The Beer World Cup Final and 3rd/4th play off game kick off soon. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking to round off a month of boozing during our beer World Cup.

World Cup of Beer 2014 FINAL

England V Germany

London Pride V Friedenfelser/Lowenbrau/Karlskrone

4-3 To the German beers, but just about. London Pride was up against three tough German competitors but did well considering the amount of beers that were sampled!

London Pride is a very enjoyable British pale ale, with it distinctive 330ml bottle. On pour you get a lovely amber reddish colour with a small head. The aroma is of some biscuit malts and earthy hops with hints of caramel sweetness. Nice. A lovely refreshing flavour which hits the taste buds immediately. It tastes of light caramel, some earthy hops with a mild bitter aftertaste. It has a different, subtle, complex taste to it than what you can expect from a lot of beers, which has to be appreciated. I also found it a bit strong in the taste which I enjoyed, more of a kick to it than other ales. Overall, London Pride is a solid pale ale, with lots of flavour, and was fairly easy to drink, a good session beer. Enjoyable and was good to sample a few of them on a long football might.

As I had a variety of beers to sample from Germany lets go through each one by one. Friedenfelser Pils Leicht was a good introduction to the German beers, light, easy to drink, solid taste and looked good. The appearance was a clear pale yellow body with a smallish white head on top with fair lacing. As soon as the bottle was opened you get hit with a rustic sweet smell of malts and grains. Very enticing. The taste is sour and sweet with pale malts and some hay, and with a fine bitterness in the end. A quite dry and refreshing beer and, as it a low alcohol Pils, it does a good job. Lots of flavor, easy to drink, with a nice hoppy finish.

Friedenfelser Urtyp Hell was ok, good for a session. The appearance was of a lovely golden yellow colour, with a good frothy head. It had good moderate smells of malts and grains with notes of grassy hops. The flavours, the best part of the beer, are of a light sweetness, a grainy malt taste and a light hop note. It tasted very nice and smooth with no real strong overpowering flavours, that makes this drink an excellent session beer.

The problem I have with Friedenfelser Hefe-Weizen (Hell) is that no matter what I do it keeps blowing on opening, showing the high amount of carbonation within the beer. The colour was of a very clear orange beer with a nice frothy head, that looked very appealing. The aroma was quite strong with notes of sweet banana, yeast and wheat. I thought the taste was fantastic, very nice, very easy to drink. It tasted very sweet, and contained flavours of yeast and wheat, with a strong fruity banana aroma, and the aftertaste, was very manageable. Overall it was a good, pure and clear well balanced drink with a nice strong feel to it. I liked it but it is annoying that it seems it cant be opened without it fizzing everywhere

For the Friedenfelser Pils, it smelt good. Its aroma has notes of bread, grain, malt and grass with some citric hop notes. The appearance had a good frothy head with a golden yellow colour on pour with a thin white head. The taste was nice and balanced, a very easy and pleasant drink to quench the thirst. The flavours have a light sweetness and notes of malt, bread, straw, with a hint of citric hops and the bitter finish is moderate. It’s a very good Pilsener, with a light body, that was enjoyable to drink on the night.

Friedenfelser Urtyp Alkoholfrei. To be honest this beer wasn’t worth the effort. I hated it. Really don’t know why anyone would want to drink non alcoholic beer, whats the point. It tasted rubbish, and was way too fizzy. Struggled to finish it.

Tried Friedenfelser’s Radler, a light fruit drink that is a bit fizzy but lovely on taste. The appearance is of a light clear yellow colour with a small white head. If honest, it didn’t look very appealing. The aroma has strong notes of citric lemon, and malts. Again it wasn’t very appealing, kind of smelt like deodorant! But all that is overridden by the very good sweet flavours within the beer itself. The taste was of strong citrus flavours but also contained some artificial sweetener. Fruity, sweet, smooth, and a good taste. Not a beer taste but a light soft drink taste, but enjoyable all the same. Recommended if looking for a light beer to quickly quench the thirst. Not bad.

For Löwenbräu the appearance was of a gorgeous golden yellow colour that had a very good head and great lacing. Looked good. Found a faint aroma, smelt mostly of what a normal smelling lager should be like, malty and refreshing. Was a lovely tasting drink that had no strong flavours or bitter aftertaste to it, just an awfully good session drink.  A clean, crisp, smooth and well balanced beer, Löwenbräu was really easy to enjoy. A good pure Deutsche lager. Refreshing.

