World Cup beers: team by team

How the beer industry must be thankful for the forthcoming festival of footy. In a year that’s seen the condition of the overall UK beer market deteriorate once again, the World Cup delivers a welcome defibrillating jolt to sales – especially if the sun and Capello’s England manage to shine throughout the four weeks.

If previous tournaments are an indicator, it’s estimated that an extra 21 million pints of beer will be consumed in the UK.

Mainstream brands like Carlsberg, the official beer of the England football team, have already embarked on jingoistic advertising journeys while the supermarkets are slashing prices down like a clumsy centre-half.

Yet away from the deep discounting and the infatuation with England’s efforts, the World Cup represents a golden opportunity to broaden one’s beer horizons.

Apart from North Korea, Honduras and Cameroon, there are very few participating teams whose beers aren’t imported into the UK.

So, if you’re going to watch the beautiful game with a beautiful beer, then fill your fridge with these:

Group A

France

Jenlain Ambrée, 7.5%

A classic biere-de-garde from a family-owned brewery in northern France. A dark amber ale brewed with a three different hops and three different types of French barley malt.

75cl £2.59. www.thedrinkshop.com

Colomba, 5%

A wonderfully refreshing, unfiltered, bottom-fermented wheat beer brewed with Corsican maquis – a spicy, herbal blend of tree strawberry, myrtle, and juniper that’s sunk into the mash-tun like a big tea-bag.

33cl £1.79 www.beersofeurope.co.uk

South Africa

Castle Milk Stout 6%

Blacker than a coalminer’s pocket with a delicious, creamy mouthfeel, this full-bodied stout from the Johannesburg region is one of the most popular beers in South Africa.

6x33cl £11.29. www.buysouthafricaonline.co.uk

Robsons Durban Pale Ale, 5.7%

Brewed by a Brit at the Shongweni Brewery on the outskirts of Durban, this traditional pale ale is based on the the IPA’s of Burton and London. On their journey from England to India ships stopped over at ports in Africa, including Durban, and some of those beers intended for India made up a proportion of the beer being drunk by British garrisons in South Africa.

1x34cl £2.19 www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Mexico

Bohemia, 4.8%

Award-winning pilsner-style lager brewed using Saaz hops sourced from the Czech Republic. Slightly sweet – like a monkey wearing a Mariachi outfit.

33cl £1.51 www.thedrinkshop.com

Negra Modelo, 5.3%

Dark Vienna-style lager with a touch of bitter chocolate. Got the cojones to stand up to spicy food.

33cl £1.89. www.onlyfinebeer.co.uk

Uruguay

Stinger, 4%

Stinger’s from Dorset not Montevideo but we chose it because Uruguay won the inaugural World Cup in 1930. As everybody knows, this was the same year Maude Grieve of the horticultural society came up with the recipe for her Nettle Beer. This tingle-tastic organic ale is brewed with nettles from the garden of celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Hugh is renowned for his love of meat and so, as it happens, are the Uruguayans.
 

Group B

Argentina

Quilmes, 4.8%

Dominating the South American market since 1888, Quilmes is a fruity yet approachable golden lager brewed using Patagonian hops.

33cl £1.29. www.thedrinksshop.com

Nigeria

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, 7.5%

Like Guinness on steroids. Black cherry flavoured, jet black sweet and slightly sour stout, this is genuine, uncut liquid craic brewed in Nigeria. Ideal with scallops and oysters.

33cl £1.95. www.onlyfinebeer.co.uk  

South Korea

Hite Max Prime, 4.5%

A spick-and-span pale lager that gets its slight grapefruit notes from Cascade hops.

33cl £1.09. www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Greece

Mythos, 5%

A clean, simple thirst-quenching pilsner-style lager that falls down easier than an unstable economy.

33cl £1.29. www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Group C

England

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA, 5.9%

A quintessentially English beer style revived by one of the most progressive and adventurous micros in the UK. A fruity, honey-tinged and delightfully hoppy India Pale Ale that can go toe-to-toe with strong, spicy food.

12x33cl £24. www.mybrewerytap.com

Meantime London Porter, 6.5%

London born and bred jet-black, devilishly smooth and smoky porter whose recipe, featuring no less than seven different malt varieties and a flourish of Fuggles hops, dates back to the 1880s.

6x75cl £25.20. www.mybrewerytap.com

Timothy Taylor Landlord, 4.3%

First name on the British beer-lover’s team-sheet, Landlord is a multi-award winner brewed with Golden Promise malt and water that runs off the Pennine Hills. It’s got zing, tang and a remarkable rosemary-pine hop finale.

