Author Archives: Rob Nesbit

About Rob Nesbit

Beer drinker and all round annoyance. Likes drinking, football, cricket and having a good time.

World Cup of Beer Group E

Group E

Group E Results and Final Placings

kabinet beer (Serbia): V :Skol (Brazil) 1-0
Celestial Brewery (Switzerland): V :Imperial Lager (Costa Rica) 1-0
Soo Soors beer (Switzerland): V :kabinet beer (Serbia) 1-0
Skol (Brazil): V :Imperial Lager (Costa Rica) 1-0
Dr. Brauwolf  (Switzerland): V :Skol (Brazil) 1-0
Imperial Lager (Costa Rica): V :kabinet beer (Serbia) 1-0 

Switzerland: 9  Qualify

Serbia: 3 Qualify

……………………………………………………………………….

Brazil: 3

Costa Rica: 3

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Group E

kabinet beer (Switzerland): V :Skol (Brazil) 1-0

Kabinet pull all out all the stops to beat Skol. It looked looked, smelled fantastic, and was well tasty. Skol was actually quite refreshing cold from the fridge, but the win goes to Kabinet and their IPA 

 

Celestial Brewery (Switzerland): V :Imperial Lager (Costa Rica) 1-0

Celestial Brewery make a winning start, nice one. Had a really interesting taste, hoppy and full of flavour, was nice to sip through while looking at the football. Hard luck to Imperial, a nice lager, but no match for a tasty IPA.

 

Soo Soors beer (Switzerland): V :kabinet beer (Serbia) 1-0

Soo Soors and their golden ale was very silky and smooth, easy to drink, while Kabinet was equally impressive, and for an IPA pretty quaffable (for me!). Close, really close, but will have to give it to the Swiss, just like in the football, just that bit more creative.

 

Skol (Brazil): V :Imperial Lager (Costa Rica) 1-0

Just like the football team Skol get the victory here, just a nice smoother lager than Imperial,  nice body and a better looker. 1-0 to the Brazilians.

 

Dr. Brauwolf  (Switzerland): V :Skol (Brazil) 1-0

Had a Rye IPA from the Dr. Brauwolf brewery and fuck me it was delicious, really great, one of the better beers of the last few days. Outstanding stuff. No competition for Skol. The Swiss win this one hands down.

 

Imperial Lager (Costa Rica): V :kabinet beer (Serbia) 1-0

Bit of a contrast in beer styles, an IPA versus a regular lager, but I will go with the Imperial Lager as it was easier to stomach, what with the Kabinet that bit too hoppy for my liking

                                   ……………………………………………………………………………………

Switzerland look like the top dog in this group with some heavy hitters, while Costa Rica and Brazil have their light beers at the ready while Serbia have an interesting beer from the Kabinet Brewery, which might be a player. 

Soo. Soors Beer

Dr. Brauwolf

Celestial Brewery

Skol

Imperial Beer, Little Eagle

kabinet beer

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Celestial Brewery

Celestial Brewery

Brewed by Brasserie Celestial
Neuchâtel, Switzerland

https://celestial.ch/

Celestial Brewery

Celestial Brewery, or to give its true name, Brasserie Celestial, is located not far off the La Tène Beach, on the western shore of Lake Neuchâtel, the French-speaking centre of Switzerland. 

It is a new venture in the region and one with many exciting and ambitious plans. Founded by Peter Danielsson who had a dream to start his own brewery. Despite been in the software industry and a general “newbie” in the beverages industry, he finally managed to take the plunge in 2017 and set up a small brewing operation. 

I say ambitious and exciting, as Celestial Brewery are producing a wide selection of great beers to the public, something that as a new brewery is quite brave, but I guess they must be very confident in the deliciousness of their brews. A wide selection of beers on offer include, some very interesting IPA’s, to a bière blanche (a white beer), an amber beer, and a coffee flavoured black beer.

So far the reception from the public has been very positive, proof that sometimes your dreams are worth pursing, and it is great to see an new brewery doing well in my adopted country of Switzerland. Bonne Chance!

