World Cup Beers - Last 16

The knockout stages are here and some of the best beer nations have already let me down by failing to qualify.  Well one in particular let me down actually and we all know who that is.  I could also have done with Japan, Russia and Australia going through at the expense of Colombia, Algeria and Chile but that was always going to be unlikely.

     

For the last 16 I have 10 countries for whom I have a beer.  One tie is dry and one tie, Belgium v USA, should be a very interesting contest.  To catch up on the beers I endured/enjoyed in the group stages then click here.

Tuesday July 1st USA v Belgium

This is the match I've been waiting for.  I have a multitude of beers I could choose for either country but for each I have chosen something that I am yet to try.  For America I have a Centennial IPA (7.2% ABV) from Michigan-based Founders Brewing Company.  I am assuming the Centennial hop is prevalent in this one and it certainly produces a strong citrussy aroma.  The initial taste is very robust and there is a strong malty base to this to keep the bitterness in check.  The bitterness is a mix of grapefruit and earthy notes which is extremely pleasant and is more of a traditional IPA than an American one.  The finish is delightfully bitter and long and the taste improves as you drink more.  By the end of this one I was wishing I had another bottle to open.         

For Belgium I have gone for a traditional Belgian Tripel.  Affligem is an abbey dating back to 1074 although the current one was built in the 1920s.  The nearby De Smedt brewery produced the beers on behalf of the monks and the success resulted in De Smedt rebranding as Affligem.  The company is now owned by global Dutch giant Heineken (boo!) but the abbey has retained control of the brand name.  Affligem Tripel (9.0% ABV) is light coloured and has a rich complex aroma of banana and ripe fruits.  The taste has lovely flavours coming in from all sides.  Banana, pear drops, pineapple, floral and a spicy citrussy flourish in the finish.  Overall it is a lovely beer with a smooth, dry bitter finish.  More than a match for most beers but will it be enough to win this one?  I scored them equal which means I guess I need to consume five beers from each country for a penalty shoot-out.  I'll leave that one for another day.   

Match score 0-0 (2-1 AET).  Beer scores 8/10 and 8/10.                     

Tuesday July 1st Argentina v Switzerland

After a failure to come up with anything from Switzerland for the group stages I came across this one from online retailer Beer Merchants for the last 16.  I placed the order thinking they may get through to to the next round but they lost so I consumed this one after the game.  This 1936 biere (4.7% ABV) is a standard pilsner and it is brewed at the foot of the Swiss Alps in a brewery that has been in the Locher family since 1886.  It has a nice lemony tang to it and is smooth and refreshing.  A little on the boring side for my taste but I preferred it to the Argentinian Quilmes I had in the group stages but my wife was not so keen so I guess it's a draw as it was on the pitch until the closing stages of extra-time when Argentina scored to progress.  

Match score 0-0 (1-0 AET). Beer score 5/10.   

 

Monday June 30th Germany v Algeria

This game is no contest at all really but it gave me an opportunity to try another German weisse beer.  I'm really trying to like this beer style after I started with a few duff ones.  The Maisel Brewery, based in Bavaria, began brewing in 1887 and have  become a renowned wheat beer brewery.  Maisel's Weisse Original (5.2% ABV) has a lovely copper colour and shows a nice frothy head.  It has a gentle fruity aroma and the initial taste is a lovely complex mix of fruit, malt and spices.  There is banana, apricot, nutmeg and even a bit of bubble gum in there.  The finish is very smooth and quite refreshing and this is probably the best German weisse beer I've tried.  On the pitch Germany won through to what should be a classic encounter with France in both terms of football and beer.  I'm looking forward to that one.          

Match score 2-0.  Beer score 8/10.

Monday June 30th France v Nigeria

This should have been an easy win for France but I made a mistake on this one.  I'll get to that later.  The Nigerian beer is the usual lager with a slight sweetness to it due to to compulsory addition of sorghum from the Heineken owned Nigerian Breweries.    

With a low score to beat I poured the French beer and I thought I had cut myself as this red mixture entered the glass.  I then read the bottle label and my limited French soon told me I had a beer flavoured with red berries.  Oh well it must still be better than the Nigerian lager despite it looking like ribena and my wife giving first opinion and uttering the cry 'that is disgusting'.  Wrong!  This is all wrong.  Sweet red berries clash with an underlying bitterness that results in a horrible medicinal taste I do not want to try again.  Nothing works at all for me here.  In the end I gave up and poured the remainder down the sink.  For those of you interested the beer comes from Brasserie Meteor and is called Wendelinus Rossa (6.0% ABV).  I will endeavour to find another beer from this brewery now to check out their beers which are untainted by red berries and other such crap.  So Nigeria win this one but on the pitch the French sneaked through which I must confess to being pleased about because I know I can find a decent French beer for the next round whereas that will probably not be possible for Nigeria.

Match score 2-0.  Beer scores 4/10 and 1/10.   

Sunday June 29th Costa Rica v Greece

With no opposition in the way of beer Greece should have strolled this game and indeed they did off the pitch with a surprisingly enjoyable beer.  The black lager (5.2% ABV) from the Olympic Brewery was full of roasted malt character and it was very smooth and creamy in texture.  With Greece now out of the tournament this is one beer I will remember as a pleasant surprise.