To be honest I found Karlskrone one of the better beers of the night. I really cant get my head round how affordable this lager is and that Aldi, of all places, sells top quality beer. Had all the qualities you expect from a good lager: Good clear colour, nice head, smooth nice aftertaste, does the job, perfect. Pours a nice clear golden coloured beer, and a decent sized head formed with quite good retention. There was a clear strong aroma of grainy malt and stale hops that smelled of straw/rice. The smell was very sweet. The taste was also very sweet and left a sickly bitter aftertaste that I enjoyed. The flavour was of sweet grain and malt. A beer that I like a lot!

Overall London Pride is a decent ale, tops. And was more than equal to the Germans, but I just give the victory to Germany for the Karlskrone and Friedenfelser Hefe-Weizen which slightly put them ahead. Needless to say the next morning I had a raging hangover, thank god the World Cup of football and beer is over as I need to return to normality and reintroduce myself to the wife!

3RD/4TH PLAY-OFFS

Chile V  USA

Nomade V Samuel Adams, 2-1 to Nomade: I went with the Nomade Blonde Ale this time around and boy I wasn’t disappointed. It was tasty and sweet, very sweet. On pour there was quite a large head that settled very nicely with some lacing. The colour was golden and the aroma had a very strong sweetly smell of yeast and some fruit, particular orange. The ale had a very balanced taste that included grains, yeast, citrus and fruit flavours. Quite an interesting mix for an ale but it was damn easy to drink and overall a very enjoyable ale experience. Recommended.  Samuel Adams Lager, was also a great drink that scored well on taste, smell and appearance. The appearance was great, a brilliant dark golden colour with a good sized frothy head that hangs around a while leaving decent lacing. It has the look of a real beer. I got faint smells of malts and a bit of floral hops. The smell was pleasant and not overbearing. The Samuel Adams taste had a variety of strong flavours from the hops and malt which were well balanced, all tingling away at my taste buds. Caramel was one taste that stood out. The finish is strong with a long lasting heavy aftertaste. Overall a nice solid beer and a great delicious taste.  Samuel Adams is a beer that you will remember. Two beers, both recommended, but I give the victory, just slightly mind, to Nomade for having really good fruit flavours that stuck out in an ale that surprised. 

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The Beer World Cup quarter finals now gets under way. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking during the later stages of the Football World Cup

                Chile V Japan

Kirin Ichiban V Nomade Scotch Ale: 0-1 to Nomade. Looked good, nice fruity and malty aroma, with a taste that was of a sweet malty flavor with notes of grapes and smoked malts. The expected aftertaste wasn’t overwhelming, and the flavours kicked in near the end. It wins out as it was a stronger drink with stronger tastes. Kirin is a nice light pale lager that goes down easy and smooth. On pouring, the appearance was of a pale yellow colour with a very big creamy head that lingers for some time, and leaves a bit of lacing on the glass. Had a nice look to it. Kirin also had a sweet smell of a light grain and malt aroma. The taste also had some initial sweetness followed by a very enjoyable bitter aftertaste of hops, kind of creamy. Tastes of hay, wheat, and light floral hops. A good clean, crisp beer, smooth, I liked it. Nice but its the quarter finals and I go for the ale this time around, the stronger the drink and alcohol content the better chance of progression at this stage of my competition!

Germany V Argentina

Quilmes V Friedenfelser Hefe-Weizen. 0-2 Win for Friedenfelser as its taste was delicious and left me wanting more! A lot of carbonation but that’s normal for a German wheat beer. Once it settled the colour was of a very clear orange beer with a nice frothy head, that looked very appealing.The aroma was quite strong with notes of sweet banana, yeast and wheat.But it pulled way ahead of Quilmes due to its fantastic taste and was very nice, very easy to drink. It tasted very sweet, and contained flavours of yeast and wheat, with a strong fruity banana aroma, and the aftertaste, was very manageable. Overall it was a good, pure and clear well balanced drink with a nice strong feel to it. Quilmes was also a decent beer, drinkable and does the business, i.e quenches the thirst. It has a very interesting taste of a little corn and grain sweetness to open it up, a kind of sickly sweet, with a bitter aftertaste in the end. A nice beer, enjoyable, but no match for a Bavarian master brew. Again Freidenfelser pull out a winning beer from their vast collection. 

