has to be the Cafè Belgique in Amsterdam.
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P.S. Heh, at some point I remember that pregnant women were encouraged to drink Lacto.
Cheers Dwardu. I didn't go to Belgique last weekend, but I've definitely served my time there.
ReplyDeleteApparently the Lacto also has added vitamin B! Did you feel healthier after it? Maybe it was just what was needed after last nights tasting ;)
ReplyDeleteHealthier, no. Just less pissed.
ReplyDeleteIf you do make it to Malta, your best bet might be Farson's Hop Leaf pale ale. Goes down very nicely indeed, not quite as gassy as the Cisk.
ReplyDeleteCisk is now on sale in the UK.
ReplyDeleteAll the details are on the Farsons Brewery UK website: http://www.farsons.com/uk/
Dear Sir or Madam,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Leticia Avierkiieva and I am a contributor at www.mycitycuisine.org, a wiki project. I am currently working on an article about Lacto for the project, and am in need of a photo for the article.
I wanted to inquire in regards to your photo:
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2008/08/like-malta-from-malta.html
The photo would be perfect for the article. Would you be willing to give mycitycuisine.org permission to use your photo for the project?
If you agree to let mycitycuisine.org to use the photo, please specify the terms of permission in your reply so I can upload this photo with the correct license terms.
1.) I certify that I am the owner of this photo. I grant mycitycuisine.org and its owner to use this photo for any purpose with attribution to me as the photo owner.
OR
2.) I certify that I am the owner of this photo. I release all rights of this photo and place this photo in the public domain.
I thank you in advance and look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Leticia Avierkiieva (gourmand86@yahoo.com)
PS: mycitycuisine.org is a wiki project so you are encouraged to contribute to it by sharing your knowledge of your local cuisine. Thank you.