Review: 33cl Bottle of Celestial, Le 7eme Ciel, India Pale Ale: 6.1% ABV

Translates into “7th Heaven” in English. Coming in a black bottle with some very dark imagery. 

On pour got loads of carbonation, bubbling along, taking a little while for it all to settle down. What remained was a very frothy white head with a golden coloured beer.
Some good lacing as you would expect. 
Not a bad looking beer when it all settled down.

Smell is malty, with an interesting floral, earthy, and piney smell. Also get the fruits and citrus. 

On the taste, got a lots of hops in it hitting you from the start.

Nice big mouthfuls, with the hops lingering on the tongue.  

Some fruit in background.

It’s strong enough for sure with the bitterness in the flavours there, but manageable enough to enjoy. 

It is a regular IPA but you do get a more pronounced earthy and piney taste that kind of distinguishes it from other IPA’s, which I really liked. Stronger to taste.

Interesting beer, not sure what to think about it, has me a bit stumped. It is definitely a very tasty beer and with it some unique tastes for sure, but I would like to try this one again to give a better rating.

Not a bad beer and certainly worth checking out.

Review: 33cl Bottle of Celestial, Tène Out of Tène, Pale Ale: 5.1% ABV

Loving the name. Tène, of course, represents The La Tène (Celtic) period of time which was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Clever! 

Get a very hazy looking beer with a nice golden orange look. Very carbonated and has a big frothy head. Good lacing.
Has a very hearty appearance which looks very appetizing.

Smell is quite strong, Oh, very strong tropical fruit aromas. Good stuff!

Taste is hoppy, IPA style, overloaded with the tastes of fruits, and I also get the malty flavour. 
It is an alright beer, crisp in taste, well balanced, refreshing and does the business, goes down the hatch decent enough.

Liking the fruity taste to it, and although the hops are there they are very manageable. Nice and soft on the tongue. 

Find it a very filling beer, and not a bad one from Celestial here. 

Review: 33cl Bottle of Celestial, L’êlektron Libre, an Amber beer: 5.0% ABV

“Free Electron” in English, I guess the electricity will be bouncing around your body when in contact with this beer, firing up an unstoppable current of energy and pleasure. Perhaps!

A lovely frothy white head of beer, with a darkish cherry colour, on the pour. Looks nice. Actually looks better than that, looks fantastic!

Head maintains well, with some very good lacing apparent. Deep red hues run throughout the colour. it is definitely a good looking beer. Very inviting, just waiting to be drank. 

A very toasty aroma, must be the caramelized malt which is great on the nose. 

Getting the caramelized malt again, this time in the taste, making this beer very nice to drink. 
This is a real craft beer, with the hops and the malts to the fore. 

It is quite hoppy, but very manageable. Was very easy to drink.

Enjoyable and a beer that goes down very easily, with flavours that are both tasty and delicious.

Not a huge array of exotic flavours but what they do have in abundance, tasty malts, is good enough for me to give this beer the thumbs up. 

Review: 33cl Bottle of Celestial, L’Intemporelle Blanche, a Belgian style witbier: 5.0% ABV

Translates to “Timeless”, the beer is styled as a Belgian witbier. 

Hazy cloudy yellow golden colour, very carbonated and the frothy white head maintains. 
Looks ok.

Smell is very fruity and sweet, quite strong on the nose.

Nice initial mouthfuls, very fruity in taste and quite appealing and delicious on the old taste buds.

Filling and hearty, went down well. 

Yeah, a very nice beer, delicious, and the fruits coming out very strong in this beer. 

Sweet, and a typical wheaty and expected coriander taste with a bitterness that isn’t going to bother. A decent beer that was enjoyable enough to drink. Not bad. 

Review: 33cl Bottle of Celestial, Celestial, L’autre Monde, a coffee stout: 6.8% ABV

Celestial, L’autre Monde, “The Other World” in English. On the bottle I translated, “We can not please everyone – and do not try it! Our beers are uncompromising and push the limits of the stylistic requirements to accede to intense and expressive tastes. important notice: drinkers of tasteless bees to be absent!” Bit ballsy, lol!

On pour, massive carbonation, all over the place, very temperamental. All resulting in a massive frothy tanned head and a pitch black stout.