Match score 1-1 (Costa Rica win on penalties).  Beer score 7/10.    

Sunday June 29th Holland v Mexico

This game turned out to be a decent contest.  First up for Mexico I found an American style IPA brewed by Cerveceria Mexicana.  I know little about the brewery but their website states it is Mexican brewed and owned and they are located in Tecate very near to the US border and they have a 75,000 barrel capacity.  Not very 'micro' but they do describe themselves as a 'craft' brewer.  This DOA IPA (6.8% ABV) is very robust and full of sweetness.  It's quite thick and syrupy making it a bit too sweet for my usual taste but there is a strong bitterness there too trying to come through.  The hop mix is Centennial, Cascade, Fuggle, Saaz, Goldings and Willamette so quite a variety of flavours there.  It's certainly a decent beer and will mean Holland cannot afford to be complacent in this game.       

With England out of the tournament I decided to keep them in it with this collaboration between two Dutch brewers (Rooie Dop and Oersoep) and Yorkshire's Ilkley Brewery.  The Dutch beers I have experienced as a result of this World Cup have exceeded the Belgian beers that I know and love so to get a collaboration between two Dutch craft brewers and one of my favourite brewers in the UK is very exciting.  Rooie Dop are based in Utrecht although they are 'gypsy' brewers currently with their big batches being brewed at Brouwerij De Molen who represented Holland in the group stage.  Oersoep means 'primordial soup' in English and their small brewery is based in Nijmegen.  

The beer itself is sensational.  De Passie (7.8% ABV) is described as an Imperial Passion Fruit White IPA.  The passion fruit is to the fore in the delightful fruity aroma.  It has a nice gentle sweetness to it but it is not overly sweet as it is beautifully balanced by a tart bitter edge.  The finish is bittersweet and refreshing and I think it is possibly the best bottled beer of the year so far and my wife loved it too.  Thankfully Holland came back to win late in this game on the pitch so I can look for more Dutch beer talent for the next round.                         

Match score 2-1.  Beer scores 7/10 and 10/10.

Saturday June 28th Colombia v Uruguay

I don't care who wins this really as there are no beers I could find to make it a contest.  Perhaps I need to find a nice coffee porter for the next round that has been made with genuine Colombian coffee beans.  Is there one? 

Match score 2-0.  Beer score n/a.

Saturday June 28th Brazil v Chile  

This contest really annoyed me.  Brazil go through but not by fair means.  After sourcing this bottle of 4.1% Amazon Beer, which really is a disappointing beer as it is coming from the brewery supposedly voted best craft brewery in Brazil 2013.  Then I notice on the label 'Brewed in the EU under license'.  So I don't know who brews this tasteless crap but I would have been very happy to see Brazil eliminated on penalties because of it.  All I can say is it does taste better than their group stage beer Brahma.  In fact nothing has been that bad.        

Match score 1-1 (Brazil win on penalties).  Beer score 3/10.

     

World Cup Beers - Group Stage

This will be a somewhat light-hearted look at the World Cup in terms of beer.  Let's hope the nation with the best beer comes out on top in the tournament too as we all know which country will win don't we?  Where appropriate I will make references to the World Atlas of Beer, a brilliant book for the beer lover written by Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont.  A great reference if you are looking to explore beers from all round the world.  The beers were sourced at Beer Hawk, Sainsburys and Beers of Europe.  If anybody can recommend a supplier for countries not yet sourced then please let me know.   

The second round of matches have come to a close and I already have my qualifiers for the knockout stages as far as the quality of beer is concerned so I will now be taking a break as I have a meet the brewer event this week and I also need a few days without alcohol.  I already have some interesting beers lined up for the knockout stages but I may need to try and source some more for the later stages.  Hopefully the best beer nations will progress at the expense of those countries that have not come up with anything so far.  What I want is for more days like yesterday which was the best beer day of the tournament so far.      

Sunday June 22nd USA v Portugal.

I think I have another Portuguese beer in case they qualify for the next stage but that is now looking unlikely.  They certainly could not compete with this fabulous IPA from the USA.  Flying Dog brewery from Maryland began life as a brewpub in Aspen, Colorado before relocating to Denver as a full-fledged brewery in 1994.  Their success has continued with the move to Maryland in 2008 and I am delighted to have discovered this brewery as part of the World Cup of  beers.  This 7.1% ABV American IPA is packed with hops (Warrior and Colombus) and has masses of tropical fruit notes along with grapefruit notes giving a lovely deep bitterness.  The finish is somewhat bittersweet although the bitterness wins out in the end.  I would not be unhappy if the USA go all the way in this tournament but I will be ordering more from Flying Dog whether they do or not.

Match score 2-2.  Beer score 9/10.         

Sunday June 22nd South Korea v Algeria

I confess to having cheated here.  I was really looking forward to the beers this evening and decided not to infect them with this one from South Korea so I opened this one last night along with two other lagers of dubious quality.  However, this one was by far the worst and I am sure they are missing an 'S' of the front of the name.  Supposedly styled upon American rice lagers so I guess they've achieved the same tasteless quality.  'Why would anyone bother importing this' asks the wife.  A good question indeed.  Having said that it is enough for South Korea to beat the beer-less Algeria.

