Since today is International Beer Day, the Mr. Beer team decided to do a beer tasting of some standout international beers. We chose a German Helles Lager, English Porter, and Belgian Quad with some impressive history to each of their stories.

Weihenstephaner Original from Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

Our first pick for International Beer Day was the Weihenstephaner Original from the Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, which is the oldest brewery in the world! Considering their nearly thousand years of brewing experience, it's no shock that this bright, yellow lager was called "classic," "clean," and "SO good" by the folks in our office.  

Aroma This lager smelled of biscuit malts, herbal hops, and clean yeast – a balanced, crisp scent.

Appearance The Weihenstephaner poured a pale gold color with beautiful clarity, and a diminishing, fluffy, white head.

Flavor We tasted sweet grainy malt, clean yeast, and herbal hops which finished a bit bitter, but made this beer refreshing and easy to drink.

Mouthfeel This beer was light-bodied, smooth, and crisp, but still full of flavor.

Overall Tasting Notes Our team found this lager clean-tasting, refreshing, and generally a great beer that promises that classic beer profile, making it an easy pick for drinking over and over.

Fuller's London Porter from Fuller Smith & Turner PLC

For the second in the International Beer line-up we chose a smooth, creamy Porter, which was also born from strong tradition. The Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, London, has been brewing fine ales since 1654! Fuller's Porter is a modern take on the 19th century Porter style, and as Fuller's claims, it "recaptures the brooding beauty of pre-Victorian London." That sounds lovely, but what our team seemed most ecstatic about was the chocolate, roasty flavors and incredibly smooth mouthfeel.  

Aroma The malt smell is sweet, caramel, toasty, nutty, and chocolatey – can you tell we liked it? And there is also an earthy scent from the hops.

Appearance This beer poured a caramel/root beer color, with clarity and really no head or even lacing to speak of.

Flavor Dark fruit, chocolate, and a roasted flavor came from the malts with a bitterness emerging from the hops.

Mouthfeel This porter was first and foremost creamy from the carbonation, though it was also rather thin and subtle. It definitely fell on the lighter side of medium-bodied.

Overall Tasting NotesThough the malts packed much flavor and aroma, this porter did not come off as overpowering. In fact it finishes with a lingering roasted/bitter flavor, and was rather thin for a porter.

St. Bernardus Abt 12 from Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV

Our third beer of choice is a Belgian Quadrupel that was originally brewed by Trappist monks in Watou, Belgium! This Brouwerij, or brewery, now puts out beers in the very same style as those brewed by the monks in the late 19th century, and from what we tasted, they are outstanding. The folks in our office were smitten by this Quad's estery notes and complex flavor profile overall.  

Aroma A delicious, sweet, caramely malt smell comes first with earthy hops and estery yeast soon to follow.

Appearance Poured a hazy, caramel color with a creamy, diminishing head.

Flavor The malt provides a dark fruit, biscuit, caramelly flavor alongside the estery yeast. The alcohol content of this quad can definitely be felt in your throat with each sip.

Mouthfeel This beer boasts a creamy and smooth mouthfeel with great carbonation. It becomes almost reminiscent of a barrel-aged beer because of the warmth created by the alcohol.

Overall Tasting Notes This is a very complex quad with a lovely taste and aroma.