Kamil
Brewed by BierenVanBegeerte
Berchem, Belgium
Bieren Van Begeerte is a Belgian brewery that focuses on specialty and custom made beers.
Founded in 2001. Beginning small, in the centre of the beautiful medieval city of Antwerp, and with a lot of trial and error, but fire in their belly, they started to produce some very tasty beers that seemed popular with the general public.
Kamil was their first baby! Proving to be a success leading them to expansion and a movement to a bigger brewery to Berchem on the outskirts of Antwerp. Onward and upwards!
Since 2001, Bieren Van Begeerte have always relied on their own recipes with hop varieties that is grown with great care on their Lints hop field. As small-scale micro brewers, they value local quality produce with the best sourced ingredients resulting in beers that stand apart from the rest. Modern creations in a classic type beer market.
Review: 33cl. Bottle of Kamil, a Belgian ale: 6.5% ABV
Lovely clear yellow coloured beer, with a nice smallish white head, looks ok. Some carbonation and good lacing. Head maintains.
Smell is nice with sweet malts, and a bit citrusy, a strong enough smell and piercing on the nose
The smell is pleasant.
Initial taste is hoppy, a very hoppy taste, typical of a Belgian ale, hitting you at the start. Sweet and bitter.
Nice n tasty, lots of flavours and strong tastes.
Hops are not too overbearing though, nice and light enough to appreciate.
Full of tastes, getting the barley, the wheat, the fruits, and, of course, the hops.
When you look at it you think it will be nice and calm, it looks lovely and unassuming but boy do the looks deceive, quite hoppy when you get into it. The calm before the storm so to speak!
A typical strongish Belgian ale, nice and tasty. A good beer to sip and enjoy.
Review: 75cl. Bottle of Kamil Greenstone, Strong Belgian Ale : 8% ABV
In a nice long brownish bottle, the Greenstone is a collaboration brew done with De Proefbrouwerij.
A bottle fermented beer that uses organically grown barley malt.
Had a lot of carbonation on the pour, took a little while to settle. But amongst all the froth emerged a lovely white headed beer with a nice dark hazy orange colour. It was very appetizing on the eye.
Naturally it had good lacing, and the head maintained throughout (even if my sanity at drinking so much beer and watching the football didn’t!).
Top marks for appearance, it looked magnificent.
On the smell I got a very fruity aroma, of oranges and apples.
For the taste, I got a very strong hoppy beer, quelle surprise its a Belgian! The hops are strong and it is bitter, but they are manageable enough to enjoy, and actually add to the experience of this beer.
Strong, nice to drink over time, and with the 75cl bottle you have that time needed to fully appreciate this beer.
A strong beer, with the spicy flavours, the hops, grains, the citrus, and the organic barley, all swirling around in your mouth, balanced and making this beer a particular favourite. Its playing a rock n roll tune with my taste buds.
Full of tasty hops and very bitter. Great big mouthfuls to enjoy, and my head was buzzing a little after it, but my mood was pleasant and I was just happy to have enjoyed a good long beer.
Review: 75cl. Bottle of Moktamee, Belgian Ale: 6.5% ABV
Moktamee is a specialty beer coming in a big 75cl bottle.
The appearance is one of a very dark amber colour with some reddish hue, and a nice white frothy head that does stick around.
Some good lacing on the glass too.
Looks great, in fact looks better than that, looks majestic. A very good looking beer.
Has a hoppy enough smell on the nose.
Oh my, the taste is very hoppy, very bitter, the hops making a very strong impression on the tongue.
Nice big mouthfuls swilling around, lovely stuff, the barley, the wheat and toasted malts doing the business.
Bit strong too, a good strong Belgian beer.
Perhaps not overrun with a lot of unique flavours, but I thoroughly enjoyed it while I watched the football. Very hoppy but very manageable though, and it had me buzzing by the end of it. Loved it.
Keylor Navas and Joel Campbell made names for themselves in the last World Cup and are back again for another adventure. Otherwise they dont really have any other stand out players in the squad. But is that any different to last time round? I certainly didn’t expect them to get up to much in 2014 and they ended up causing shock after shock, so who knows what gems lie in their squad this time round. 
These days Real Madrid star, Luka Modrić is the player every one looks out for, but if you scan through their squad you can see they have many players who ply their trade in the top leagues of Europe. Their midfield is particularly strong, with Modrić as mentioned, but also Ivan Rakitić of Barca, and Marcelo Brozović from Inter and with Mario Mandžukić still banging the goals in for club and country, they can beat anybody on their day. 
In a tough group, it is perhaps good luck that they play Nigeria first. Nigeria can be slow to come out of the blocks, not scoring in their last three World Cup starts. Hit Nigeria at the start, can leave Croatia looking for three points against Iceland to qualify, something they are well capable of achieving. I think they might not get top of the group, so it is looking that they probably will play France in the second round. A game I also wouldn’t fancy them coming through. But if they do manage to beat Argentina and come top, their route is a little easier, they might get Denmark in the last 16, which is manageable which would set up a mouth watering tie with Germany in the last eight. That’s a game I’d love to see. Two efficient and complete teams head to head, one mistake and you are out. Croatia have a chance to go far in this World Cup, but they need to top the group. Touch and go at the moment, I cant call it for now!
So here they are back again, too long out of the picture, but have they any new stars to set the world alight? Their captain and talisman, Paolo Guerrero, the Flamengo striker, is finally allowed to play after his cocaine on off drug ban, and they badly need him. 87 caps with 34 goals stands out in an otherwise threadbare squad. 
Can they make it out of the group? Will be tough. Against France I dont give them much hope, but if they can get a result against the Danish then Id fancy them to beat the Australians. They dont lose many games under Argentinian manager, Ricardo Gareca, and the team have an unbelievable spirit. Most South American teams are skillful on the ball and very technical, so they wont be an easy touch. They definitely have an outside chance, especially now with their captain finally back. With a small bit of magic and a health dose of luck they could get into the last 16! 