Match score 2-4.  Beer score 2/10. 

Sunday June 22nd Belgium v Russia

Looks like we have a real match on our hands here.  My first ever Russian beer comes courtesy of Baltika which is actually part of the Carlsberg group.  This porter is superb.  It is sweet and  nutty with hints of raisin.  There is a subtle hint of roasted malts but the sweetness dominates into the finish giving notes of vanilla along with a pleasant creamy texture.  This beer will be a challenge even for Belgium.   

It's a good job Belgium have played another ace beer here.  Tripel Karmeliet (8.4% ABV) is a lovely light golden robust ale bursting with rich complexity in the great Belgian tradition.  It uses barley, wheat and oats along with Styrian Goldings hops.  These combine to give a biscuity, floral and slightly spicy notes along with banana and vanilla notes from the Belgian yeast.  In the finish there is a little sourness.  Overall it is a delightful Belgian tripel that needs to be enjoyed slowly.

Match score 1-0.  Beer scores 8/10 and 9/10.       

Saturday June 21st Nigeria v Bosnia-Herzegovina 

This is the first ever beer I have ever tried from Nigeria.  The only beer knowledge I have regarding this country is the fact that Guinness has a large brewery here which apparently makes better Guinness than the one brewed in England (not difficult).  By law Nigerian beers are made with a portion of sorghum (including the Guinness) and this beer certainly has a very distinctive taste to it.  It is darker in colour than your average lager and there are hints of banana and orange in the flavour.  My wife didn't like it at all but I thought it was better than many of the standard lagers we've been experiencing.  Nigerian Breweries are owned by Heineken and this beer is certainly better than that.

Match score 1-0.  Beer score 6/10.      

Saturday June 21st Germany v Ghana

Germany are pretty much through to the knockout stages so I saved my German beers for tougher battles ahead.  Ghana could not take advantage so it became a dry game.

Match score 2-2.  Beer score n/a.  

Saturday June 21st Argentina v Iran

Argentina are represented by 'Argentina's favourite beer'.  Sounds like just the sort of slogan you'd expect from a brewery part of the InBev conglomerate.  Actually though both me and my wife agreed that this was actually quite a smooth tasty lager and probably the best of the competition so far.  It is certainly enough to see them past Iran.

Match score 1-0.  Beer score 5/10.        

Friday June 20th Honduras v Ecuador

No beer to worry about in this game but Ecuador won to give themselves a chance of progressing.  I really need to find some South American beers for the knockout stages at this rate.

Match score 1-2.  Beer score n/a. 

Friday June 20th Switzerland v France

The French have no competition here but they continue to surprise me with the depth and quality of their beers.  This 6.5% ABV blonde beer comes from the French craft brewer Brasserie des Sources (Brewery of the Springs).  This beer has won a few awards including 'Best Ale Over 5.0% in the UK' at the International Beer Challenge of London 2011.  The beer is hoppy and distinctive with floral and lemony notes to the fore making it refreshing to drink.  There is also an aromatic quality to it throughout.  An interesting beer.

Match score 2-5.  Beer score 7/10.      

Friday June 20th Italy v Costa Rica

This should have been a formality for Italy so Peroni (5.1% ABV) stepped forward for this one.  It is another standard Euro lager which I have trouble distinguishing between but this one is smoother and tastier than most of the ones I've suffered so far.  Italy messed up on the pitch so they have to get a result against Uruguay to progress and if they manage that they will probably have to come up with something better.

Match score 0-1.  Beer score 5/10.

Thursday June 19th Japan v Greece

My first Greek beer of the tournament is a 5.0% ABV standard Euro lager from the Olympic Brewery that is dull and uninspiring.  Everything I expected from it really and a good match for the football that has been produced from the Greeks too.  

My first Japanese beer was much more interesting.  This Belgian style white beer (5.5% ABV) from the Kiuchi Brewery had the expected flavours of coriander, nutmeg and orange peel.  However, it was also well hopped with plenty of floral notes giving it a refreshing and complex finish.  I have had better white beers but this is not too far off the mark though making it a comfortable victory for Japan.

Match score 0-0.  Beer scores 4/10 and 7/10. 

Thursday June 19th England v Uruguay

England are represented this time by this relatively new London micro.  London Fields began brewing in 2011 and this is my first taste of their beer.  Shoreditch Triangle IPA (6.0% ABV) is a classic American IPA brewed with barley, oat and wheat and three American hops (Colombus, Centennial and Chinook).  It has a lovely rich golden colour and the tropical fruit flavours flood the aroma and tastebuds.  There is also a nice earthy bitterness keeping the sweet fruit flavours in check.  It is a really lovely beer.  Oh how I wish we could play football like we brew beer.

Match score 1-2.  Beer score 9/10.         

Thursday June 19th Colombia v Ivory Coast

No beer for this game so a honourable draw but on the pitch Colombia triumph to progress to the knockout stages so I will have to work hard to find something to represent them.