When it finally all settled down it looked pretty good. 

Head maintained throughout, and some good lacing. 

Aroma is the usual smell of a stout, a little sour as well.

Taste is very interesting. The chocolate taste is very prominent, like a rare dark chocolate, and sure enough I see on their website that they have used “Tree frog” an aromatic dark coffee from one of their local suppliers in Neuchâtel. This taste is quite strong, so now I see why they put the “disclaimer” on the bottle, ha!

Bit too bitter and strong for my liking, but it definitely is an interesting flavour.

Not a bad stout, not as layered as a Guinness but that’s not what it is going for, the hops are intense and the coffee and corn all contribute to a stout that has a good strong kick in it. 
Worth a try for sure. 

Review: 33cl Bottle of Celestial, Le Dernier Cri, a New England style IPA: 7.7% ABV

“The Last Cry” in English, this is Celestial’s version of a New England IPA. A New England IPA is meant to be a little smoother with less of a hoppy bitterness to their West Coast IPA cousins, the appearance is also meant to be a little hazier. 

Very carbonated, jeez mad to come out of the bottle! A cloudy looking dark orange beer, with a very frothy head. Some lacing.

Malty and fruity smell, faint though. 

Smooth creamy mouthfuls, goes down easy enough. 

Not meant to be too hoppy, but I certainly got the hoppy taste, but not that bitter and very manageable.

Nice malty flavour, the fruits to the fore, bit of caramel.

I know that there is some who dont think New England IPA is a style in its own right. I am not so sure, but this beer here just seems like a regular IPA to me, albeit toned down a bit and more cloudy in appearance and feel. I am not getting that distinct style though.  

A safe brew that’s not going to set the world alight, but this beer is not bad, is drinkable, and did the business.

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World Cup of Beer Group F

Group F

Group F Results and Final Placings

Corona (Mexico): V :Crocodile lager (Sweden) 1-0
Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose (Germany): V :?(South Korea) 1-0
? (South Korea): V :Corona (Mexico): 0-1
Brauer & Co (Germany): V :Crocodile lager (Sweden) 1-0
Crocodile lager (Sweden): V :?(South Korea) 1-0
Corona (Mexico): V :Zombrau (Germany) 0-1 

GERMANY: 9  Qualify

MEXICO: 6 Qualify

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SWEDEN: 4

SOUTH KOREA: 0

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Group F

Corona (Mexico): V :Crocodile lager (Sweden) 1-0

Corona get the victory, as once again I couldn’t really get any discernible taste at all from Crocodile. As light as Corona is, its still a relativity nice drink on a very hot summers day. 

 

Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose (Germany): V :?(South Korea) 1-0

The Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose was very interesting, got me well giddy, but that could be seeing Germany crash out of the football World Cup. Good news, Germany are still in Thisdrinkinglife’s Beer World Cup.

 

? (South Korea): V :Corona (Mexico): 0-1

Corona to win, no beer from Korea, even gave the hot noodles a miss today, no thanks! 

 

Brauer & Co (Germany): V :Crocodile lager (Sweden) 1-0

Had an imaginably titled, Funky Forelle Pils (Funky trout!) from the Brauer & Co from Leipzig in Germany, a fine beer, had good hoppy tastes and was nice to sip, too fine for the Crocodile beer of Sweden that still disappoints. Germans win again!

 

Crocodile lager (Sweden): V :?(South Korea) 1-0

Crocodile lager was pretty shite, no taste or flavour detected at all. Glorified water. Still it was better than the noodles from Korea that were so hot that I could only eat half or less of them. Crocodile just about. 

 

Corona (Mexico): V :Zombrau (Germany) 0-1

Zombrau get the victory here, loads to taste, a slow burner and very enjoyable, while Corona is nice enough but hasn’t enough kick to be considered a player.

                                  ……………………………………………………………………………………

One would imagine that Germany, who won my inaugural Beer World Cup in 2014, will have another top tournament. It is Germany, and they do beer. They will get out of this group no bother. Sweden are not a great beer nation, while Mexico mostly concentrates on tequilas, and for Korea I couldn’t source any beer this time round. 

Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose

Brauer & Co., Funky trout and Pretty sperm whale!

Zombräu

Zombräu

Crocodile Lager

Corona 

Couldn’t source any beer from Korea. Did last time, but that restaurant is now closed and surprisingly enough there are no more Korean eateries in town. Plenty of Chinese, Thai and Japanese but no Korean, which is strange. So some noddles it is then!!

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World Cup of Beer Group D

World Cup of Beer Group D

Group D

Group D Results and Final Placings

World Cup of Beer Group D

 

Einstök (Iceland): V :Bura Brew (Croatia): 1-1 
Guinness Special Export (Nigeria): V :Einstök (Iceland): 1-0
Guinness Special Export (Nigeria): V :Quilmes Export Beer (Argentina): 1-0
Quilmes Export Beer (Argentina): V :Ožujsko (Croatia): 0-1
Ožujsko (Croatia): V :Guinness Special Export (Nigeria) 1-0
Quilmes Export Beer (Argentina): V :Einstök (Iceland) 0-1 

CROATIA: 7  Qualify

NIGERIA: 6 Qualify

……………………………………………………………………….

ICELAND: 4

ARGENTINA: 0

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Group D

Einstök (Iceland): V :Bura Brew (Croatia): 1-1

Tough one, Einstock tasted nice, hoppy and full of interesting flavours while Bura Brew was lovely to sip at and enjoyable to relax with. Will go with a score draw, one a piece. 

               V  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guinness Special Export (Nigeria): V :Einstök (Iceland): 1-0

Although Quilmes was pleasant enough to drink, it was no match for the strong tasting Guinness Special Export, that was full of flavours, and had a strong bite to it. Nigeria get the victory and so are through to the last 16 of my Beer World Cup.

 

Guinness Special Export (Nigeria): V :Quilmes Export Beer (Argentina): 1-0

Good battle between two very strong tasting beers, but will give it too Nigeria and their version of Guinness as it lingers in the mouth longer and had that tad bit more today over Einstok. One nil to Nigeria. 

 

Quilmes Export Beer (Argentina): V :Ožujsko (Croatia): 0-1

Croatia’s Ožujsko, much like their team, had that bit more of class to them, smoother, more enjoyable and long lasting. Enjoyable. Quilmes was ok, but just not as good as Ožujsko, one nil

 

Ožujsko (Croatia): V :Guinness Special Export (Nigeria) 1-0

Close battle, like Guinness Export, but was really enjoying the Ožujsko, was smooth and went down well, and for that reason I will give Croatia a narrow win here. 

 

Quilmes Export Beer (Argentina): V :Einstök (Iceland) 0-1 

Einstock win it for me, as their beer had load of character, was tasty, and despite it a little hoppy was fine to drink and I enjoyed slow tasting it. Quilmes was decent for a lager, but one nil to Iceland here.

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Just like in the football, Group D is a tough one to call. We have four countries and five beers! Croatia pack a punch with Ožujsko, the country’s most popular beer, plus they have Bura Brew, an interesting craft brewery. Guinness Special Export is Nigeria’s favourite drink and brewed especially for that nation in mind. Quilmes Export Beer, Argentina’s light and blue and to bring up the group we have Einstök, a beer from Iceland. Looking forward to this group!

Ožujsko, Croatia’s most popular beer

Ožujsko

Bura Brew

Einstök

Guinness Special Export

Quilmes Export Beer

 

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World Cup of Beer Group C

World Cup of Beer Group C

Group C

Group C Results and Final Placings

World Cup of Beer Group C

 

 Fosters Lager (Australia): V :Cusqueña (Peru): 1-0
Carlsberg (Denmark): V :Kronenbourg 1664 (France): 1-0
Carlsberg (Denmark): V :Fosters Lager (Australia) 1-0
Kronenbourg 1664 (France): V :Cusqueña (Peru):  1-1
Cusqueña (Peru): V : Carlsberg (Denmark) 0-1
Kronenbourg 1664 (France): V :Fosters Lager (Australia) 0-1 

DENMARK: 9  Qualify

AUSTRALIA: 6 Qualify

……………………………………………………………………….

