Efes Pilsen (Pilsener)
Brewed by Anadolu Efes
Style: Pilsener
Istanbul, Turkey
The Efes Group of breweries produce a wide range of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages within Turkey and surrounding countries…..Russia and its former territories, central Asia, and in the Middle East, and is popular wherever you see Turkish expats.
Anadolu Efes, the brewery, was founded by the Özilhan and Yazıcı families in 1969, and now is a market leader in Turkey, with over 80% of the market share. With strategic partnerships, with the likes of SABMiller for example, Anadolu Efes has cornered a lot of the market in both Russia and The Ukraine. As the company exports most of what they produce (Turkey is a Muslim nation after all!), Anadolu Efes has become one of the largest breweries not just in Europe but also in the world.
Review: Can of Efes Pilsen: ABV: 5%
The “number one Mediterranean beer in the world” as their slogan says, which is a big ask but lets see….
On pour has a very clear golden yellow colour, looks good, has a nice head, not a bad looking beer at all, light, looks decent
Had a nice beery smell, nice smell of malts and grains, very nice,
Got a lot of fruits on the nose. Nice aroma
The taste was very sweet, lots of malts.
In a weird way it tasted like washing up liquid, but strangely not in a bad way! A starchy kind of taste.
Not bad, but sweet
A smooth beer, very drinkable, light, dont really get the 5%
Some hops present, a little sour, but not overly bitter,
Really smooth,
Drinkable, goes down well. Overall, ok, but I think I might need to try this one again for another sitting……
Founded in 1854 as the Catholic University of Ireland, later established as UCD, the University College Dublin was where all good Catholics were sent to for further education. The University has over 32,000 students and is easily Ireland largest university. Like a small town, its that big, situated on a 133-hectare (330-acre) campus out in Belfield, not that far from the city centre, south of the Liffey.
As I was over ten minutes early for the Dublin bus (I took number 11, The Clonskeagh entrance to Belfield, but you could take other options), I decided to sneak into Madigans just around the corner from O’ Connell street, on Lower Abbey Street, just across from the Luas stop. Always a safe option for a good pint of plain. Quick pint, no problem, good stuff.
A bit early for the game, so I went looking for a student bar. Every college has some sort of student boozer, so sure enough, after a brief search I came onto the UCD Club House Bar. was packed to the rafters inside, as it looked like some rugby types were having an end of season do, all booted and suited, and a lot of drink taken. A very modern interior, with a decent bar, and more importantly they also served food. I had some sausages and chips, soaked in vinegar and red sauce. An unhealthy option but I was hungry!
Founded in 1989 by Liam La Hart and Oliver Hughes, with the first one in Bray, they now have six bars in and around Dublin, and one in both London and New York
lso more importantly it is said that Socrates, the legendary Brazilian chain smoker and sometime footballer, played for the team when he was a student of UCD back in the day.
Struggling in the 80’s and not really making much of an impression, the club decided by the end of the 1982/83 season to turn semi-pro, and players outside of the college were allowed to represent the first team, a practice that is still maintained today, albeit with still a heavy emphasis on graduates playing for the for first team. This seemed to have the desired effect as UCD wont their first piece of real silverware, winning the FAI cup in 1984 (sorry Leinster Senior Cup doesn’t count!), beating Shamrock Rovers 2-1 after a replay.
Of course winning the cup saw UCD qualify for European competition – the old European Cup Winners Cup – for the first time. They were drawn against Everton. As hard as it is to believe now, they were once a top class team and had a pretty decent side, a team of illustrious players such as Andy Gray, Peter Reid, Kevin Sheedy and Neville Southall, amongst others. Drawing the home leg 0-0, a heroic display for the part timers, they bowed out at Goodison Park, losing 1-0 win, despite hitting the post late on. The rest they say is history, as Everton went onto win the entire competition (they also won the English First Division that season). Small margins!
Cracking first half, it really was. Four good goals, end to end action and all round good football.
And did you attend UCD yourself as a student!
