I've decided to drink one beer from every country in the world. I know it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. And that someone is me. The rules: I have to drink the whole beer, I have to photograph it to prove that I've done it, and it has to be an official, commercially produced beer (no homebrews). The only countries I can skip are ones that don't produce beer (haven't found any yet).

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

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)