12x50cl £33.75. www.thedrinkshop.com

US

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, 5.6%

A zesty, citrus-laden American classic and early pioneer of the remarkable US craft brewing revolution. Like LA Galaxy and Everton’s Landon Donovan, it’s revered in its homeland and achieved cult status over here.

35.5cl £1.94. www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Anchor Steam Beer, 4.9%

This San Franciscan cult beer dates back to the 1890s California Gold Rush. It straddles the gap between a lager and an ale and is brewed using fresh North American hop flowers.   

35.5ml £2.00. www.beermerchants.com

Goose Island Honkers Ale, 4.3%

Goose’s white necked tap-handles can be found all over its home town of Chicago. A boss British-style bitter that’s sweet and spicy and a great session beer. Perfect with pizza.

24×35.5cl £32.76 www.beerhere.co.uk

Blue Moon, 5.4%

Refreshing Belgian-style wheat beer brewed with coriander and orange peel.

35.5cl £1.99 www.sainsburys.co.uk

Algeria

Skol, 4%

The biggest beer in Algeria is Skol. The one synonymous with the chanting Viking adverts of the 80s.  

4 x 33cl cans. £2.85. www.bargainbooze.co.uk

Slovenia

Adnams Innovation, 6.7%,

No Slovenian beers are readily available in the UK, but Slovenian hops are used widely in British brewing. This American-style IPA brewed beside the seaside in Suffolk is a marvellous mouthful.

12 x 50cl £21.50 http://cellarandkitchen.adnams.co.uk

Group D

Germany

Andescher Doppelbock Dunkel, 7.1%

Chocolate raisins, prunes, bitter coffee beans and a peppery twang all feature in this chewy maroon-coloured dark beer from a Monastic brewery located at the foot of the “Holy Mountain”, south of Munich.

50cl £2.19. www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, 5.2%

The ultimate Rauchbier (smoked beer) brewed with smoked malt in the picturesque town of Bamberg. Like drinking a beechwood campfire through a barbequed kipper that’s been living in a sea of lapsang souchong tea all its life. Beer’s equivalent of a peaty whisky.

20x50cl £42.48 www.beerhere.co.uk

Australia

Coopers Sparkling Ale, 5.8%

A deep auburn coloured and cloudy bottle-conditioned beer. A ‘honeyed’ hop aroma followed by a full bodied fruity, raspberry-ish note, with a mild hop bite.

24 x37.3cl £33.79. www.thedrinkshop.com

Little Creatures Pale Ale, 5.2%

Excellent lychee-tinged pale ale from Freemantle whose hazy hue and easy sipping makes it a superb summer sip. Brewed using hops sourced from the Pacific Northwest

37.5cl £1.99 www.beersofeurope.com

Serbia

Jelen Pivo, 5%

A basic bottom-fermented brew is one of the best from the Balkans.

50cl £1.59. www.vardar.co.uk

Ghana

Star, 5%

When it gets hot in Ghana, which it does quite a lot, this crisp and slightly sweet pale lager hits the spot.

www.thegoldcoastbar.com

Group E

Holland

Grolsch Weizen, 5.3%

Fuller-bodied than Belgian witbiers but with more spice than a Bavarian weizen.

50cl £2.39. www.beersofeurope.co.uk

De Molen Rasputin, 10.7%

Brewed in a windmill, Rasputin is a limited edition Imperial Stout loaded with warming molasses, rich roasted coffee notes and a touch of vanilla and spice. Only brewed once or twice a year so grab it if you see it.  

74cl £10.99. www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Denmark

Mikkeller Single Hop IPA, 6.9%

Founder and brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, the man behind the marvellous Mikkeller beers, doesn’t even have a brewery. He trots the globe like a hedonistic hobo, collaborating with the cream of the world’s craft brewing talent and borrowing their brains and equipment to create his unique ales.

33cl £3.15. www.beermerchants.com

Japan

Asahi Black, 5%

Brewed using a trio of dark malts – as well as rice, hops and maize. Nutty, sweet and creamy with a distinct espresso flavour and slight carbonation, it works wonderfully with Champagne in a “Black Velvet”.

33cl £1.59. www.thedrinkshop.com

Cameroon

Pelforth Brune, 6.5%

A liquid legacy of French rule, this deep russet-coloured ale is full of figs, prunes and warming alcohol with a Port-like finish.

