Tag Archives: World beers

Sol Cerveza

Sol Cerveza

Sol Cerveza

www.sol.com/

Brewed by Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma Brewery (Heineken)
Style: Pale Lager 
Monterrey/Orizaba, Mexico

Sol CervezaCerveza Sol is a lager from the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery in Mexico city, which is a mouthful to say! A popular brew, particularly liked on a hot summer’s day, sold in over 50 countries worldwide.

Founded in 1899 inside a small brewery near Mexico City called “El Salto del Agua”, a German brewmaster observed a sunbeam falling on the cooking pot; this natural phenomenon caught his attention, and in honor of that experience, he christened his new beer as “The Sun” (“Sol”). The beer soon became popular amongst the hard working ordinary people of the city who liked a beer or two after a hard days work. 

In 1912, Cervecería Moctezuma acquired El Salto del Agua, and with it came the expansion of Cerveza Sol all around Mexico, but it wasn’t until the 1980’s that the brand started to get international significance with mass advertising in the UK, Germany and the USA. In 2010 the brand was acquired by Heineken International.

Sol has a habit of sponsoring football, at one stage it sponsored 15 teams in Mexico, under the slogan “football unites us”. They also sponsored the national team of Mexico. Well that’s one way to get people to drink your beer, as we all know how much football heads like to drink cheap alcohol!

Other products they make are Cerveza Sol Clamato, a red coloured shandy and Cerveza Sol Sal y Limón, a 4.5% vol lemon beer.

Review: 33cl clear bottle of Sol: 4.5% vol.

Sol CervezaComing in a light long necked bottle with the iconic sun logo of Sol, eye catching. This is a summer drink no doubt about it! Looks similar to Corona in its presentation and style, I thought it was when I initially looked at it! Can get it in cans too, but not sure for tap.

It is a beach time beer anyhow, Acapulco style, dont know how it will work though in the Northern European wet and cold harsh climate, but let’s see………

Through the bottle it looks a light yellow, but on pour we do get a nice sparkling golden colour with a very frothy creamy white head, a nice good bit of carbonation fizzing away. Some lacing present as well.

Looks ok, like a regular light lager would. Head maintains well. Surprisingly good on the eye.

Sol CervezaA light lagery aroma which isn’t too bad on the nose getting the corn, and the grains. Ok.

On the taste it is very, very light, initially getting a creamy flavour, bit dry in the mouth as well.

Slight aftertaste of corn syrup which is not enjoyable.

This is a very light lager, but it has a dryness and a bit of a metallic feel to it that lets it down.
Overall it is not nice, and not as smooth as it should be.

Bit of an underlay taste and a harsh citric bitterness that’s annoying. A pass for me. A nothing beer.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Tiger Beer

Tiger Beer

Tiger Beer

www.tigerbeer.com

Brewed by Singapore Brewery (Asia Pacific Breweries-Heineken)
Style: Pale Lager
Alexandra Point, Singapore

Launched in 1932, Tiger beer is a best selling brew from the small Asian country of Singapore. It is very popular and is Asia’s number one beer brand owned and run by Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd, formerly Malayan Breweries Ltd.

Tiger BeerThe brewing giant from The Netherlands, Heineken have always had a helping hand in the creation of this iconic brand. They came up with the idea of a brewery this side of the world, but were initially thinking of Indonesia, as the nation was a Dutch colony, but were denied. Singapore was then chosen. Together with Fraser and Neave (F&N), Heineken launched Malayan Breweries in 1931, and a year later we got Tiger Beer. Today, Heineken owns 42% of the shares of Asia Pacific Breweries.

Today Tiger Beer is brewed in 11 countries and is available in over 70 countries worldwide, from the US and the UK to the ever burgeoning market of China. The beer has also won numerous awards down through the years, including the Gold Medals for “International-Style Lager” and “European Style Pilsner” in the 2004 and 2010 editions of the World Beer Cup.

It is quite a popular beer, especially in Asia, and  has used “There’s always time for a Tiger” as its catchphrase since the 1930s, made famous by the British author Anthony Burgess, him of A Clockwork Orange fame, named his 1956 first novel “Time for a Tiger” (the first part of the Malayan trilogy The Long Day Wanes) after the slogan of the iconic beer.  

It’s not only Tiger lager that the brewery produces, they also have a “Tiger Crystal” which was launched in 2010, is a beer cooled down to a temperature of -1 degree Celsius. Its “Tiger Radler”, released in 2013, uses natural lemon juice with the beer. In 2016, Tiger Beer introduced “Tiger Black”, a type of black beer that is steeped with Asian black rice, which sounds very interesting,  and “Tiger White”, a type of German wheat beer infused with coriander, clove and citrus.