With a name like Lucifer, well, how could you not buy a beer with a name like that, all hail the dark lord.
Bought in Lidl and brewed by Het Anker. Attracted by the name and the imagery on the bottle, a very retro look, Lucifer himself holding a pitchfork surrounded by fire.
The smell was quite strong on the nose, wow. Can really smell the hops. Even though its strong it is pleasant to smell. A lovely beery aroma, with a sweet lemon citrus note.
Was planing on having a taste of this beer for a long time. Always stands out in the supermarket with its very interesting name, and its conspicuous label of what I guess is the ‘Hobgoblin’.
There is no doubt that this beer stands out with its very amusing logo, inspired by the local myths and legends of the ancient Wychwood forest.
I found it very hard to drink to be honest, one to sip, definitely not for a session, that’s for sure, for me anyway, lol.
Guinness West Indies Porter first appeared in 1801 and, to maintain its freshness on long sea voyages to the Caribbean and afar, it was matured in wooden vats that were sea worthy and made with more hops and higher gravity that guaranteed best quality upon arrival, in the days when preserving the freshness of beers was difficult.
Had the usual porter aroma, was strong, smelling of roasted malts, caramel and toffee. Nice
Moosehead Breweries is Canada’s largest and oldest independent brewer, located in Saint John, New Brunswick. The brewery was founded in 1867 by Susanna Oland. Originally called The Army and Navy Brewery, the brewery is still owned and operated today by the Oland family, now in the sixth generation of ownership under Derek Oland.
In 1931, the symbol of the moose came into existence as George Oland launched Moosehead Pale Ale. The success of its Pale Ale, prompted a name change to Moosehead Breweries Ltd. in 1947.
Aroma: Real lager smell, hoppy, sweet and lovely, liked it, the light grains and malty aromas. Nice
Charles Wells Brewery was founded by Mr.Charles Wells in Bedford, in the east of England. A family brewery dating back to 1876, and now incorporating the brand Wells & Young, with a history of brewing distinctive beers, from the well-loved Bombardier, Young’s, Courage and McEwan’s ranges through to their quirky brews such as Banana Bread Beer and Double Chocolate Stout. They also run a chain of successful pubs, 200 and counting…..
This unique brew combines all the traditional ale recipes of the brewery with the subtle flavour of ‘Fair trade’ bananas, creating an intriguing and flavorsome pint. In 2002 the banana bread beer was awarded “Beer of the Festival” at CAMRA’s London Drinker Festival
A beer with banana, tastes like beer with banana! But its lovely, very smooth, doesn’t taste a lot like beer at all. Very sweet, but still smooth enough to drink. A bit of caramel noted as well.
Way back in 1979, in Chico, Califronia, the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co was founded by home brewers Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi. The name, of course, coming from the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range to the south of Chico.
A Vienna style beer is a light coloured amber lager that has a delicate balance between sweet caramel malts and floral hops
Lovely taste, really enjoyed drinking this beer, was dead smooth and easy to drink from start to finish, a type of beer to saviour long into the night, excellent.
Longford (An Longfort) is a smallish town, with a population of about 9600 in the centre of Ireland in the county of Longford, easily accessible from Dublin and beyond by train, bus and road. The town is most known for its St Mel’s Cathedral dominating the skyline of the metropolis. And a certain famous Mr. Gibson was called after the Cathedral, his mother hailing from the town.
First pub ventured into was Andy Byrne’s Pub, a good mid-day crowd in, watching the horse racing and the early afternoon football on the box, good bit of banter from the bar man, decent atmosphere and noticed that they had 
The next beer was in Kavanagh’s Bar, which had a bit of life in it, had a nice long bar to spend the time in good company. Looked like a decent boozer, and had a good atmosphere for that time of day, just buzzing along.
Kane’s Bar had some strange frontage, doubling up as a travel agency, and easy enough to pass by if in search of a pub. Not really a whole lot happening in this bar, was very dead. Got another St Mels beer, and left not long after that.
