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lion strong beer, sri lanka

Lion Strong Beer

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Lion Strong Beer

http://lionbeer.com/

Brewed by Ceylon / Lion Brewery Limited 
Style: Imperial Pils/Strong Pale Lager
Biyagama, Sri Lanka 

A beer from Sri Lanka? Now there is a novelty. And the beer bottle looks enticing too. A big lion on the bottle looking angrily at me, “buy me, roar!

Lion beer

Lion beer

Lion Brewery is a Sri Lankan owned and operated brewery that produces Lion Lager, a bestseller in both Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Lion Strong BeerThe Ceylon/Lion Brewery was the first brewery established in Sri Lanka. In 1849, Samuel Baker, the famous British explorer and officer, set up a small brewery mainly to cater for the local expats and other well to do types who were making their money on the tea plantations in the beautiful cool climate of Nuwara Eliya, with its perfect natural spring water. It was only until 1881 that the brewery started to get serious and began brewing on a commercial basis, with the Ceylon Brewery Company officially taking over the operations.
In 1993, the Ceylon Brewery was took over by Carson Cumberbatch & Co Ltd, a diversified group of Sri Lankan businesses. This group turning the brewery into Sri Lanka’s leading beer brand. This success didn’t go unnoticed and in 1996 the Carlsberg Group acquired a 25% share in the brewery.
To note, the company is called Lion Brewery, with the Ceylon Brewery remaining as a holding company.

Also the brewery now has its headquarters and operates out of the town of Biyagama, just outside the capital Colombo, with the Nuwara Eliya operations now closed.

The brewery rules Sri Lanka with an impressive 82% of the market share, and apart from the extra strong lager they also produce a regular lager and a stout. Lion can be bought in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia amongst others.

Review: Bottle of Lion Strong Lager  8.80% ABV

A Gold medal winner in 2012 from the Monde Selection, the Michelin Guide version of beer, the lager came in some pretty impressive imagery, the bottle showing a very intimidating lion face. I guess signifying strength and prowess. Perhaps his name is Cecil?

Lion Strong BeerOn Pour we have a dark golden colour,  with a nice sized white head that dissipates quick enough, leaving pretty good lacing . Looks decent, like a proper beer.

Got a very fruity aroma, an apple and a lot of sweet smelling malts. The smell was quite strong, all that fruit!

For a lager that is 8.8%, it was very well hidden, not feeling the true strength at all.

There is a very fruity taste to this beer, very overpowering. The taste lingers in the mouth, very sweet with a good grain taste. Some bitterness in the aftertaste.

Interesting beer alright, could actually be a decent session beer considering the ABV. as it was very easy to drink. I had four of them, and was fine! (I think!).

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Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited, 青岛啤酒股份有限公司,German style Chinese lager, Qinqdao

Tsingtao Beer, China’s most famous beer

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Tsingtao Beer 

https://www.tsingtaobeer.com/

www.tsingtao-beer.co.uk

Brewed by Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited 青岛啤酒股份有限公司
Style: Premium Lager
Qinqdao, China

We all love to have a Chinese after a few beers, nothing better. But how many of you have actually dared to try out the  beers that you might have noted behind the counter? Or did you even notice in your hazy intoxicated state that there is indeed some fine Chinese beer available and all you had to do was ask!

Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited, 青岛啤酒股份有限公司,German style Chinese lager, Qinqdao

Waiting for an ass (bus)

It’s funny we all know about the wonder of MSG laden Chinese dishes, but I have never really seen anyone drink Chinese beer. I myself only know about some of the Chinese beer brands because I lived and worked in China for a few years back in the day, and got a taste for the local brews.

But yes China does have some decent beers, and the most widely known of them (at least to the beer connoisseur and the backpacker) is Tsingtao beer from the lovely seaside city of Qingdao (same pronunciation, the beer has the English spelling, the city the Chinese version!), situated in Shandong province.

The brewery in Qingdao dates way back to 1903, founded jointly by some German and British settlers, and even today uses the same unique processes and yeast strains as was used over 100 years ago.

Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited, 青岛啤酒股份有限公司,German style Chinese lager, Qinqdao

China’s finest beer

Tsingtao Beer is a well-hopped typical pilsner of 4.7%. Brewed using a combination of the best yeast and barley from around the world, and, of course, rice which you would expect as it’s China after all! To round everything off fresh spring water from the famous Laoshan Mountains is added. The Laoshan Mountains are said to be the birthplace of Taoism.

