Countries 1 - 20: Thoughts so far

OK I've now reviewed 20 different beers from 20 different countries. What are my thoughts so far?

1) There are basically two kinds of beer in the world: commercial beer, and craft beer. Commercial beer is made by big companies in factories, and within each type of beer (ale, lager and pilsner), they all taste almost exactly the same (the vast majority are lagers). Craft beer is made by beer nuts, with love, and almost always tastes great.
2) The difference in price between commercial and craft beer is not very much, but the difference in taste and quality is enormous. I do not therefore consider there to be much point in buying commercial beer (I now only do it for the blog and only if I cannot find a craft beer from that country).
3) The "new world" countries are producing some amazing craft beers, that rival or beat the "old world" European countries. The amazing Epic Hop Zombie from New Zealand is a case in point. Australia and USA are not at all far behind.
4) Picking a beer for Australia is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible. There are so many good ones. (My local pub, The Union, has regularly rotating taps of extremely good Australian craft beer so I am currently very spoiled for choice).
5) Some countries you would think would be difficult to find beers for, e.g. El Salvador, are not (their crappy Cantina beer is now turning up everywhere). Other countries you would think would be easy (e.g. France) are actually very difficult (are there any French beers in the world? Anywhere? Ever? I can't find a damn single one).
6) I have a long way to go but I doubt I will encounter a beer worse than Taiwan Beer. It's so awful.
7) There are many, many countries in the world. It's not an easy quest. But I'm having a great time.

#20: Cyprus

Cyprus is a small island republic in the Mediterranean, mainly known for being a battleground for an ancient dispute between Greece and Turkey as to who owns it (don't the Cypriots get a say in any of this?). It's certainly not known for making beer, so when a Cypriot beer turned up on a menu in a new Greek restaurant in Sydney, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.

Keo is as far as I can tell the main beer brand in Cyprus, and to me, it tastes quite a lot (like, really a lot) like the Greek beer Mythos which I did for this blog a while ago. Basically, another pretty generic straw coloured European lager. It worked pretty well with the tasty Greek meal I was eating it with, but if I went back I would probably choose another more interesting beer.


Name: Keo
Country of production: Republic of Cyprus
Style: Lager
Taste: Pretty bog-standard cheap European lager, reminiscent of Mythos
Cost: around AU$5.00 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Medium to high
My score: 5 out of 10 ancient struggles for national identity

#19: Vietnam

Vietnam is one of those countries that I'd really like to go to but never quite make it. I suppose drinking their beer is a (very, very feeble) step towards that goal? Anyway, last time I was at a big bottle shop I got the only Vietnamese beer they had, Halida. Which wasn't the one I wanted. You see, a couple of years ago there was an odd little Vietnamese restaurant near my place in Newtown, that never really had anyone in it. My partner and I went there one night and the food was not bad. But they didn't do well and shut down. While eating there though I managed to try "333" beer, which is apparently wildly popular in Vietnam and the beer that everyone drinks. I think Halida is their version of Australia's "Fosters"; nasty export stuff that they manage to sell overseas because people don't know better.

The night we ate there and I had 333 beer was quite a while ago though, and long before I started the beer quest. So I didn't photograph it and can't remember what it tasted like, but I remember I liked it. Unlike Halida, which I'm sad to say is not very good at all. There's not a lot to say about it; it's just really, really generic industrial lager. Not as bad as say Hite or anything, but not as good as the better ones like Efes or Bintang. It reminded me of Beer Lao somewhat, actually; perhaps it's made from a rice or part rice base. Anyway, Halida is not great, and whoever makes 333 Beer should get their act together and ship it to Australia; I'd probably buy some!


Name: Halida
Country of production: Socialist Republic of Vietnam (wow, one of the few socialist countries that puts "socialist" instead of "democratic" in its name).
Style: Lager
Taste: Typical mass produced lager
Cost: around AU$4.50 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Low to medium
My score: 5.5 out of 10 ferocious guerilla armies

#18: Argentina

I figure it's about time I give South America a go. Unfortunately, this continent is not off to a good start.
Quilmes is an astonishingly dominant beer brand in Argentina, comprising around 75% of sales in that country. So it must be great, right? I'm afraid not. Quilmes Cristal (their lager) is one of the most tasteless beverages I have ever encountered. While it doesn't have the horrid metallic flavours of the wretched Taiwan Beer, Quilmes fails to actually have any flavours at all. It is for all intents and purposes a slight variation on soda water. I suppose it could have some value for people who want to drink beer, but don't like the taste of beer, but then again, they're probably better off going for some other kind of drink altogether. The Argentinians are mad for drinking this. Very not recommended. (note: Quilmes make a few other beers, including a stout, but I doubt I could get my hands on them and doubt even more that it would be worth the effort).