Pre match pints were to be in J P Reilly’s Bar, where Section O, the Longford supporters group, managed to get a really good deal, all pints for three euros, and a free bus to the ground. Top job.
Founded way back in 1924, the club were only elected into the league of Ireland in 1984, 60 years later! A history of not much happening, usually a low feeder team at the bottom of the first division. That was until a certain Stephen Kenny took the reins of the club in 1998. Kenny was an unknown, having virtually no playing career to speak of (just 4 games for Home farm) and at just 27, it was a gamble I guess a team like Longford, with no real expectations, could afford to make. His three season stint at the club transformed the club, as they won promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division, reached an FAI Cup final for the first time (losing out to Bohemians), and subsequently, qualifying for Europe in the Uefa Cup, another first for the club. Leaving in 2001, he didn’t win anything but there can be no doubt he laid the foundations for what was to come.
The club will be particularly remembered for a quite simply awful fuck up in the Uefa Cup, 3-1 up in the tie and with an away goal away to the mighty Carmarthen Town, they let in four soft goals in the second half to exit Europe 5-3!
This game was pretty much ninety minutes of pure boredom, offered up by both teams in a wet and cold night. I had brought a friend who hates football, his first time at a LOI game. I think he hates football even more now!
Bray (Irish: Bré, meaning “hill”), with a population of about 32,000, is a long established seaside town in Wicklow, close to Dublin, and popular with tourists and day trippers who like to get in some good cliff walking along the coast line (7km), enjoy the beach views, or hang out in the numerous hotels and guesthouses, shops, restaurants and evening entertainment dotted along the extensive promenade.
First bar of the day, handy location and in close proximity to the Dart, kind of hard not to have a pint here! Very enjoyable pint, good service, nice and clean décor. Not much of a crowd in. Menu looked a bit pricey, or at least too pricey for us…..
Bray was where it all started, having the first Porterhouse way back in 1989
Had a German beer, and ordered some food, fish n chips. The meal was pretty good, albeit a bit pricey for the smallish portion I got, but hell it did the job as I was full and didn’t have to eat again for the rest of the day/evening.
Not a bad place, good lot of cool sports and music memorabilia on the walls, had the horse racing on the go when I was there, good pint, friendly bar man, nice and relaxing place.
Perhaps my favourite bar of the day. Lot of sport going on at the time on the many Tvs dotted around the pub. Was German and English football, horseracing, some gah…..the world is your oyster, fantastic. Good atmosphere in the pub. Lively crowd and all good fun. Nice pints too. Liked it.
This place was buzzing, of all the pubs that we visited this had the biggest crowd in. Very jovial atmosphere, nice pints, good craic, has a nice décor going on, not a bad place with a good friendly vibe to it. Liked it.
Playing out of the small but quaint Carlisle Grounds (7,000/3,185 seated), the team were founded in 1922 but in its present incarnation it really all began in 1942. The Carlisle, is situated close to the Dart station, and is one of the coldest grounds in the LOI, its closeness to the seaside, an Irish sea making it cold throughout the year, Costa del Sol this aint. The ground is also used for international rugby league games and had a bit part as a “body double” for Croke Park, in the Michael Collins blockbuster, where the Bloody Sunday scene was shot.
Recently there has been a lot of shenanigans going on as new directors and ex directors fight it out in the press and behind the scenes, and this was evidenced at the club last season (2015), where Bray had not one, nor two, but actually five managers (including caretaker manager) taking over first team affairs, before finally settling for Mick Cooke, the present man in charge. Despite this the team did relatively well, finishing a very respectable 8th, four places off the bottom, considered a success for the Wanderers!
For Dundalk Ciaran Kilduff scored within five minutes so Bray were already on the back foot early on. Kilduff got another in the first half while Ronan Finn finished it off late in the game with a shot outside the box that took a slight deflection. Finn looked lively all game.
Was with the Dundalk support first half. Great fun, a bit of pyro which is always welcomed, and some good colourful chants as well. Went over to the Bray side for the second half, a bit quiet which was fair considering how the game was panning out.