33cl £2.41. www.onlyfinebeer.co.uk

Group F

Italy

Le Baladin Open, 7%,

A hugely hoppy and grapefuity Italian-style lager. Its irreverent and ingenious brewer Teo Musso uses whisky yeast and plays music to the beer while it ferments.  

6x75cl £31.30 Available through the International Beer Company. Tel: +44 (0)781 020 0749

Paraguay

Palo Santo Marron, 12%

OK, so this beer isn’t from Paraguay, it’s from America. Yet Dogfish Head, one of the most impressive and adventurous craft ale creators in the States, ages this awesome after-dinner brown ale in 10,000 gallon brewing vessels made of Paraguayan Palo Santo wood.

35.5cl £4.99.www.beersofeurope.co.uk

New Zealand

Monteith’s Lager, 5.2%

Monteith’s brewery in Greymouth, on New Zealand’s west coast, dates back almost 150 years. In 2001, it was closed by new corporate owners but, following public outcry, re-opened four days later. The brewery still uses boilers fuelled by coal and open fermentation and the beers remain unpasteurised. A light-bodied lager, soft and mellow with a nutty send off.

6x 33cl £10.89.  www.sanza.co.uk/apps/shop/shop.asp?sc_id=566

Slovakia

Zlaty Bazant, 5%

Meaning Golden Pheasant, the biggest beer in Slovakia is a pale European lager brewed in a Czech style.

£1.99. 50cl www.beersofeurope.co.uk

 

Group G

Brazil

Xingu, 4.7%

A black, silky lager laced with sweet treacle on the palate, a tight tan-head and liquorice on the nose. Pronounced Shin-goo, it is inspired by an ancient Amazonian tribe that brewed black beer as far back as 1557.

33cl £1.40 www.tesco.com

North Korea

Mann’s Brown Ale, 2.8%

In 2000, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il announced he wanted a brewery. At the same time, the Ushers Brewery in Trowbridge, Dorset, was put up for sale. A deal was done and within 18 months, the North Korean government had dismantled the brewery, shipped it home to Pyongyang, put it back together again and begun brewing “Taedong River Beer”. As you can’t get Taedong River Beer in the UK, we’ve opted for Mann’s Brown ale, the terrific traditional beer that was once brewed on the same brewing kit. A slightly sweet, malt driven creamy ale with a nutty finish.

50cl £2.77. www.onlyfinebeer.co.uk

Ivory Coast

Tusker Lager, 4.2%

Ivorian ales are a bit thin on the ground in the UK. But, as the Ivory Coast football team are nicknamed the elephants, we’ve gone for Tusker from Kenya. It’s got an elephant on the label and, er, tusks are made from ivory and the brewery’s founder was killed by a rogue elephant. Surely that’s enough isn’t it? Eh? Oh.

Portugal

Sagres, 5%

The lager of Lisbon, Sagres is supped all over southern Portugal. A German-style pilsner best served with light tapas

24x33cl £31.94. www.thedrinkshop.com

 

Group H

Spain

Alhambra Premium, 6.4%

Presented in a terrific old-style green bottle, 1925 is Alhambra’s showpiece sip and pours dark amber colour with a thick, fluffy head. Powerful dark caramel-like malt aromas and full-textured body with a tight, terse hop bite. Rounded grassy finish.

Available in 33cl through The Morgenrot Group: +44 (0)845 070 4310 and Amathus Drinks Plc: +44 (0)208 808 4181

Switzerland

Vollmond Bier, 5.2%

Organic and biodynamic Swiss lager brewed only when there is a full moon. Grainy yet clean with caramel and a lemon-like hop character. Can also be used as a shampoo apparently.

6x33cl 12.10 Swiss francs. http://www.appenzellerbier.ch/shop.html?L=1

Honduras

Banana Bread Beer, 5.2%

If you want a Honduran beer, you’ll have to go to Honduras. Given that it’s quite far away and very dangerous, it’s better to make do with this British ale brewed with bananas, Honduras’ main export.

12x50cl £25.49. www.drinksdirect.co.uk

Chile

Fallen Angel’s Fire in the Hole Chilli Beer, 4%

As Chileans export their wine but not their beer, why not give Sussex’s Fallen Angel Brewery a call. It’s not from Chile but it’s brewed using chillis. Do you see what we’ve done there? Clever eh?

What they eat pastel de choclo (meat stew topped with corn)

And another thing…. Chile is only one of two countries in South America that does not border Brazil.

Ben McFarland, 13.05.2010