Country #13: Indonesia

Bintang. Bintang. BINTANG!!! I love the sound of the word Bintang. It sounds like it's something that someone would scream at you in Indonesian before they start attacking you with machetes. It's also the name of a beer, the most popular beer in Indonesia in fact! Indonesia is of course a predominantly Muslim country, but it has a very thriving tourist market (mainly Australians, who despite moving gradually towards wine, are still quite heavy beer drinkers) so produces a fair bit of beer. Anyway Bintang is on the surface, a fairly traditional and not hugely interesting lager. Heineken has a fair bit to say in regards to its production, so that's not very surprising. But it has a nice fizz and a delicate slight hop to its body, and I found it to go down very well with spicy food. n fact, I washed down a home-made Beef Rendang with it (a legendary Indonesian dish), and it was quite marvellous! So make sure you pair this beer with the right kind of spicy food, and I think you'll find it quite pleasant indeed.

Name: Bintang
Country of production: Republic of Indonesia
Style: Lager
Taste: simple, crisp lager with lightly hopped nose and body
Cost: around AU$4 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low to medium
Cred: Low
My score: 6.5 out of 10 densely populated archipelagos

Country #12: South Korea

I got around to trying one of the main Korean beer brands, Hite (apparently pronounced as in English "height", not Hir-Tay, as I originally thought it would be) at a Korean restaurant recently. And I must say, the people of South Korea should really hang their heads in shame. This is a very bad beer indeed; it just tastes like a cheap, nasty, industrially processed lager, and has clearly not been made with love. It's quite surprising, since South Korea is an advanced country with a large population who have worked hard since WW2 to build up their prosperity (in sharp contrast to the terrible misery of the North Korean totalitarian state). They have an amazing cuisine, a wide range of interesting rice based drinks, but it seems they really can't make a decent beer (the other major brands apparently taste the same as Hite). I'm keenly looking forward to trying (if I can get my hands on it somehow) the North Korean beer, Taedonggang. If it's better than Hite (which it could well be, this is a wretched beer), then it would indeed be a matter of national disgrace!

Name: Hite
Country of production: Republic of Korea (the official name of the country)
Style: Lager
Taste: metallic and horrible
Cost: around AU$5 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low to medium
Cred: Medium
My score: 4 out of 10 industrial conglomerates

Country #11: Poland

Zywiec (pronounced "ziv-ee-yek" I think) is the main beer in Poland. They've been making it in the small town of Zywiec for around 150 years and are now exporting it all over the world, especially to the United States (which has a large Polish community). And it is a good solid beer in my opinion: a full strength, full flavoured pilsner, big and meaty, kind of like Polish food (which I'm a big fan of). It's therefor quite baffling why I am drinking it out of a wine glass in this photo; I think it was at the end of a messy night. Anyway, cheers to the Poles, this beer is a winner in my book!



Name: Zywiec
Country of production: Poland
Style: Pilsner
Taste: Good solid body, lightly hopped, goes well with Eastern European food
Cost: around AU$7 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Medium
My score: 7.5 out of 10 smoked pork sausages

Country #10: Iceland

And now we come to Iceland. A tiny country (a population of only 318,000) famous for its alien geography, banking collapses, and profoundly beautiful yet strangely irritating post-rock music. They also banned beer from 1915 to 1989 (true story!). What a very strange place. Anyway, they apparently have built up quite a good craft beer scene going on in Iceland, but my chances of getting any are slim to none, so I'll have to settle for Viking, which is the country's main brand. More specfically, the low-carb version. Now I'm not really a fan of low-carb beers, since I find they often taste very bland. And I'll say Viking wasn't particularly great. However, it was a HELL of a lot better than the crappy low-carb beers we have around here, with a decent body and a nice grainy aroma. If for whatever strange reason I decided to drink low-carb beers, I'd be quite happy sinking a few Vikings. This makes me curious to try out some more quality Icelandic beer, though I fear for my chances of finding any.

Name: Viking (I believe the default Viking in Iceland is full carb, but the export you get here in Australia is the low carb version, though not specified as such by name)
Country of production: Iceland
Style: Low-carb lager
Taste: Decent body with a faint finish of fresh herbs, grainy aroma
Cost: around AU$5 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low but growing
Cred: Medium
My score: 7 out of 10 buried shark's heads (an Icelandic delicacy, also true story)

Country #9: New Zealand

An excellent craft beer specialty venue in Sydney called The Local Taphouse recently had an event called the "Kiwi SpecTAPular", where they raised funds for poor earthquake-plagued Christchurch, by collecting donations at an event where they featured 20 craft beers made in New Zealand. So off I went, and had a fantastic time. Not only was it a great venue and company, but the beers were outstanding. I could rave about all the beers I tried (with maybe one exception), but the hit of the day was the Epic Hop Zombie, a super hopped beer made by Epic Brewing Company. I do not exaggerate when I say this beer is one of the best I have ever had in my life. Huge aromas of passionfruit and mandarin, silky texture and incredible depth of flavour made this well worth the (admittedly hefty) price tag. A spectacular beer from New Zealand; this is currently the one to beat.

