This is the blog for Matt Hollingsworth. I'm from Ojai, California. I've worked in comics for 22 years as a color artist.

This blog will largely be used to show my daily life as I live in Samobor, Croatia and as I travel around the region. Lots and lots of photos! Leave me a comment, will you?

All content on this blog is copyright 2013 Matthew Dale Hollingsworth and cannot be copied or used for any purpose without my consent.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Something blasphemous has been done to Ožujsko, the beer from which my nickname, Žujo, is derived. They have changed their packaging. And the new packaging is in green glass and plastic.





I am not upset because of the LOOK of the packaging. I couldn't give a shit what it looks like. What I care about is flavor. And packaging beer in green glass is the worst possible thing you could do to a beer. This effectively ruins the beer.

The reason for this is chemical in nature.

Beers are given bitterness by something in hops called "isomerized alpha acids". When ultraviolet light hits a beer for too long, it provides the energy necessary to cause a chemical reaction that combines those iso alpha acids and some trace sulfur in the beer into a new compound: 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol. This is a sulfur compound. And sulfur is funky shit. Skunks use this same chemical compound for self defense.

Anyway, while the green glass itself does not cause this to happen, it *does* virtually ensure that it will happen. Brown glass protects a beer pretty well while green glass doesn't really protect it at all. So, when the beer is packaged and then sits in the light somewhere, which usually happens before it gets to you, the beer is "skunked".

This is avoidable. The fucking brewer shouldn't be bottling in green glass. More than likely, what's happened is Ožujsko lost some market share to Tuborg or something. And Tuborg is bottled in green glass. And a lot of "cool" beers are too. So, Ožujsko has a new look! But fuck them. Stupid assholes.

If you want to compare, go find yourself a bottle of Ožujsko that's in the brown glass before they're gone. And find one in green glass. Hell, buy 2 of the green glass variety. Take one and set in your window sill in the sunlight for 2 or 3 days. Then chill it. Take 3 glasses and pour the 3 beers and compare. You'll see what I'm talking about. It's fucking horrible, skunky, sulfurous shit. If you're not in Croatia and want to test the same thing, do this same experiment but use Heineken in the green glass and Heineken in the can (which is obviously way better).

For some reason, some people like this skunky taste. But I don't like sulfur. It's disgusting.

So, naturally, I will no longer buy Ožujsko. Ever. Until they change packaging to something acceptable. Wanna join me in this crusade? Easy! Please STOP buying Ožujsko. NEVER buy it in green glass. Maybe they'll lose some sales and the stupid assholes will go back to brown glass.

One caveat here; some brewers remove this hop compound or use other means to ensure this does not happen even though they bottle in clear or green glass. Miller Brewing is one of these. And I've never tasted a skunked Stella Artois, but I HATE Stella so don't drink it often enough to be a proper tester for this.

9 comments:

Rico said...

respect, but, 4 me, nothing's like home made red wine:)... midlle, or south dalmatian.

Matt Hollingsworth said...

I like me some wine too. The Dalmatian stuff is the best for me here. We had a great white from Vis the other night.

But for regular beer, for me, it's all about Paulaner and Velebitsko Pivo. Tasty!

Randy said...

Matt - how do you pronounce the name of the beer from which your nickname is derived? I am having trouble with it! Is it a Croation brew? And the Paulaner - it is German right?
Randy
Seattle,Wa

Matt Hollingsworth said...

The "ž" is pronounced like the "s" in "pleasure", or a French "j". "Zh", sorta. The "j" in "Ožujsko" is not very pronounced. So, it's sort of "O-zhoo-sko", with the emphasis on that first letter, the O. That's the easies to explain it in writing for me.

Yeah, Paulaner is German and it pretty easy to get in the States too.

J-Po said...

Holy shit, dude, you know your stuff.

Matt Hollingsworth said...

I know a couple things about beer. Yeah.

;-)

Randy said...

Matt - How much is a bottle of beer in Zagreb?
Is Old Halborn a roll your own cig? like Bugler -
Price of gas today in Seattle $3.53
a gal fro unleaded -
Randy

Hrvoje said...

Bottle of beer in Zagreb (in stores/supermarkets) is around 6 Kn which is 1 US$. In coffee bars/discos the same beer you will pay from 15Kn to 25Kn (2.50$-4.20$). BTW. My best regards to author of this Blog, Matt It's a pleasure to read the views of my country from your perspective.

Matt Hollingsworth said...

Wow. This post is 6 years old. Glad you found something interesting here, Hrvoje. I still live here in Croatia. And Žuja has continued to change their bottle about once a year and has ignored trying to improve their beer.