Match score 2-1.  Beer scores n/a. 

Wednesday June 18th Croatia v Cameroon

This late match was distinctly lacking in beer so I was pleased to see Cameroon disappear from the tournament.  For Croatia I may have to search harder for the knockout stages if they manage to overcome Mexico in their next game.

Match score 4-0.  Beer scores n/a.  

Wednesday June 18th Spain v Chile

I won't miss having to drink any more Spanish beer although I have one more which may have been a bit more interesting than this one perhaps.  This 4.7% 'premium lager' is very generic and in the words of my wife 'completely tasteless'.  So there you go.  Anybody know where I can find any beer from Chile?  This team could go all the way.

Match score 0-2.  Beer score 3/10. 

Wednesday June 18th Australia v Holland

The first Australian beer of the tournament comes out and I screwed up here by not reading the label so I poured some sediment into the glass making it decidedly murky.  Aussies producing beer that requires careful pouring - whatever next?  This Coopers Original Pale Ale (4.5% ABV) would have had a pleasant light golden appearance if it was minus the fog I inflicted upon it.  The aroma was certainly pleasant.  Quite floral and fruity with hints of banana and spices.  The beer itself is surprisingly quite complex but not necessarily in a good way.  There is too much carbonation and it has low bitterness levels.  It reminds me of some Belgian beers but without the depth of flavour.  Not a bad effort but one that Holland should be able to beat.   

For Holland I am bringing out a pale ale too.  This Pale Ale Citra (4.8% ABV) from De Molen is my first from this highly acclaimed Dutch micro.  The beer has a beautiful rich golden colour and as soon as you  open the bottle you get a massive whiff of that adorable citra hoppiness.  The beer is very one-dimensional as it is citra all the way which is why I love it I guess.  Grapefruit, bitter lemon and grassy notes combine to create a superb refreshing ale.  I need to get more from this brewery I think for the latter stages.  

Match score 2-3.  Beer scores 6/10 and 9/10.

Tuesday June 17th Russia v South Korea

I was intending to catch the end of this match after coming in from the CAMRA social tonight and enjoy either my South Korean or Russian beer but I did not get in until 10 minutes left to play so they will have to wait until the next group games and this will be a honourable draw both on and off the pitch.

Match score 1-1.  Beer score n/a.

Tuesday June 17th Brazil v Mexico

Tonight I went out to the pub so I had to leave my Sol and Brahma for another time.  So disappointed!  

Match score 0-0.  Beer score pretty much the same really.

Tuesday June 17th Belgium v Algeria

Too early to crack open a Belgian beer especially as it is my turn to drive tonight for the local CAMRA social.  Belgium are potential winners of both the beer world cup and the actual world cup but they nearly slipped up on this one.

Match score 2-1.  Beer score n/a. 

Monday June 16th Ghana v USA

This was the late game and I was tucked up in bed for this one so what should have been a certain victory for the USA became a draw.  If beer was to decide the outcome of every match then the USA are potential winners of the tournament and I am confident they will do enough to go through to the knockout stages both on and off the pitch.  Ghana on the other hand have no chance.

Match score 1-2.  Beer score n/a.

Monday June 16th Nigeria v Iran

I do have some Nigerian beer but I spent this game catching up on the beers of Portugal and Germany who played earlier so the Nigerian beers will wait for their next game.  Their performance on the pitch was shocking though.

Match score 0-0.  Beer score n/a.

Monday June 16th Portugal v Germany

Portugal is not known for beer production and judging by their opening effort I can see why.  It is a 5.0% ABV standard Euro lager and it is actually quite harsh and acidic and not a patch on others of that ilk.  My wife wondered how I could drink it but I suffered in silence.  I can sense Portugal heading for a big defeat here as they were on the pitch.    

I have not had a great deal of German beer in my time and one or two have been awful but 'dunkels' I generally find agreeable.  Mittenwalder brewhouse is the highest in Bavaria and is over 200 years old and still in private hands which is always a good sign.  I kept this 5.2% ABV beer from room temperature rather than cooling it and the flavours were delightfully intense.  The aroma was rich and malty with impressions of malt loaf.  The deep copper colour looked beautifully appealing and the taste was malty with a subtle sweetness coming from hints of blackberry, caramel and raisin.  The finish was quite sweet too with just a very slight hint of sourness.  I loved this beer and it has given me a taste for more.

Match score 0-4.  Beer scores 3/10 and 9/10.

Sunday June 15th Argentina v Bosnia-Herzogovina

This match is another non event in beer terms although I do have an Argentinian effort for later in the tournament.  Bosnia-Herzegovina though gets zero mention in the World Atlas of Beer so an early exit is looking likely for them.

Match score 2-1.  Beer score n/a  

Sunday June 15th France v Honduras

Honduras is another beer desert so are unlikely to trouble the mighty France.  France is more recognised as a wine producer of course and I know very little about French beer but I should search out more because I have uncovered a gem with this one.  Brasserie Thiriez begin commercial beer production nearly twenty years ago in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region close to the border with Belgium.  La Blonde d'Esquelbecq was their first beer to be produced and it has an interesting musky, slightly smoky aroma with hints of butterscotch.  The taste is somewhat bittersweet with the bitterness growing into the finish with hints of orange and a somewhat spicy bite to it.  There are also hints of toffee in here too.  I hope France have not peaked too early in the tournament with this one.  It is beautiful.