               Australia V England

VB Bitter V London Pride. 1-2 Win for London Pride. The Ale from England’s capital city gets victory in a very close battle with VB of Australia. London Pride pours an amber reddish colour with a very good sized head. The aroma of some biscuit malts and earthy hops with hints of caramel sweetness, is all pretty great on the nose. While the taste is of light caramel, some earthy hops with a mild bitter aftertaste. I also found it a bit strong in the taste which I enjoyed, more of a kick to it than other ales. Australia’s famous VB with its iconic brown stubby, and the famous aftertaste, pours a dark golden color, clear, topped with a thin white head with good retention.The aroma is mostly of faint grains, sweet malts and low hops. It has a sweet malty taste, and the expected creamy aftertaste hits you pretty quickly. I have gotten to appreciate VB over the course of these few weeks, and its now a beer I can definitely say I have developed a taste for, but London Pride gets this victory as its taste is more subtle and complex, having a lot of interesting flavours that make the beer easy to enjoy and strong enough to give me a good alcohol buzz.

                  Nigeria V USA

Guinness Export V Samuel Adams. 1-2 Win for Samuel Adams in a close battle, that both beers held up well in. Guinness Extra Stout has its unique taste, with its famous black colour and tan whitish head, that smells of, well, Guinness! The smell is very strong on the nose, and is of dark cocoa, coffee and roasted malts. The taste is also quite strong, with a long bitter aftertaste, that had a bite to it. Overall a good strong stout, tasting of roasted malt with traces of coffee. Samuel Adams, on the other hand, had a great appearance, of a nice dark golden colour with a good sized frothy head that hangs around. The look of a decent beer. The smell was pleasant and not overbearing, of malts and a bit of floral hops. The Samuel Adams taste had a variety of strong flavours from the hops and malt which were well balanced, all tingling away at my taste buds. Caramel was one taste that stood out. The finish is strong with a long lasting heavy aftertaste. Overall a nice solid beer and a great delicious taste. I gave the victory to Samuel Adams for two reasons. One it had better flavouring, and the other factor was that it was much smoother, so hence more enjoyable than the strong stout. 

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The Beer World Cup semi finals now gets under way. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking during the later stages of the Football World Cup.

 Chile V Germany

Nomade Scotch Ale V Friedenfelser Pils 1-2 to the German Pils. The Bavarian beer wins in this close contest. The pils isn’t much to look at but more than makes up for that with its good aroma and great smooth taste. An appearance of a golden yellow colour on pour with a thin white head that doesn’t last, but the aroma, on the other hand, is lovely and it smells like a true German style Pils that you can’t wait to start on. The aroma has notes of bread, grain, malt and grass with some citric hop notes. A good smell. The taste was nice and balanced, with flavours which had a light sweetness and notes of malt, bread, straw, with a hint of citric hops and the bitter finish is moderate. It’s a very good Pilsener, with a light body and one that I could drink all night. Another top beer from the Friedenfelser collection. In opposition, Nomade Scotch Ale, was good and had a gorgeous aroma that smelt of fruit and malts, and a taste that was also very smooth and full of great flavours. The taste was a sweet malty flavour with notes of grapes and smoked malts. It also had a small bitter aftertaste that wasn’t overwhelming. One disappointment was that the colour didn’t appeal, looked a little flat, but overall a solid ale that I found quite strong to drink, with a kick in the end of each mouthful that did the business. Both brews I enjoyed, the ale was more flavourful, while the Pils was smoother, so I just gave the victory to the Pils for the fact that it was the brew I wanted to continue watching the game in extra time with, but only just. A tight victory.