Name: Epic Hop Zombie
Country of production: New Zealand
Style: Imperial IPA
Taste: Massive citrus aroma, super rich hoppy flavour
Cost: AU$10.40 for a half-pint (yikes!)
Availability in AU: Very low
Cred: Medium-High
My score: 9.5 out of 10 Maori war dances

Country #8: Greece

I noticed a beer called Mythos in my local bottleshop recently that was made in Greece and claimed to be “the most Hellenic beer in the world!”. I obviously needed to get some, not only to ensure continued success on my beer quest, but also to find out what this was all about. I didn’t have any what on earth would constitute the “Hellenic-ness” of a beer, and after drinking a few Mythos lagers, I’m afraid I’m still not sure. Anyway, Mythos turned out to be a very average lager beer: there’s nothing particularly wrong with it, but nothing really right about it either. It has that generic lager taste that you find when drinking those discount beers from bottleshops with names like “Hollandia” and “Bavaria” (which if I’m not mistaken, are strangely made in Germany and Holland respectively). It went down easily enough but I can’t see myself getting any again. (I’m not sure why I look so incredibly happy in this photo, might have had something to do with the significant number of beers I’d had before trying the Mythos).

Name: Mythos
Country of production: Greece
Style: Lager
Taste: Very generic lager beer
Cost: AU$17 for a sixpack
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Low
My score: 5 out of 10 international debt defaults

Country #7: Taiwan

I've learnt that vague and spurious claims to obscure awards or prizes are a hallmark of bad products. Thus, the text on the label of Taiwan Beer that read "Selections Choice for the Grand Gold Medal" (what medal? and what is a "selections choice"?), combined with the very low price tag, did indeed trigger alarm bells. I'd like to say that Taiwan beer amazed me and surpassed all expectations, but indeed it failed to meet even the low ones I had of it. Taiwan is not known for its beer and it's easy to see why: this (the most popular beer by far in Taiwan) is a truly wretched thing, and one of the worst things I have drunk in a long time. It's a thin, watery larger, with no flavours other than the stale insides of a giant metal tub, matched with the lingering aromas of soulless microchip factories and bitter government repression. Taiwan Beer should be avoided at any cost whatsoever (the facial expression says it all).

Name: Taiwan Beer
Country of production: Taiwan
Style: Larger
Taste: Horrible
Cost: AU$12 for a 6 pack
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Low-Medium
My score: 2 out of 10 inauthentic claims to Chinese national autonomy

Country #6: Spain

I recently organised to go for a dinner with some friends at a restaurant in Sydney's Redfern area called Eathouse. I read a review of it and it was mentioned that they offered a beer designed by Ferran Adria and his coterie of mad chefs at legendary restaurant El Bulli (recently closed, but for a few years voted the best restaurant in the world). This obviously sounds like a job for Beer Around the World! The Estrella Damn Inedit arrives in a large, minimalist and imposing black bottle, which attracts attention. The beer itself is a Belgian-style white beer, with a citrus aroma, and a moderate fruity Belgian style body, but without that overly-sweet fruitiness that dominates many Belgian style ales which I have come to really dislike. There isn't an enormous amount of flavour here but it has a lovely, sparkly texture, a delightful fizz that lingers in the mouth. This, combined with the moderate flavour, means it does as its designer intended: to be a nice beer to match with spicy, flavourful food. I had it with spicy fried chicken and creamed corn, and it was great.

Name: Estrella Damn Inedit
Country of production: Spain
Style: Belgian Wit (white wheat beer)
Taste: Faint citrus aromas, mild fruity body
Cost: AU$13 for a 750ml bottle at a restaurant
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Medium (cmon, it was designed by the best chef in the world)
My score: 7.5 out of 10 matadors

Country #5: Scotland

I recently spied at a local bottleshop a four-pack of beers made by the cult Scottish brewers Brewdog. These mad bastards are famous for renegade brewing and marketing activities such as making the strongest beer in the world at a whopping 55% alc/vol, and with the bottle stuffed in dead animals. Anyway I obviously jumped at this opportunity, and picked up a very nice beer. Punk 6% IPA (there’s apparently a 5% that’s not as good) is a potent, complex and classy beer. There’s a strong aroma of peaches and citrus, and it has a classic rich IPA body, with a very long, nutty finish. The only thing preventing this from getting an even higher score is that for me the finish is a bit too long and strong; I like my pale ales a bit more restrained at the end. But this is still a fantastic beer from Brewdog, and Scotland should be proud.