Review: 500ml bottle of Tiger Beer: 4.8% vol.

Tiger BeerCan find it as 5% vol. in other regions of the world. Comes in a bottle, can or from the tap.  Popular in Asia especially as it is the perfect beer to have as the sun goes down.

Unlike a lot of other Asian beers, Tiger actually use quality ingredients from Australia and Europe. No shitty rice beers here!

Love the famous iconic branding, the famous tiger logo and nice big colourful lettering, the blue, orange and gold. Stands out for sure. On the bottle we get “World acclaimed Asian lager”, born in Singapore and this is an “award winning full bodied beer”. 

On the pour I am getting a nice clear golden coloured beer with a white head that is a little on the small side. Some slight carbonation. Ok on the looks. 

The aroma is not great, very light, an ok lagery smell, all malty and grainy on the nose but too light and a little too much corn and very sweet.

The taste is easy enough to appreciate, was very soft on the tongue, nice and crisp.

Nice frothy mouthfuls initially, and also getting some corn in the taste.

Tiger BeerTasted like a regular lager, no real complaints there. Perhaps a little creamy off taste but generally it was ok. Getting the malts and grains, and the fruits, with the hops on the low level.

To be frank I was a little disappointed as the overall taste was ok but nothing too exciting, a bit bland in fact, nothing to set it apart from the millions of lagers out there. Disappointed as I have had this beer many a time when I was in Asia. In fact it was my most favourite beer that side of the world, lovely from the taps. I just guess it doesn’t travel well, and not so exciting in a bottle thousands of miles away from home. Perfect for the hot humid Asian cityscape, not so when its piddling down in bog town Ireland!

Overall it was light, smooth and drinkable but with no kick or standout features. Boring.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Excelsior Lager

Excelsior Lager

Excelsior Lager

www.tcb-beverages.com/en

Brewed by Champigneulles (TCB Beverages)
Style: Pale Lager
Meurthe-et-Moselle France

Excelsior LagerNot much info on this beer online, needless to say that’s the way they like it in cheap discount beer land, just buy the fucker and dont worry about it. 

Brewed for the supermarket chain Lidl, and sold at a relatively cheap price. This is bargain basement beer!

Yet the name “Excelsior“ is Latin for “ever upward” and represents superior quality and of excellence! 

Review: 500ml blue can of Excelsior Lager: 4.0% vol.

Can find it with 4.1% to 3.9 % in strength, depending on the region. 

Coming in a pretty cool looking logo of a Knight’s sword, in a nice blue can. 

Excelsior LagerAroma is pretty shit, in fact it smells a bit like shit, had the aroma of a fart! Lagery smell, and very metallic on the nose. Not great!

Looks good on pour, a nice frothy white head, nice and creamy, and a golden coloured beer on show. Not bad. Head maintains well, and some good lacing apparent. 

Get a lot in the can.

Bit of an off taste found initially, not great at all……….

Overall, it is a bit tasteless, and any taste you do get is bittersweet and lacking in flavouring.

Second can, it improved a little, and was slightly easier to drink, a bit smoother and nicer on the old stomach, but still lacking any real depth to the beer. Malty and a little hoppy, but overall not a nice beer at all. Very forgetful and not worth trying again, cheap as it is and all………..

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Lucky Jack American Pale Ale

Lucky Jack American Pale Ale

Lucky Jack American Pale Ale

www.lervig.no/

Brewed by Lervig Aktiebryggeri
Style: Pale Ale
Stavanger, Norway

Lucky Jack American Pale AleLervig Aktiebryggeri, in the city of Stavanger, southern Norway, was founded in 2003 by Kristoffer Stensrud.

The brewery is part owned by an American investment fund called Orkila Capital who, in 2018, purchased 50% of the company. The investment fund itself is part of, Danish brewery, Mikkellers investment portfolio.

The craft brewery produce a wide range of beers from easy-drinking pilsners and pale ales to barrel-aged stouts, barley wines, and sours, exporting about a third of all their beers abroad.

Review: 0,33l bottle of Lucky Jack American Pale Ale: 4.7% vol.

A beer from a brewery once rated as one of the top 100 breweries in the world according to a well known beer rating site, ok so lets see about that then……..

Cool enough logo on the bottle, a rugged character looking out to sea, nice blue colouring. 

Lucky Jack American Pale AleOn pour get a massive white head with a lot of carbonation, fizzing away like mad, a lively beer from the start!
A golden coloured beer with what looks like a reddish hue, and after we get a well maintained white creamy head that lasts. Some lacing present.