England V  USA

London Pride V Samuel Adams: 2-1 to London Pride in this battle between two famous beers that represent their respective cities, London and Boston, very well. Samuel Adams, is a very good looking beer, that pours a dark golden colour with a nice sized frothy head that hangs around a while, leaving a good amount of lacing left on the glass. The smell was also top quality. I got a good earthy smell of malts and some floral hops. The Samuel Adams taste had a variety of strong flavours from the hops and malt which were well balanced, all tingling away at my taste buds. The finish is very strong with a long lasting heavy aftertaste. Overall a nice solid beer and a great delicious taste that is both memorable and enjoyable. I like this beer! But London Pride gets the win, just about. As I really do enjoy the complexities of flavours that it has going on inside the bottle. It pours a lovely amber reddish colour with some white head that doesn’t last too long. Unlike Samuel Adams, London Pride isn’t much of a looker. The aroma, though, has a nice sweet smell to it of some biscuit malts and earthy hops with hints of caramel. Nice. Its the taste that is the most important factor to this drink. A lovely refreshing flavour which hits the taste buds immediately. It tastes of light caramel, some earthy hops with a mild bitter aftertaste. It has a different, subtle, complex taste to it than what you can expect from a lot of beers, which has to be appreciated. I also found it a bit strong in the taste which I enjoyed, more of a kick to it than other ales and regular beers. It was also a better session drink so I gave the victory to London Pride and into the final they go. 

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The Beer World Cup last 16 now gets under way. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking during the Football World Cup

                Brazil V Chile

Skol Lager V Nomade Scotch Ale: 0-2. Gave the win to Nomade as an ale it is always going to come out victorious over a light lager, no contest really. Sorry Skol, nice and all that you are, but its sweetness versus an ale tasting of traditional and smoked malts. Skol is a lovely beer that goes down very well, nice taste not bitter, and very very sweet. A nice looking beer too, decent head and appearance, with an lovely aroma of sweet corns, grain and hay.  All very nice but I as said against a good ale it wont win. Nomade with its interesting fruity and malty aromas,  a taste of sweet malts with hints of grapes and smoked malts. And a small bitter aftertaste that wasn’t overwhelming. And by the end Nomade was the alcohol that was strongest in terms of power for your buck. Victory to the plucky Chileans.

              Japan V Costa Rica

Kirin Ichiban V Imperial Beer. 1-0 to Kirin Ichiban. The Japanese beer was pretty nice and quite drinkable with a lovely pale yellow colour appearance that had a very good sized creamy head that lasted. A good look. Imperial also looked the part. Crystal clear, pale golden straw colour, and, on pour, a small frothy white appeared. Both beers about equal on appearance. Both beers also about equal on smell, both having sweet aromas of toasted malt and a not overpowering smell, faint but nice. But it was the taste that separates the two similar beers. Both sweet, yes. Both smooth, refreshing and light, yes. But I felt that Kirin just edged it with its flavouring. Had more flavours that you could taste, of hay, wheat, and light floral hops, with what tasted like a subtle creamy aftertaste that was enjoyable. Imperial also had a creamy aftertaste of its own, but for some reason it left a dryer feeling in the mouth. Close, but Kirin wins this battle.

             France V Argentina

Kronenbourg V Quilmes: 0-1 to Quilmes, who just shaded it in a very tight contest between two beers who match each other very well. Kronenbourg is a nicer looking beer, with an appearance that is hard to beat, a lovely clear amber colour, with a nice frothy white head. Quilmes, although decent, cant beat the French beer here. Both beers smelt sweet. Quilmes probably more obvious than Kronenbourg, with a malty aroma. For taste which is, of course, the most important factor, Quilmes just edged it. Kronenbourg has a lot of very interesting and complex flavouring going on: from fruit, sweet caramel malts, honey, to a sweet malt taste at the start followed up with a mild hop bitterness. All in all a good variety of flavours. Quilmes had also an interesting mix. There’s a little corn and grain sweetness to open it up, a kind of sickly sweet. It does eventually settle down into a nice decent drink and there is a bitter aftertaste which grows on you. It’s this aftertaste that gets the victory for Quilmes, a more lingering memory.

