Beer of the Weekend #12: Estrella Damm

My neighborhood sounds like a war zone. The smell of bottled rockets, Roman candles, party poppers, and M-80s has filled the air.

Happy Fourth.

Fireworks are legal in California. Well, it’s a municipality thing; the state hasn’t banned them so it’s up to individual cities to make the decision. Huntington Beach has made them illegal, but all the surrounding cities — Westminster, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, maybe Newport Beach — turn the other cheek. Firework stands popped up all over the main thoroughfares (outside the HB city limits, that is) the last week. Despite the law — of course — Huntington Beach has exploded.

I’m tired (thirsty) so I’ll get straight to the tasting. Spain beat Germany last Sunday in Vienna, and, as promised, I am sampling a Spanish brew. The beer this weekend is Estrella Damm, brewed by S.A. Damm of Barcelona, Spain.


Serving type: Six 11.2-ounce bottles. (They gypped me out of .8 ounces per beer. Boo.)

Appearance: Golden blonde with a creamy head that lingered throughout the pint.

Smell: It has that freshly mowed grass or cut hay smell similar to German lager. There’s a little bit of citrus, too.

Taste: This is very surprising, and in a good way. Much like the smell, it’s very similar to a German lager, but it has much more of a hop bite. It is malty in the beginning, and the orange citrus comes out very strong, too.

Drinkability: Very drinkable. It’s a picnic on the Fourth-type beer.

Fun facts about Estrella Damm:

-Alcohol content: 5.4 percent.

-Serving temperature: 41-45°F.

-Barcelona. It reminds me of the ’92 Olympics. The Dream Team. I remember Larry Bird tying his sneakers as he sat on the hardwood along the bench so he could check into the gold medal game despite his bad back. I saw it live and I’ll never forget it.

The Quiet Man’s grade: B.

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