Match score 3-0.  Beer score 9/10.           

Sunday June 15th Switzerland v Ecuador

Ecuador gets no mention at all in the World Atlas of Beer so they have no chance on the tournament.  I found some Hurlimann's for Switzerland but Beers of Europe were sadly out of stock.  Switzerland does actually have over a hundred active breweries though but as yet I have found none over here.  Following this victory for the Swiss I will have to keep looking for the knockout stages.       

Match score 2-1.  Beer score n/a.

Sunday June 15th Ivory Coast v Japan

This game was played in the early hours so my Japanese beers will be kept for the last two group matches so this was an opportunity missed for an easy win because the Ivory Coast is another beer desert. 

Match score 2-1.  Beer score n/a.

Saturday June 14th England v Italy

Italy has quite a burgeoning craft beer movement now which is why it is sad to see Peroni and Moretti in abundance over here.  I have something better from Italy for later in the tournament but they play Moretti against England knowing the game is well and truly lost.  Owned by global Dutch giant Heineken the beer is a clean crisp lager that is unexciting and predictable.    

I thought I would be fair and let England be represented by a beer I have not tried before.  However, I have gone for experience.  Firebird Brewing is the new venture from Bill King, a veteran of the Sussex brewing scene.  He's having a lot of fun it seems by bringing out a quite variety of interesting beers and Pacific Gem is the name of the New Zealand hop that is the single variety in this lovely 4.2% ABV golden beer.  There are hints of rich fleshy fruits in the aroma and this carries through into the inital taste before you get a lovely spicy, oaky and earthy dry bitterness in the finish.  England have scored a clear winner with this one.  On the pitch England did show a little youthful exuberance but the Italians seemed to have things under control and did enough to triumph.  We cannot afford another slip.      

Match score 2-1.  Beer scores 5/10 and 8/10.

  

Saturday June 14th Uruguay v Costa Rica

Yet another beer stalemate due to unavailability.  In the case of Uruguay it gets no mention at all in the World Atlas of Beer but at least Costa Rica gets a mention with Costa Rica's Craft Brewing Company Segua Red Ale (5.0% ABV).  With more performances like the one tonight I will have to try really hard to source a bottle of this for the knockout stages.

Match score 1-3.  Beer score n/a.

Saturday June 14th Colombia v Greece

This game is another beer drought.  I have some Greek beer arriving on Monday for the final group matches but this game is a draw.  I could perhaps find a coffee porter to represent Colombia or a glass of Coke perhaps? 

Match score 3-0.  Beer scores n/a.

Friday June 13th Chile v Australia

This was one game I did not stay up for so the Australian beers are retained for the next group matches.  Even a Fosters would have been enough to win this one though as I could find nothing from Chile except for a glass or two of wine.  The Aussies therefore settle for a beer draw and need to bring out some good beers to compete in their next two games.

Match score 3-1.  Beer scores n/a.      

Friday June 13th Spain v Holland

On the pitch this could be one of the best games of the tournament.  In the world of beer though Spain could struggle.  Spain rely on this beer from Barcelona for this opening game.  The brewery was established in 1876 making it the oldest brand in Spain.  This 4.6% ABV beer is a bit of a standard European lager really though and not particularly exciting.  It is not as bad as I thought it would be but I think they will be hoping that Holland turn up with a Heineken so they can compete.   

It isn't to be.  Holland turn up with an absolute classic and the game turns into a rout.  Dutch beer does not get any better than this.  The Koningshoeven brewery is the only trappist brewery from outside the Belgian borders but they incurred the wrath of the Trappist brewers association in 1999 when the monks handed over control to the Bavaria group.  The dispute was settled and the beer is still brewed in the abbey and the monks have become involved once again.  This tripel beer (8.0% ABV) is superb.  There is a lovely intoxicating aroma.  The flavours are of orange and raisin with a subtle spiciness and there are sweet bubble gum notes that turn up in the aftertaste.  It is a classic tripel as good as anything from the Belgian trappists.  

Match score 1-5.  Beer scores.  Spain 5/10.  Holland 9/10.

Friday June 13th - Mexico v Cameroon

As with the Brazil game yesterday there is no competition here for Mexico so they can win this game with a beer that is not particularly good.  The coutry of Cameroon does not even get a mention in the World Atlas of Beer.  Sol is an improvement on the Brahma from last night as it does actually have some taste to it.  I have hopefully got something better from Mexico for later in the tournament though when it will be harder to win if they get further.  The game will be remembered for two more dreadful refereeing decisions but this time the result was unaffected.  

Match score 1-0.  Beer score 4/10.  