Germany V Russia

Baltika 6 Porter V Friedenfelser Urtyp Hell: 1-2 to Friedenfelser in a very very close contest, that went to extra time. I really enjoyed both beers, both different but with their own unique good tastes and quality’s. The final decision was which beer I would drink in extra time, and I went with the German beer, just. Baltika Porter, surprised me, I wasn’t expecting a porter from Russia to be so delicious. Appearance good, black and decent creamy head, its a porter after all. Strong aroma of chocolate and roasted malts, enticing. For a porter it didn’t have a very bitter taste, it was more sweet than bitter, and this meant it was very easy to drink. The taste was of dark chocolate, coffee and roasted malt, not overwhelming and not strong. But despite how smooth it was, there was a kick to it, that 7%ABV is there and you will notice it! Friedenfelser’s Urtyp Hell, on the other hand, was a lovely tasting beer that I could have drank all night. Good appearance of a lovely golden yellow colour, with a decent frothy head. Good aromas of malts and grains with notes of grassy hops. But it has a winnable taste that I loved. The flavours were of a light sweetness, a grainy malt taste and a light hop note. It tasted very nice and smooth and the flavours were not overbearing, making this beer an excellent session beer, and one of the best that I have had in this Beer World Cup. The beer that I wanted to drink more of in extra time was Friedenfelser Urtyp Hell

               Australia V Mexico

VB Bitter V Corona: 3-0 to VB Bitter. Not really a whole lot to say. A strong “bitter” is not going to lose to a light beer, not in my World Cup anyway. Corona is a light beer that has a great refreshing taste, with flavours that are not overwhelming making the beer go down smooth and easily, but I want to actually taste something in my beer and VB does that for me, especially with its famous sour aftertaste.

            England V Colombia

London Pride V Club Colombia: 2-1 to London Pride. Club Colombia, much like its football team, have surprised me in this beer World Cup. I have found it to be a very tasty refreshingly good beer, with a nice looking body that was enjoyable to drink. It pours a lovely clear gold body, with a decent frothy head that lasts and has a smell that is not overpowering but sweet and corn like. The taste was of sweet toasted malts with no real aftertaste. A decent light tasting beer that I would recommend for a good session. But up against a strong ale in London Pride a lager will have to be much more than just nice. It would have to be seriously amazing to beat London Pride’s taste extravaganza! London Pride with its famous amber reddish colour, aromas of some biscuit malts and earthy hops with hints of caramel sweetness, and tastes of light caramel, some earthy hops with a mild bitter aftertaste. Its taste is unique to London Pride, lots of flavours, subtle and complex. I also enjoyed the strong aftertaste, which made you feel in no doubt that you were drinking a strong ale.  A win for the English ale.

     Nigeria V Switzerland

Feldschlösschen Original Pale Lager V Guinness Export: 2-0 to Guinness Export as the stout beats the light tasting lager. Feldschlösschen is a good beer, with a nice taste and easy to drink. The appearance is of a pure clear yellow colour, bright and clean with a good big frothy head on top that stays. Looks refreshing and tantalisingly good. The aroma is light and malty, on the grainy side but with a little sweetness. The taste is of a classic lager style, nice crisp and a smooth refreshing drink. Grain dominates the taste with very little bitterness. Not complex, well balanced, and very easy to drink. Could drink these all day long. Could, but up against Guinness Export it wont win. Simply because of the flavouring, or lack of it in the Feldschlösschen lager. Guinness Export is the complete opposite, full of exciting and interesting flavours, that had a very powerful aftertaste. It pours the expected pitch black colour with a tan whitish head. A very strong aroma of dark cocoa, coffee and roasted malts. The smell is quite strong on the nose. It was a very strong tasting stout, with a long bitter aftertaste, that had a bite to it. Overall a good strong stout, tasting of roasted malt with traces of coffee. As you would expect with a Guinness stout the flavours are complex and well balanced, making it one of the worlds richest tasting beers, and no contest for a nice, very nice, but bland Swiss lager. 

           USA V South Korea

Samuel Adams V Hite Lager: 2-0 to Samuel Adams.  The American craft beer classic beats the Korean lager comfortably enough. Strong flavours, from the hops and malt, well balanced, with hints of caramel that lingers in the tongue. This is a delicious beer that looks great, golden with a good sized frothy head. Smell of malts and a bit of floral hops. This is a good all round package, good taste, smell and, of course, taste. Easy to like and enjoy. Hite lager is a nice, pleasant tasting beer, but I am looking for more than session beers at this stage of my beer world cup. Sweet, clear and crisp is all good but it will need a bit more to beat Samuel Adams. Hite is perfect as a session beer, as it goes down well, is pleasant and refreshing, and I would recommend it as a beer when having a nice meal.

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