FRANCE: 1

PERU: 1

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Group C

Fosters Lager (Australia): V :Cusqueña (Peru): 1-0

Fosters get the victory to go through to my beer world cup last 16. Smoother, nicer to look at and more enjoyable, than Cusqueña, which today wasn’t too bad, but alas not good enough.

 

Carlsberg (Denmark): V :Kronenbourg 1664 (France): 1-0

Two fairly popular beers go head to head, but on the basis of sheer taste I have to give the victory to Carlsberg. Kronenberg looked stunning, really nice head and wonderful yellowish golden colour, but there wasn’t much in flavour. Conversely Carlsberg perhaps wasn’t much of a looker, but one thing it always has is a taste. Much like the football group, Denmark go through in what was arguably not the hardest of beer groups!

 

Carlsberg (Denmark): V :Fosters Lager (Australia) 1-0

Some contrasts. Carlsberg looked terrible and wasn’t the best but manageable, but when I poured Fosters it looked marvelous, shining and ready to be devoured, but then there was little aroma and very little taste, what a shock. So Carlsberg it is to edge a tight enough match between two disappointing beers.

 

Kronenbourg 1664 (France): V :Cusqueña (Peru):  1-1

Kronenbourg looked pretty nice on the pour, lovely colour and nice head, very appetizing, wasn’t too bad to drink too, so I thought this might be a forlorn conclusion since Cusquena performed so terribly in the first tryout. But you know, I actually started to slowly enjoy the Cusquena, it was nice to sip at and by the end of the drink I was beginning to think I might have been too hasty to write it down after the first game. So with that in mind I will give the result as a score draw, 1-1!

       V

 

 

 

 

 

Cusqueña (Peru): V : Carlsberg (Denmark) 0-1 

Cusqueña was a bit tasteless, while Carlsberg was all taste, but I am not sure if it was the kind of taste I like. Still that’s better than nothing, so a narrow victory to Carlsberg.

 

Kronenbourg 1664 (France): V :Fosters Lager (Australia) 0-1 

Was expecting on even enough game, but Fosters kind of surprised me as I enjoyed drinking it, was smoother, and very quaffable. Both lagers didn’t have a whole lot in way of tastes or flavours, so it was all done to general drinkablity and for this reason I give the victory to Fosters. 

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Thankfully this group has four nations where drinking beer is not something to be ashamed off. Basically got a few generic brands that are popular with the masses, rightly or wrongly, but all easily accessible. Old time favourite, Kronenbourg 1664 from France is sure to impress, the much maligned “Aussie beer” Fosters, a football regular Carlsberg, and Cusqueña, a Peruvian Beer I have never had before. So let the games begin!

Carlsberg Lager

Fosters Lager

Kronenbourg 1664

Cusqueña

 

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World Cup 2018: The view from France

World Cup 2018: France, this year?

Great long chat on France’s World Cup chances with Jeremy Smith from the excellent French Football Weekly online magazine and podcast show. Jeremy filled me in all I needed to know about this French football team, their manager, the players I should look out for, and the general chit chat about the state of the game in France.

Check out Jeremy’s stuff:
http://frenchfootballweekly.com/


Twitter:
Jeremy Smith@jeremysmith98
FFW@FrenchFtWeekly

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World Cup of Beer Group B

Group B

Group B Results and Final Placings

 

 Estrella Galicia (Spain): V : Casablanca (Morocco): 1-0
? (Iran): V : Super Bock (Portugal): 0-1
? (Iran): V : Estrella Galicia (Spain): 0-1
Gallas Cerveja (Portugal): V : Casablanca (Morocco): 1-0
Casablanca (Morocco): V : ? (Iran): 1-0
Estrella Galicia (Spain): V : Gallas Cerveja (Portugal) 0-1

PORTUGAL: 9  Qualify

SPAIN: 6 Qualify

……………………………………………………………………….