Thursday June 12th - Brazil v Croatia

OK I couldn't get any beer from Croatia so Brazil win this first game although surely any beer brewed in Croatia could not be worse than this effort from Brazil.  In fact the beer is probably on a par with the performance from the referee in this game.  Shocking!  Brahma is part of the Anheuser-Busch Inbev conglomerate so it tastes as good as you would expect it to.  Described as a 4.3% ABV 'premium' beer surely Brazil can come up with something better than this to fill those vast container ships that have to come such a long way.  A total waste of space.  

Match score 3-1.  Beer score 2/10 (just in case I come across something even worse).          

Three Sheets To The Wind

Six weeks without beer.  That must be a record for me.  I have not actually needed any alcohol to feel like I've had a few drinks too many though thanks to this illness.  Losing your balance is quite unsettling when you have done nothing to induce it yourself.  Staggering around after ten pints is fair enough but feeling like that constantly is not much fun.  The feeling has not disappeared but it has worn off a little so I can walk around now without too much trouble as long as I am careful and last week I attended my first CAMRA social for nearly two months and I survived.  The Long Man American Pale Ale at the Wilkes Head, CAMRA pub of the year for Sussex for the third successive year, tasted simply divine.  

The only good thing about being ill is it gives me time to catch up on my reading.  I have read plenty of Stephen King as is my preference when it comes to having time of my hands but I have caught up on my beery literature too.  I am not the kind of person who needs to avoid all mention of beer when I am unable to partake and so the one book I really wanted to catch up on was Pete Brown's 'Three Sheets To The Wind'.  I only caught up with his writing in the past couple of years after picking up a copy of 'Hops And Glory' in my local Waterstones.  This is a brilliant book which I reviewed at the time (click here in case you missed it) and it made me go out and purchase his first two books - 'A Man Walks Into A Pub' and 'Three Sheets To The Wind'.

I read 'A Man Walks Into A Pub' last year and it is a highly entertaining account of the history of beer and is probably the best book to start with if you want to begin the Pete Brown experience.  You need to read it simply for the massively long list of all the terms that have been used over time to describe the state of inebriation as some of these are carried over into this second book.

'Three Sheets To The Wind' best describes how I have been feeling for a few weeks now so I thought it was time I caught up with this particular book.  The book is a crawl around 300 bars in 13 countries in a quest  to discover the various drinking cultures and how beer fits into each.  You get the feeling the whole project was like a runaway train.  It started fairly sedately with short trips to Barcelona and Prague but as each new country is visited the intensity of drinking seems to gather pace.  As with all travel books there are bits that grab my attention more than others and the trip to Dublin on St Patrick's Day was particularly nostalgic for me as I remembered the time when I was working over there and enjoyed the booziest day off work I have ever experienced.  The sections on Belgium and Germany probably told me nothing I wasn't aware of and remain countries I wish to explore but I now have to add Spain to that list.  Spain has never appealed to me but it comes across in this book as a 'must visit' destination.  Drinking late into the night in a relaxed friendly environment sounds perfect to me.  

The pace picks up with trips to places I simply must visit such as Portland in Oregon and places I still have no yearning for even after reading this book such as Japan and Australia.  The Sweden and Denmark sections brought back more happy memories and it all ends with a trip home to Barnsley for the author to reflect on the whole venture.  Here he experiences and tries to understand the modern British drinking culture as well as comparing it to what he has witnessed on his travels.  Buy this book.  You won't be disappointed.  Pete Brown has a gift for recounting stories and experiences in a way that makes you easily picture yourself there alongside him and most of the time wishing that you actually were.  

   

It has been a challenge writing a blog post after such a long layoff but the monkey is off my back now.  In the past two months I have missed my local beer festival as well as my planned trip to Manchester to enjoy the delights of that city with fellow blogger Beers Manchester.  There will be more beer festivals though and Manchester will be rescheduled so nothing has really been 'missed', just postponed.  Now I must prepare myself for the World Cup.  That is one thing I can enjoy sitting down and not having to venture out for.  

  

Cheers.

  

Yapton Beerex

We moved to the village of Yapton, West Sussex, in July 1997 and it was the following year when I realised what a really great village it is.  The village hall is only a couple of hundred yards from where we lived and it was in the Spring when I noticed the CAMRA Beerex posters going up.  A beer festival at the end of our road in the middle of May.  Sounds like heaven.  

Yapton Beerex is run by my local CAMRA branch and now that I have become an active member this should be the first festival I volunteer for except that I have been struck down with this bloody vertigo and the very slow healing process is threatening to cause my exclusion from the event this year.  However, that is no reason for you lot not to go.  The festival normally coincides with the FA Cup final and in the late 90s and early 00s I would enjoy a pleasant lunchtime at the festival before falling asleep in front of the big match.  As the years went by we would suddenly have friends wanting to come and stay with us in the middle of May for some strange reason and the festival became more sociable.  Even my mum still vividly remembers her first Yapton Beerex.  

The Saturday lunchtime is the time to go if the weather is good.  You simply have to catch a train to Barnham station and then hop on the vintage open top bus which will transport you to the festival just over a mile away and when you have spent a pleasant few hours drinking whilst soaking up the sunshine on the village playing field you can get the bus back and go home to sleep it off.  Until I moved away from Yapton in 2006 I could obviously just stagger home and then be ready to go again in the evening.  Perhaps this is the reason why I was so enthusiastic when we decided we needed to move back to the area.  This moment in time coincided with the new owner of our old cottage phoning us up and asking us if we wanted to buy back the house from her.  The move has not gone through in time for the festival this year but next year I am looking forward to the event very much indeed.