Looks very nice, like a fine wine! To be looked at and admired. Good start.

Holy fuck that smell is powerful stuff, very strong on the nose, very spicy and very fruity, both regular fruits and the more tropical ones too. 

The toxicity level is high, nearly afraid to drink this fella! Floral smell, and that smell off the hops, is powerful and very intense. Bit like nail varnish or paint stripper. Piney as well.

Lucky Jack American Pale AleTastes like your average IPA, strong in the hops and in the taste. A long gentle bitter finish with this one. This beer has three hops, the citrus flavouring Citra hops, the Chinook hops tasting of grapefruits, and the fruity Amarillo hops, and boy does it show as all three are easily found on the taste buds. 

Not a bad beer, very, very tasty, grains, hops and the light tropical fruits all lovely on the tongue, going down nice, this is a beer to sip and enjoy. Also can taste the yeast, a slight kick to let you know its there all the same!

Taste is hoppy, of course, but the balance between sweetness and hoppiness is exactly spot on.  
A nice tasting beer that is definitely worth looking at again.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Nøgne Ø Two Captains

Nøgne Ø Two Captains

Nøgne Ø Two Captains Double IPA

www.nogne-o.com/

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Double IPA
Grimstad, Norway

Nøgne Ø Two CaptainsFounded in 2002, by Gunnar Wiig and Kjetil Jikiun, Nøgne Ø is a Norwegian beer that has been kicking ass for a while now on the various online beer review sites.

Nøgne Ø, is an old Danish word for “Naked Isle”, highlighting the barren and rugged landscape off Norway’s rough coastal waters. It was selected from a 19th-century Norwegian poem called Terje Vigen by Henrik Ibsen.

In 2013 Hansa Borg Bryggerier, a family run Norwegian brewery and distribution company which markets beer, bottled water and carbonated drinks, acquired a majority share in Nøgne Ø. This resulted in Nøgne Ø growing in production in size and output, and now make more than 30 different styles of craft beers and ales, and export to more than 40 countries worldwide. The styles include seasonal beers, a wide variety of pale ales, Belgians, lagers and traditional ales, porters and stouts and anything else they can think of. For a while they also produced their own version of Sake, a first in Europe, but have since discontinued this, best to leave that to the Japanese I think!

Review: 0,33l brown bottle of Nøgne Ø Two Captains Double IPA: 8.5% vol.

Listed in the top 100 breweries in the World by a certain beer rating site every year since 2006 to 2018, so this better be good so. It will be my first try out with a beer from Norway.

Nøgne Ø Two CaptainsThis award winning beer, first brewed in 2010, had its recipe made up by an airline captain and part time homebrewer Jan Halvor Fjeld. Nøgne Ø’s head brewer at that time was also a pilot, hence the name, Two Captains! 

Interesting brown bottle with a logo that looks a bit hisptery, an “avant garde” style. 

On pour looks great, a lovely amber colour and a small but decent white head. Doesn’t look too bad at all, very inviting.

The white head although small does maintain very well, small but steady, Some good lacing apparent.

It really is a good looking beer, lovely to watch it swirl about in the glass, has a deep look, that captivates. Very good so far!

The smell was also lovely, had the “wow factor”, gorgeous in fact.

Deep smelling, IPA style, like a good ale, floral and hop notes, but the citrus and lemon stand out a lot here. Also got a nice whiff of caramel. 

The aroma is a nice combination of lemonade and fermented fruit drenched in alcohol. Amazing on the nose, a very seductive smell and one so powerful they could sell as a perfume. 

So to the taste, and well……..wow! It is very strong in the taste, all that double hopping has produced one hell of a strong tasting beer. Hopped to hell, and very, very bitter, very strong in the taste.

Nøgne Ø Two CaptainsAll a bit “urgh” to me, finding those hops are just impossible to enjoy, going down very slowly and with great difficulty. Too strong and bitter to truly appreciate or enjoy. One for the hardcore IPA heads to like, but not for me. And to be fair to them they do warn on their website that this isn’t for the faint hearted..

The extreme bitterness (100 IPU) is very overwhelming, killing everything in its reach. Got the hops for sure, but also found the caramel, the fruits and the sweet malts. 

Very strong in the alcohol too, they are using English ale yeast so therein lies the strength of this brew, can feel it for sure, and don’t mind admitting I was a bit pissed after the two bottles. The 8.5% is definitely alive and well here, all clean though. I can imagine downing a few of these bad boys you would be on your head in no time! But I wonder if it is possible to drink more than two with how bitter and disgusting they are? Best avoided………

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post