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