   

This year marks the 25th anniversary of this splendid festival and a few of the local brewers have brewed special anniversary beers for the event.  Arundel brewery have brewed a 4.6% beer appropriately called Silver Jubilee.  Ballards have come up with the 4.3% ABV Jubilee and Langhams have produced the 3.9% ABV Hopburst Jubilee.  So there we have three very good reasons for going this year.  As well as many local beers though you will also come across beers from Magic Rock, Tiny Rebel, Mallinsons, Revolutions, Great Heck, Fyne, By The Horns, Purple Moose, Bristol Beer Factory and many many more.
 
One unusual aspect is that the beer glasses are just half pints so you are forced to enjoy more of the 60+ beers that will be available.  Yapton Beerex has the slogan 'Every May Be There'.  So if you are thinking you would maybe like to go then it is the place for you.  Make yourself a definite and head off to Yapton next weekend (16th-18th).  I could list here all the details about how to get tickets etc etc but I'm having to limit my time on the computer with my illness so just click on this link instead as this tells you all you need to know.

Cheers.

Beer and Dieting Week 16

As I am writing this my head is spinning round and in the words of Elvis Costello - 

'I can't stand up for falling down'  

This post will be short and have very little in the way of beer reviews because my head is not spinning from a hangover.  A virus affecting the inner ear has given me acute vertigo for the past week which began with me being carried into an ambulance and spending a night in hospital.  The good news in all of this is that I have reached my weight loss target of 30lb with a week to spare.  Not really the way I wanted to lose the last couple of pounds but beggars can't be choosers.  Now I just have to make sure I get better in time to enjoy my reward with a weekend enjoying the beery delights of Manchester at the end of May.

    

Prior to falling sick I did manage to enjoy one CAMRA social enjoying a mixed bag of beers.  This social was a rarity in that I could walk to the first pub.  It is a good couple of miles for me into town but it was a dry evening as far as the weather was concerned.  We began in the centre of Bognor Regis at a pub called The Alex.  This Enterprise Inn has been up for sale for quite some time and is still available if anyone is mad enough to take it on.  This was my first visit and it is a cosy two room pub with plenty of interesting furnishings and masses of hanging water jugs.  The beer choice of Bombardier, Doom B-Aaargh and Old Speckled Hen was far from interesting but my pint of the latter was in perfect condition.  Staying in Bognor we then popped in to the local 'Spoons where I enjoyed a pint of Camerons Galactico (4.2% ABV).  This real lager was very pleasant indeed.  A pale, crisp, refreshing pint that would be perfect come the summer.  

   

With closing time fast approaching it was decided to go to the Inglenook in Pagham for a final pint.  This is my closest pub as all my regular readers will know and the beer choice again did not disappoint.  There was time for a delightful pint of Atom India Pale Ale (5.6% ABV).  This strong robust IPA had a rich earthy bitterness to the finish.  This is the second beer I've enjoyed from this new Yorkshire micro and it was greatly enjoyed by all of my CAMRA friends too.   

Prior to my illness I was enjoying a week off work during which I took my family to Lewes in East Sussex for a day.  I found time to visit a pub that will be mentioned in a separate post later on as it is part of my journey around the Pub of the Year winners for all of the Sussex CAMRA branches.  What I will mention here is the fantastic pint I had.  The Pokies (3.6% ABV) is a superb full-flavoured pale hoppy beer from Manchester micro Blackjack.  This was my favourite beer of the past two weeks just edging out the Atom IPA.  

This brings my diet diary to a close and now I just need to have my cholesterol checked to see if I have brought it down from the stupendously high level it was at prior to the start of this journey.  That will have to wait until I am better so until then it is more of the healthy options and as I won't be getting any calories from beer for a while I will probably lose a few more pounds too over the next couple of weeks.  

Cheers.

         
  

Beer and Dieting Week 14

The diet has gone really well these past two weeks and my total weight loss now is half a pound short of two stone and just a further two and half pounds shifted will see me reach my target.  My original plan was to reach my target by the end of April and with three weeks to go that is now looking easy but a few days away next week and an Easter weekend of chocolate and hot cross bunnies to come perhaps I will need the full three weeks to lose these last couple of pounds.

The cask ale update this week will be much shorter than usual because I have been spending much of my drinking time at the Wetherspoons International Real Ale Festival which I have been documenting in a separate post and you can catch up on that one here.  However, there has been a few CAMRA social events I can tell you about which were far from mundane.

The CAMRA social to Chichester last week began at the Belle Isle, my new favourite bar in this lovely cathedral city.  The beer selection seemed pretty good as usual and I opted for a pint of The Full Nelson (4.8% ABV) from Welsh micro Tiny Rebel.  Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand combine with a sweet Munich malt to create an interesting beer.  There was a slight sharp tang of grape mixed with an underlying fruity sweetness which made for quite a complex beer that wasn't totally to my taste.  I was in the minority though as it was going down a storm with my CAMRA friends.

