Ohhh... My Head... - Winter beer 2007

Another rewarding evening was one with the Zappa Was Right bunch, where as usual beer from exotic places were served. Amongst a bundle of beers from places such as China, Japan, Cape Verde and Tahiti we actually found quite a treasure in the Japanese microbrewed Baeren Pils. Also two new countries were added to our tally: Guinea and Tibet.

A trip to Portugal provided us with a lot of lagers, bu their are also some more interesting beers to be had in this sunny corner of Europe. At Lusitana and República de Cerveja they are serving their own range of beers, some of which are pretty good.

A decidedly less rewarding trip beer wise was one to Bangladesh. Even if I eventually managed to find a non-alcoholic Bangladeshi beer down there, making our country count rise to 178. I recommend you to read about Hunter Malt Beverage.

The newish pub MOnk's Café had a Dutch beer festival ongoing, and during some visits there we managed to find a couple of new beers, of which the sweet and full bodied Scheldebrouwerij Kerstbier was our winner. Another fun thing was the appearance of the very hoppy beers from Ölands Gårdsbryggeri on Stockholm's pubs, and the birth of the new microbrewery Skebo Bruksbryggeri Both of these looks promising, but in terms of highest score from a Swedish brewer Dugges takes the price with their massive IPA Bollox!

We also had the oppotrunuty to try some Norwegian Christmas beers, and some newish micros from there. Of these we preferred the decidedly American style Berentsen Rav Amber Ale.

We also more or less emptied the stock of Argentinian beers brought back before new years. Of these Shopron Porter, meant to be a Flemish red ale, but coming out more like a bitter with fantastic malt flavour was our winner.