Name: Punk IPA 6%
Country of production: Scotland
Style: India Pale Ale
Taste: Strong nose of stone fruit, rich malty body with a lingering nutty finish
Cost: AU$20 for a 4 pack
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Low-Medium
My score: 8.5 out of 10 claymores

Country #4: Turkey

OK I'll admit I know very little about beer consumption in Turkey. While it is a predominantly Islamic country, it's a fairly moderate one, and there are plenty of alcohol producers and consumers there. I was at a nice Turkish restaurant in Glebe (suburb of Sydney's inner west) and noticed they had a Turkish beer available, called Efes (apparently the dominant brand in the country), so I grabbed a bottle. And it turned out to be quite good! A lightly hopped pilsner, it was tasty and refreshing, and washed my dinner down nicely. Go the Turks!

Name: Efes
Country of production: Turkey
Style: Pilsner
Taste: Lightly hopped, crisp nutty palate, slight bitterness on the finish
Cost: about AUS$8
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Low-Medium
My score: 7 out of 10 Janissaries

Country #3: Thailand

There are basically three beers in Thailand: Singha, Chang and Leo. That's in descending order of quality; the Wikipedia article on beer in Thailand describes Leo as a "non-premium" larger; I'd describe it rather as "wretched filth, only to be used as a melee weapon". Singha and Chang are pretty good, however. Chang is a lighter, crisper lager and can be easily quaffed in large quantities. Singha is a richer larger with a fuller, slightly fruity taste, and I really like it. It can be purchased around the world but is only produced in Thailand. Here I am at a little bar in Sukhumvit, just north of the city centre in Bangkok, having a nice cold Singha on a sweltering hot day.

Name: Singha Lager
Country of production: Thailand
Style: Traditional Lager
Taste: Fairly rich, fruity lager, slightly toasted finish
Cost: usually about 50 baht ($1.70)
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Low
My score: 7 out of 10 elephants

Country #2: Mexico

Viva la Mexico!
For this proud North American nation, I have chosen to drink not the well-known Corona (which I think is not a very great beer), but Dos Equis. I've never been to Mexico, but apparently, Corona is like Australia's Fosters: a cheap, nasty and thoroughly unpopular export beer and no Mexican can understand that anyone drinks it.
Anyway Dos Equis ("two crosses" in Spanish) produces a couple of beers but their flagship drink is a pale lager, and I quaffed one while devouring two beef tacos from the awesome Mexican joint Guzman y Gomes (which has several branches in Sydney). Like Corona, it's not a very full flavoured beer, but it's not bad, and goes down very easily with spicy and tasty Mexican food.


Name: Dos Equis Lager
Country of production: Mexico
Style: Traditional Lager
Taste: Light and mild flavour, recommended for spicy strong-flavoured food
Cost: $8 from Guzman y Gomez
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Low (but admittedly higher than Corona)
My score: 6 out of 10 beer banditos

Country #1: Germany

OK I figure I might as well begin with one of the great world powers of beer, Germany. The Germans have been making excellent beer for hundreds of years and their beverages really need no introduction. Here I am at the nice German / Austrian restaurant Essen in Broadway, drinking a very refreshing Krystalweizen style beer by one of the top German beer producers, Schoefferhofer. I've gone off wheat beers (aka weiss or weizen beers in German) quite a bit over the last few years, but this is one style that I still like: a Krystalweizen. This is a wheat beer that has had the residual yeast filtered away, giving it a very clear complexion and a crisp, refreshing taste. It was served with a small slice of lemon and was absolutely delicious.

Name: Schoefferhofer Krystalweizen
Country of production: Germany
Style: Filtered wheat beer
Taste: Quite light and fresh, slightly herbacious, low to medium hops. Very quaffable.
Cost: I paid AU$10 for a 500ml at Essen restaurant
Availability in AU: Medium to high
Cred: none really
My score: 8 out of 10 beer goggles

Coming soon will be a beer from Mexico (and no it's not Corona). I should probably knock Australia off the list too. I'm currently tossing up between a Mountain Goat Organic Steam Ale (a current fave of mine) and one of the beers from the excellent Sydney brewer pub, the Lord Nelson. Redoak could be a good option too. Any suggestions / requests / furious criticisms?