The brewery also produces a number of other beers, mostly for the local market, but it’s Tsingtao Beer that accounts for most of the brewery’s production.
First exported in 1954, the Tsingtao brand is now sold in over 60 countries and regions around the world and accounts for more than 50% of China’s beer exports.

Of course Tsingtao is ideal when having a meal, so why not give it a try next time you are sitting down to some noodles, Spring Rolls, dumplings, or even that traditional Chinese favourite, curry chips!

Review: Bottle of Tsingtao Beer: 4.7%ABV

Tsingtao, the German style Chinese lager, with great flavors, a smooth taste and which is always recommended when eating Asian food.

Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited, 青岛啤酒股份有限公司,German style Chinese lager, Qinqdao

Smooth

It comes in a lovely looking green bottle with a distinctive logo. I guess its the Chinese writing that attracts, also there looks to be a picture of the brewery overlooking a river, which I’m guessing is meant to signify the water from the Laoshan Mountain

A decent looking beer which has a clear yellow appearance, with a good nice frothy head, that unfortunately doesn’t stick around too long.

Loved the smell. Was pretty strong. Pure acidity, malts, skunk, and of course the rice, all combining to give a very sharp alcohol aroma.

The initial taste was quite strong, a little sour, and thereafter some malts and hay, a bit grainy with the rice making an appearance. A nicely balanced beer, not overbearing, with a lot of subtle flavours. Not much in the aftertaste, but overall this beer was very smooth, and not at all heavy. The crisp and refreshing taste makes this one of the most sessionable lagers you can find in my opinion.  I like Tsingtao Beer, its not going to get you wasted, but you can drink a lot of them without having to worry too much about the night, or indeed not expect a bad hangover.

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Kirin Ichiban, Beer at its Purest

Ivory Coast V Japan World Cup 2014

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Ivory Coast V Japan World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

bets

A winner please!

Pregame bets:

Ivory Coast to win and both teams to score is 9/2
Honda to score is 11/4
IC to win -1 is 4/1

 

Got there in the end, easy second half for Ivory Coast, might have even pushed them for that third. 

Full betting review here>http://thisdrinkinglife.com/top-bets-world-cup/

Beers: Group C of Beer World Cup:http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group-c/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Kirin Ichiban V ? Unfortunately I couldn’t source any beer from the Ivory Coast so this will be a one sided affair.  Click on picture for a preview of the beer.  Get the Kirin Ichiban review afterwards.

japan

 

Kirin Ichiban won by default, could not source a beer from the Ivory Coast. Read here for full beer reportIvory Coast V Japan Fifa World Cup 2014 Brazil

PreGame:

Ivory Coast: With a relatively easy group this could be the time for the Ivory Coast to put on a show in this years World Cup. I feel they have enough in their squad to overcome both Colombia and Japan

For me its all about the physical strength of this team, They will have some strong physically demanding players who get the ball and power through defenses. Think of Drogba. Think of the Toure Brothers. Think of Gervinho.

Not only have we this power but this team also has a lot of international experience and players who have played in the world cup before.

Ivory Coast V Japan Fifa World Cup 2014 Brazilkey player for me and a somewhat very underrated player is Serey Die. Another very physical player he rarely loses the ball and can show off some skill when required. I am sure not much will get past this African version of Roy Keane.

So I predict that the Ivory Coast will steamroll out of this group

Japan, Asian champions and first nation to qualify for the World Cup, are great at passing and running, but not a huge amount of overall quality in their squad

Ivory Coast V Japan Fifa World Cup 2014 BrazilHonda is back for another run out in the world stage. he really is the linchpin of this team, the link where everything happens, and can chip in for a good goal as well. If he clicks then Japan clicks. But he had an out of sorts season with Milan and really needs to get back on track soon.

Ivory Coast might out muscle them in a bruising encounter, which I think they will lose.

Read a more detailed review on Japan here and on Ivory Coast here 

Game was a little disappointing. Japan great in the first half but wilted in the second.

Ivory Coast V Japan Fifa World Cup 2014 BrazilJapan are a well coached team, and great on the counter attack, moving forward with great speed, but maybe in the heat of Brazil it is a hard game to play. Honda, the heart beat of the team, scored a cracking goal, and Japan were a little unfortunate to at least not take a point from this game.