MOROCCO: 3

IRAN: 0

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Estrella Galicia (Spain): V : Casablanca (Morocco): 1-0

For the first time Casablanca actually didn’t taste too bad today, but smoother and more enjoyable than the other two days. Still hadn’t much in the way of actual taste though. For that reason I will give the win to Estrella Galicia, as I really enjoy this beer cold from the fridge, perfectly smooth, and the malts hitting the spot. Yeah one nil to Spain.  

 

? (Iran): V : Super Bock (Portugal): 0-1

SuperBock on its own, nice and smooth. No competition, so Portugal take top sport in my World Cup of Beer,  Group B.

 

? (Iran): V : Estrella Galicia (Spain): 0-1

Estrella with no competition, enjoyable enough cold on a hot summers day watching the football.

 

Gallas Cerveja (Portugal): V : Casablanca (Morocco): 1-0

Had a Gallas IPA, was ok, much better than the bland lager Casablanca that has proven to be a disappointment so far in the beer world cup, a bit like their football team to be honest!

 

Casablanca (Morocco): V : ? (Iran): 1-0

Unlike the football Casablanca won this one, just as well as it was pretty shitty, but with no competition from Iran, they take the win. 

 

Estrella Galicia (Spain): V : Gallas Cerveja (Portugal) 0-1 

Gallas Wit Cinco de Abril Versus Estrella Galicia. Although I enjoyed both beers, I will give this one to Gallas, as it was just that bit more fruity and tasteful.  1-0 to Portugal. 

                                  ……………………………………………………………………………………

Three nations here that I can play around with. Iran dont do beer, full stop, a big no, no! But interestingly Morocco do, a lager called Casablanca from, eh, Casablanca. While I got two standard beers from Spain and Portugal, football special Super Bock, and Estrella Galicia. But I also got some interesting Portuguese beers from Gallas Cerveja which might shake the group up. But lets see…….

Gallas Cerveja

Super Bock

Estrella Galicia 

Casablanca Beer

                        No beer, no fun from Iran, guess a good kebab will suffice though

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Casablanca Beer

Casablanca Beer

Casablanca Beer 

http://www.brasseries-maroc.com/fr/produits/casablanca/

Brewed by Société des Brasseries du Maroc (Heineken)
Style: Pale Lager 
Casablanca, Morocco 

Casablanca Beer

As one can imagine it can be difficult to find a beer from a Muslim nation, but yes, there are beers in Morocco and one of the most prominent is Casablanca Beer. Originally created in 1996, for the export market only, it is now also available locally too. Produced by Société des Brasseries du Maroc, who do a few other local beers, Spéciale Flag (pilsner) and Stork (light lager) are two examples, but it is their Casablanca that is their premium brand. They also brew and distribute Heineken and Amstel under license, and also offer a selection of wines for sale. 

Beer was first introduced into Morocco by those pesky french, and even though it is a Muslim country in which it is against the religion to consume alcohol, the nation of Morocco is not as strict about alcohol as other Islamic states. Instead, it allows the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims where you can find alcohol in the larger cities and coastal towns served usually in bars and cafes, and the very odd tourist pub.

The beer does be sold abroad in specific world beer shops and the like, and is known as “Casa Beer” in North America.

Review: 0.33l Bottle of Casablanca Premium beer: ABV: 5.0%

Coming in a rather nice brown bottle with a lovely logo of Casablanca and a palm tree, with the description “Original lager from Morocco”.

On pour it looks ok, it has a nice golden colour with a white head that is decent sized and frothy. Some carbonation is going on. Overall it is an ok looking beer.

For the aroma I get some malts and an overall lagery smell. Faint but ok.

Had it nice and cold straight from the fridge, and yeah initially it was relatively nice and refreshing to drink.

But overall, it was light, nothing too heavy here, and not much character either. Very light bodied and drinkable, get a slight taste of the malts and grains but very little else. Not a great beer, bland, and largely forgettable.

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World Cup of Beer Group A

Group A

Group A Results and Final Placings

 ? (Uruguay): V :Knightberg Indian Pale Ale (Russia): 0-1
? (Saudi Arabia): V : ? (Egypt): 1-1
? (Uruguay): V : ? (Saudi Arabia): 0-0
Knightberg American Pale Ale (Russia): V : ? (Egypt): 1-0
(Uruguay) ?: V : ? (Egypt): 0-0
Knightberg Baltic Porter (Russia): V 😕 (Saudi Arabia): 1-0

RUSSIA: 9  Qualify

SAUDI ARABIA 2 Qualify

……………………………………………………………………….

