Nice talk with Seth Burkett, an ex professional footballer in Brazil and author of the well received book “The Boy in Brazil”
We had a good long talk about Brazil’s upcoming participation in the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia. We discussed their chances, the philosophy of their manager, the football scene in the country, the passion of the fans, and an overview of the domestic league, amongst other things. We also looked at Seth’s time as a one time professional footballer in the land of sun and samba.
Check out Seth’s story, book links and social media reach
Book of the week in The Independent
Established in 1872, Stuttgarter Hofbräu is a brewery located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany not too far from neighbours France and Switzerland.
Anyway, I thought I would try something new, a little bit of a light tasting beer for a change. Apparently this is made up of 40% beer and 60% natural lemonade, according to the label.
Got a LOT in the can.
Warsteiner beer is brewed in the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park outside of the town of Warstein, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Warsteiner has been privately owned by the Cramer family since 1753, and is now in its 9th generation of family ownership under the guidance of Catharina Cramer. 
Can also be known as Warsteiner Premium Verum, it is Warsteiner’s most popular beer, and exported to over 60 countries.
Bit of an aftertaste that is apparent in the back end. Light enough though.
The Abbey still stands and has a number of monks who live the lifestyle dictated to them by St Benedict, ‘ora et labora’ (pray and work). Nestled in a beautiful forest, the abbey is a bit of a tourist attraction and cultural retreat theses days. Visitors like to marvel at the Gothic church, walk in the gardens or do some schooling in the creative arts on offer. The Bible Centre has over 400,000 books, manuscripts and other important artifacts all relating to the monastic and spiritual way of life. But if that doesn’t take your fancy you can always have a beer and cheese tasting tour. I know which activity I would choose!
Really dig the small brown bottle and the label, looks lovely. Simple enough but well designed and appealing. The beer is bottle conditioned as well, all adding to the appeal.
Nice, I like it, very tasty. Has all the typical tastes, very clearly the coriander, cloves, the malts and fruits, particularly banana. 
Founded in 1817 by Johann Wallenborn, Bitburger brauerei is a large German brewery founded in 1817 with its headquarters in Bitburg, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, southwest Germany, bordering France and Luxembourg. The brewery is now in its 7th generation of ownership. 
Had a nice faint lagery smell, a soft light malty aroma and some grains, ok.
Privatbrauerei Fritz Egger is a private brewery from Austria. 
Smell is light, malty. Very slight on the nose, nearly odourless in fact! Smell is beery and fruity. 
The company was founded on September 6, 1888 by five citizens from Flensburg. They had everything they needed in place for a good well run brewery, an ideal site with an underground glacier spring with crystal-clear water for brewing (Which they still use today) and a way of obtaining the ice needed (in the days before refrigeration) for the lagering cellars. Today it is still mainly held by the founder families of Petersen and Dethleffsen.
A beer that I spotted for sale in my local Aldi. A cheapish 6 pack. 
Taste, oh a surprise….a very unique taste there, very yeasty. Also very bitter, very hoppy, fuck me.
SAB over time came to dominate not just South Africa, but most of the continent of Africa, and through a series of acquisitions and joint ventures throughout the 1990s, SAB gained a foothold in various countries in Africa, Eastern Europe (Hungary and Czech Rep.) and Asia (China and India). This was a definite process of a company from a “developing nation” buying breweries from countries that had similar geo-political, infrastructural and business issues. Success in these emerging markets showed that SAB could venture into the “Developed world”, such as in Italy and the US. Working in South Africa and in developing countries first was very beneficial as it helped the company come up with numerous innovative ways to deal with lack of infrastructure, supports, and skill shortages. It also made the company more open to take risks. The company also invested in other lucrative markets, such as running hotels and casinos, and diversified into the food industry (coffee, tea, and food products), manufacturing and retail (including green grocers, furniture factories and stores, shoe factories and stores, and clothing stores). This was a company that had its nose in every nook and cranny of SA society!
Back to Castle Brewery. Castle Lager sponsors a host of sporting teams and events, from the main sponsor of “Bafana Bafana”, the national football team, to the South African Cricket Team, the South African Rugby Team, ie, the “Springboks”, and a host of others. 
Has a nice piercing smell of sweet corn, and a lager type aroma, very malty, grainy and lemony. Ok on the nose.