Ivory Coast V Japan Fifa World Cup 2014 BrazilIvory Coast, like Cameroon, seem to have employed a bit of a buffoon, another European coach who cant get work in Europe. I know Drogba has a niggly injury but to wait until the 62 minute to bring him was ridiculous. He is lucky it worked out in the end, because it was obvious that even a half fit Drogba is better than the attack that IC started with. When Drogba came on he lifted the whole team and its no surprise that IC scored two minutes later. 

Aurier had a decent game, and was my man of the match, his two crosses resulted in two goals and his forward play caused Japan problems all day long. 

Next up for japan is a wounded Greek team in what will be an interesting game of contrasts. Ivory Coast have to look forward to playing Colombia, a game where there is no clear favourite. This group is still hard to call in my opinion, and I would still fancy Greece to come out of it, with the IC.

Music to get you in the mood

 Polysics V Alpha Blondy

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South Korea 2 Algeria 4 Fifa World Cup 2014

Hite Beer, Korean Lager

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south korea

Hite Beer 

http://www.hite.com/

Brewed by The Hite Company
Style: Pale Lager
Seoul, South Korea

day 11 015

The top-selling beer in South Korea (beer in Korean is maekju). Brewed & bottled in Korea at HITE Brewery co. ltd. Seoul. Well known as the only Korean beer one can really find in Korean restaurants in the West

day 11 020Hite lager, 4.5% ABV., is a golden coloured beer that is styled on traditional European and American lagers, although it differs significantly from them in taste as it is brewed with rice in addition to barley, which results in a lighter-bodied, slightly sweeter beer that has less of a head than other beers.

Hite Brewery Company Limited is a South Korean brewery company headquartered in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Its main products are beer, rice wine, and mineral water. The company was established as Chosun Breweries way back in 1933. In 2002 its share of the domestic beer market was some 55%, making it the number one beer in South Korea

day 6 059Review: Bottle of Hite Pale Lager 4.5%ABV

Hite lager is a nice, pleasant tasting beer from South Korea, that’s so good with Korean food.

Pours a golden yellow clear colour with a small light head and some lacing.

day 6 073A nice sweet aroma of light malt and grains were found making the smell one of the highlights of this Korean brew. On closer inspection the smell is quite unusual, a strong tinge of a shot, possibly the rice.

it is an extremely easy tasting drink: sweet, clear and crisp. Its smoothness making it go down very well. There was a lingering grain sweetness throughout in the beer that stays nice till the end, no bitterness found in this beer. It tasted of a little rice and pale malt, some grains and a light hop flavour. Very refreshing and clean throughout, I enjoyed this beer.  This beer is pleasant. and perfect for the light beer drinker.  Definitely a top class session beer, perfect for a night out with friends to a restaurant, say perhaps a Korean restaurant! Would work very well with some light food.

 

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Kirin Ichiban, Beer at its Purest

Kirin Ichiban, Beer at its Purest

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Kirin Ichiban, Beer at its Purest Kirin Ichiban

http://www.kirinichiban.com/

Brewed by Kirin Brewery Company
Style: Pale Lager
Tokyo, Japan

Kirin Ichiban, Beer at its Purest “Ichiban” means Number One, and is brewed by the Kirin Brewery Company in Tokyo, Japan.
Kirin sells two of the most popular beers in Japan: Kirin Lager, the country’s oldest beer brand; and Ichiban Shibori.

Since its introduction in 1990, Kirin Ichiban has become one of Japan’s most acclaimed and best selling beers, and a favorite of beer lovers across North America and Europe

Kirin Ichiban, Beer at its Purest Kirin Ichiban is considered one of the purest beers in the world. This is made with a single wort (or first press) brewing process which extracts only the purest, most flavorful portion of the finest ingredients. When combined with its new all malt formula, the result is a distinctively smooth, clean, and full-bodied beer—yet with none of the bitter aftertaste one would expect from a beer with this much flavor.

Review: Can of Kirin Ichiban Pale Lager, 5%ABV

day 3 b 027Kirin Ichiban, my first time having a Japanese beer, was impressive on its first showing. In general it was pretty nice and quite drinkable

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 Ichiban, Beer at its Purest Aroma: A pleasant sweet smell of a light grain and malt aroma.

A nice light beer to drink and went down easy enough. The taste 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. Recommended for someone who is looking for a nice light beer to relax with.

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