URUGUAY: 2

EGYPT: 2

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

? (Uruguay): V :Knightberg Indian Pale Ale (Russia): 0-1

Had a Knightberg Indian Pale Ale, was mighty strong stuff. Lucky there was no opposition. Russia go through as leaders of my Group A beer World Cup. In truth, they had no opposition! 

 

? (Saudi Arabia): V : ? (Egypt): 1-1

No beer, had a nice tasty kebab though, score all draw?

 

? (Uruguay): V : ? (Saudi Arabia): 0-0

No beer, no fun, nothing but a dull nil all game! Nothing to report. 

 

Knightberg American Pale Ale (Russia): V : ? (Egypt): 1-0

Had a nice American Pale Ale from Knightberg, lovely and tasty and like in the football, made it 2/2 in the beer world cup for Russia, and through to the last 16. 

 

(Uruguay) ?: V : ? (Egypt): 0-0

As there was no beer to be had, settled down to watch the game with a nice big ham and cheese baguette and a lovely cup of tea. 

 

Knightberg Baltic Porter (Russia): V 😕 (Saudi Arabia): 1-0

Opening beer of the World Cup for me, and what a beer it was, or rather a jet black porter with a lovely tanned head. Excellent, I do love me porters. It was so good that part of me regrets having it gone so early in the competition. It really sets the bar high, and with no competition it was a victory for Russia on day one.

                                      ……………………………………………………………………………………

No competition for Russia in this group, no harm as I can safely enjoy the Knightberg beers I got.

Knightberg Microbrewery

Knightberg, a Russian revolutionary

No beer, no fun from Saudi Arabia, guess a good kebab will suffice though

I guess in Uruguay they might be partial to taco’s, not beer anyway as I couldn’t find any.

Egypt, another country with no beer history, another kebab so. 

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World Cup 2018 Opening Ceremony

World Cup 2018 Opening Ceremony

Opening Ceremony, Russia 2018

In South Africa they had the awful Vuvuzela’s and Shakira dancing with little black babies, ah the cute little things, but very little else. While in Brazil they not only had Shakira back but this time she brought a little dog with her, Pitbull. More dirge, and very little for me to signify a World Cup was in Brazil. (Edit I see it was Jennifer Lopez and not Shakira, my mistake not knowing the difference between the generic leggy Latino pop stars, me bad!) 

Still the best World cups for me in terms of atmosphere or world cup songs was the Korea/Japan event where the passion came from the stands, and the 1990’s when music was still something to behold. 

So will Russia be any different? You would like to think so, but this time round we are going to be treated to “Live It Up” by Nicky Jam feat. Will Smith & Era Istrefi. I know Will Smith, but had to Google the other two, an American rapper and an Albanian singer, great! Not only did they not get a Russian to headline, they also are singing in English. Why does everything have to be diluted into corporate nonsense? Will Smith! Really? And why always is it rap shite, ok granted footballers have generally bad taste in music, but why do the fans have to suffer?

So I probably wont be looking at the opening ceremony. The music might be trash, sorry, will be trash, and I couldn’t really stomach seeing the corporate in their suits guffawing in the prawn sandwich seats, while doing the two step to look down with the kids. 

But to be fair, generally opening ceremony’s be they in Olympics or World Cups are a bit dull. The best for me was definitely the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. They had an open air concert, with a good combo of traditional and modern music. The worst was Beijing, everything was faked even the fireworks. Makes you wonder why they even bothered. 

As for music, surely the best ever was Pavarotti and his rendition of  “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini‘s Turandot. Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras, “The Three Tenors” of 1990, will linger long in the memory. 

Pavarotti with the best World Cup song EVER

The Open Ceremony, Russia, 2018? Nah, will pass. The football should be more than enough to get me in the mood. But if I did miss something be sure to tell me!

And the best World Cup Song representing a national team, definitely this one………………

 

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