   

After a short stop at the local 'spoons, the Dolphin and Anchor, we moved to the Chichester Inn.  This pub is a GBG regular and I was finally able to enjoy a pint of Plateau (3.5% ABV) from new Sussex micro Burning Sky.  The former Dark Star brewer, Mark Tranter, has an awesome reputation that is totally well deserved.  Finding this beer has been a long time coming and it was definitely worth the wait.  Despite the low strength this pale straw coloured beer is packed with hops from the US and New Zealand giving off a massive burst of zingy citrussy notes.  It has an amazingly crisp bitter finish and this beer gets top marks from me.  To finish off the evening I had a half of the Dark Star Seville (4.0% ABV).  I'm not a fan of sweet fruit beers but my CAMRA friends praised it highly when it was brewed last year and although they were disappointed with it on this particular evening I absolutely loved it.  The taste from the bitter oranges complemented the bitterness from the hops perfectly to give a refreshing spicy bitter twang that I thought was superb.         

Last Wednesday I was able to join up with the CAMRA Sussex Bus to the Pub Group as they invaded my local pub, the Inglenook.  They could not have timed their visit any better as the beer selection was top notch.  I began with a Duke IPA (5.2% ABV) from the Highland Brewing Company based in Orkney.  It may have had a long way to travel but it was on fine form.  A lovely mix of grassy hops, tropical fruits and English bitterness.  It was only a lunchtime visit for me but I could not resist trying the Magic Rock High Wire (5.5% ABV) to finish off as this happens to be one of my favourite beers.  The mix of rich tropical fruits such as mango along with a tangy citrussy burst of grapefruit leads in to a superb bitter finish which is slowly eliminated by the rich tropical fruit flavours that pervade throughout.  

To bring this update to a close we had our monthly Western Sussex CAMRA meeting at the Maypole, a superb village local I have mentioned previously.  Unfortunately it was my turn to drive so I could only enjoy a pint which came from North Yorkshire Brewing Co.  Their Yorkshire Porter (4.4% ABV) wasn't as rich as I like but it had some lovely coffee bitterness and liquorice notes to enjoy.  

That's it for this time.  Hopefully my next update will be my last and I can concentrate on giving you a regular cask ale update without the weight loss figures. 

Cheers.   

Yorkshire Ales Part 3 - Geeves Brewery

Geeves Brewery step up to the bar this week for my third Yorkshire Ales review.  Before ordering from Yorkshire ales I knew nothing at all about Geeves and I don't know whether it is pronounced with a 'J' or a 'G' either.  They began brewing in 2011 with a 5.5 barrel plant on an industrial estate in Barnsley.  The owners once lived on a narrow boat and that is where they actually began brewing before moving on to dry land to set up their brewery.  This would explain their logo and obsession with all things related to canals and the vessels that use them.   

If you want to catch up on my previous reviews you can click here for Revolutions Brewing Company and here for Axholme Brewing Company.  Twenty-eight is the score to beat so let's see if Geeves can barge their way into the lead.

       

Clear Cut (4.4% ABV)

This is my favourite pale beer of the competition so far by quite a distance.  The aroma is reminiscent of pine needles carpeting the forest floor after a sudden downpour.  It is packed with American hops and there are strong pine notes in the flavour along with some lemony and floral notes.  This beer is really lovely and it is instantly refreshing and crisp and it finishes with a superb dry bitterness.  My wife appreciated this one too and this extremely drinkable session ale picks up a score of 9/10.  

Fully Laden (6.0% ABV)

After the last one I had high hopes for this strong IPA.  This just goes to show you should never assume anything.  It looked perfect after pouring but I could not detect much of an aroma.  The initial taste was quite grassy and earthy and the finish was smooth and rich but the sweetness was keeping the bitterness in check and vice versa.  Perhaps everything was just being cancelled out.  There were some tropical fruit notes and the finish had some earthy bitterness but overall it was a little too bland for my liking.  My wife said it was a little tasteless too so it wasn't just me.  This one picks up 6/10.                    

Red Diesel (4.1% ABV)

This final beer is a red ale and I must say it had a fantastic rich copper colour to it.  The aroma gave me a whiff of bitter oranges and there was a lovely earthy bitterness to this one throughout which mixed with a complex malty base.  This is definitely a complex beer despite it being single hopped with the American Willamette variety.  There were hints of apricot there initially along with a sweet malty base.  A more rounded sweetness of peaches slowly seeped into the bitterness making for a lovely bittersweet finish.  My wife didn't dislike it and I would give it a score of 8/10.  A very interesting and enjoyable beer.       

My final score is for the branding.  The barge theme works well and the logo shape of a sliced section through a barge works well and would look good on a pump clip.  The labels are colourful without being 'in your face' and I like it that the beer names are explained on the labels too.  Everything works well.  The website is easily navigable (as I'd expect from their theme) and overall it is well worth a score of 8/10.  This means that Geeves have cruised into pole position with an overall score of 31.  

Next week I will be introducing you to the delights (or otherwise) of The Hop Studio.      

Cheers.