Name: Quilmes Cristal
Country of production: Argentine Republic
Style: Lager
Taste: Almost nothing at all
Cost: around AU$4 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Bad (I'm embarrassed to be even photographed drinking this).
My score: 3 out of 10 sovereign debt defaults

#17: India

It's been a while between "drinks" on this beer blog, but anyway, here we go with a beer from the second most populous country on the planet, India. Given the strong market share, and the fact that I had no idea on earth how I would find myself any Indian craft beer (if such a thing exists), I felt I had no choice but to do Kingfisher.

I had unthinkingly assumed there was only one Kingfisher, but some cursory research indicates that there is in fact quite a wide variety of Kingfisher beers out there. However, the Premium Lager is the only one I've ever seen and thus the one being reviewed here.

Although it is on the surface a pretty standard export lager, I actually have some time for Kingfisher. It's hopped but not too heavily hopped, which means its got some body to cut through spicy food, but not enough to overwhelm what you're eating. It also has a hint of fruity flavour to it (am I imagining mango?), which is nice. I'll stick my hand up and say I love wine, but I have completely given up on trying to match wine with curries or similar food. Just give up and stick with beer. This drink for me is a perfect match with curry. This photo shows me drinking it with some spicy fish cakes, which while not curry, turned out to be a pretty good match too. Next time you're getting a vindaloo, see if the place has Kingfisher, and if it does, give it a try. It's not a fancy craft beer but it does the job.

Name: Kingfisher Premium Lager
Country of production: Republic of India
Style: Lager
Taste: Lightly hopped, tangy, hint of mango
Cost: around AU$4 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Medium-Low

My score: 7 out of 10 bizarre aggressively spicy vindaloos

#16: Cuba

Ideally I would like to try a proper Cuban craft beer, made with love, but I think my chances of getting my hands on one are about as likely as my becoming a witch doctor. So I have to settle for... Cubanero! Which I found at the astonishingly large and well-stocked Warners on the Bay bottleshop on the New South Wales central coast.

At first glance, everything about this beer reeks of "export tourist crap that the locals wouldn't touch if their head was on fire". The silly name, the cheesy cartoonish picture of a pirate on the front, it's all a bad sign. And drinking it... well, it tastes like a generic export beer too. Just another inoffensive medium-light bodied lager, goes down ok with some salty or spicy food, but not much interesting going on here. The Cubans can probably make better beer than this, but I had to take my chances when I saw this one.

Name: Cubanero
Country of production: Republic of Cuba
Style: Lager
Taste: Mild generic lager
Cost: around AU$5 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Medium
My score: 5 out of 10 bizarre trade embargoes

#15: Laos

Laos is a small landlocked country in Southeast Asia, not really famous for its beer, or perhaps really much else. Nevertheless they make a beer, called Beer Lao; I tried it in Thailand a while ago, forgot to photograph it, but managed to get my hands on it here. So what is it like?

Much as I wanted to like Beer Lao, I really can't say I did. Lao is a poor country, and their beer is made from rice (true) instead of barley or wheat, which is a cheap and easy to grow grain, but one that doesn't lend itself to quality beers. It starts off as a fairly average lager with a pretty strong malt tone, but about halfway through it develops a quite unpleasant stale, starchy aftertaste, which probably comes from the rice base. I'm afraid I can't really recommend Beer Lao.

Name: Beer Lao
Country of production: Lao People's Democratic Republic
Style: Lager
Taste: Medium bodied lager with unpleasant rice aftertaste developing
Cost: around AU$4 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Medium high
My score: 4.5 out of 10 oppressed tribal minorities

#14: South Africa

South Africa is a country not known so much for the peculiarities of its individual beers, but for its beer producers, or rather producer: the South African colossus SABMiller (formerly SAB or South African Breweries Limited) bought not only the US beer brand Miller, but recently completed a takeover of Australia's own Fosters. It truly is a mighty giant amongst giants as far as industrial beer producers go. They hold a 98% market share in the South African market and significant ownership all over the world.

But how does their own flagship South African beer, Castle Lager taste? I tried some at a local Newtown restaurant called Smash (specialising in sausages and mash, nice!), and it went down fairly well. It's a fairly generic lager, but with a bit more grainy body and punch than your average generic European lager, reminding me a bit more of Australian beers such as Carlton Draught. It was not bad to wash down some spicy sausages with, but it's no craft beer and I wouldn't go running out of my way to find another one.


Name: Castle Lager
Country of production: Republic of South Africa
Style: Lager
Taste: Decent grainy body, moderate slightly bitter finish, not too interesting
Cost: around AU$7 per bottle
Availability in AU: Low
Cred: Low medium
My score: 6 out of 10 carjackings