Unlike some of the African teams, the majority of Morocco’s squad play in the top leagues of Europe. Medhi Benatia is at the centre of the backline, and from his time playing with Juventus you can be sure he has the art of defending down to a tee. Karim El Ahmadi, from Feynoord, another bulwark against opposition attackers as a strong defensive midfielder. Hakim Ziyech, the play maker, has had an excellent season with Ajax, prompting the notice of some of the EPL’s big teams, while Striker Khalid Boutaïb, who plays in the Turkish Superliga with Yeni Malatyaspor has had a relatively good season there with 12 goals this year, and is on hot on form. So they have some quality in their team no doubt about it. 
It also has to be mentioned that the team didn’t concede one goal in the qualifying, an amazing statistic, which must take the pressure of the forwards no end. Added to this fact is that they have played well in the pre World Cup friendlies and one would think that Morocco have a decent chance of making the last 16. But they dont, and the reason is simple. They are in a group with Spain and Portugal, with a defensive minded Iran making up the numbers. They really need to hit the ground running in their first game against Iran, a win and they have an outside chance, a loss and its an early exit I am afraid. I really cant see how they can beat Spain, but they might be able to contain Portugal and snatch a draw. It will be a tough ask for Morocco, they have a slim chance, but it would be a big surprise if they made it out of the group. Unlucky for them to get such a tough group. 
It is vitally important that Egypt have their star man playing. He has had such a good season and what a great way to top it all off with a chance to shine in the World Cup for his country. I do hope he is fit enough to play as its not likely he will get a good a chance for a long time and he really is a great player to watch, full of heart, great technical ability and an all round nice guy to boot. 
Héctor Cúper is in charge of the team and I am sure his vast knowledge of the game will help, and what a job he has done so far, bringing Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990 (not withstanding a good dose of help from Salah!)
It was when Italian born Alessandro Zecchinato lived and worked in Dublin, Ireland that he got a love of the craft beer movement and seeing the potential of the market decided to try and bring some craft beer innovation to Croatia. But why Croatia? Well, he also met Veronika Becker in Ireland, fell in love and married her! Veronika was born in the former Yugoslavia, can speak Croatian, and so had experience of the region. With Claudio, a close friend, they all studied the industry inside and out and received a lot of useful information from Irish and Italian breweries, both big and small, and so in March 2015 they founded Bura Brew d.o.o. 
A golden ale that is unfiltered and bottle-conditioned. With a nice looking logo on the bottle, looks like an Inca design not sure of its relevance to Croatia. 
On the taste, it hits you from the start, the hops. Manageable hops, a light bitterness, not too strong making the beer not bad to sip on and slowly enjoy.
A new and exciting artisan brewery in the historical heart of Lisbon, Portugal producing beers that are both innovative and different to the mainstream. Try the Gallas Beer!
Inaugurated in 2018 by brewer Gustavo Gallas, the beer that bears his name is the result of his love for brewing high quality beer for many years. Here beer is made according to the old traditions, with dedication, passion and totally handcrafted processes all with the best locally sourced ingredients from the beautiful and sun land that is Portugal. 
Christ on a bike, this beer is just full of carbonation, a lot of it! This all results in a huge frothy white head that takes a little while to settle. After all that we get a pale yellow looking beer that looks ok. Later the colour goes a bit hazy and cloudy. 
Once again a nice logo and bottle, certainly catches the eye for sure, as this time we are treated to a bikini clad lady on a beach, images of relaxing on a beach with a nice cold cool beer at hand.
The aroma was intense, a really lovely smell, very fruity and really strong on the nose. Got citrus hops. It had the “wow factor”, was really nice and exotic. It smelled like a grapefruit.
It wasn’t that long ago that beer, all beer, was banned in the tiny North Atlantic island. Due to religious reasons, alcohol was not allowed, for fear of its corrupting influence. This was changed in 1933 in a nationwide referendum where 57.7% of the voters approved of lifting the ban. But before we congratulate common sense, beer was only to be allowed if it had an alcohol content not more than 2.25%. Of course this just led to a thriving black market in stronger strength beers smuggled into the country and also beers sold by home brewers that were laced with strong spirits. Finally in May 1988, the government passed legislation legalizing beer above 2.25% ABV. The lifting of restrictions on beer is celebrated as Beer Day on March the 1’st, a day that all beer lovers on the island hold dear. Since then beer, wine and spirits are sold widely and consumed as in any other country. 
Located just 60 miles south of the Arctic circle in the fishing port of Akureyri is the brewery Einstök Ölgerð (Einstök Beer Company). Tapping into pure fresh water that comes directly from prehistoric glaciers flowing down from the majestic Hlíðarfjall Mountain and ancient lava fields, Einstök are able to produce top quality craft brews.
On taste, fuck me, found the initial taste very hard hitting and very hoppy. It this really a regular pale ale? Tastes more like an IPA, fuck me. I think they called it an Arctic Pale Ale to differentiate between the two. Its their own creation, a Viking version of a pale ale!
What are they like this time round? Well they have Sadio Mané who has had an excellent season with Liverpool, and Everton powerhouse Idrissa Gueye in defence. They are also quite lucky in that their group is one of the easiest. Poland, Japan and Colombia are all beatable on the day, and if they play as a cohesive team I’d expect them to come out of the group. The question after that is can they beat either England or Belgium in the second round? As much as I would like to see them progress I just cant see it. Their form so far this year in friendlies is shocking, not winning any games, and drawing with the not so mighty Luxembourg, Uzbekistan and Bosnia. But hell they have shocked us before so there is no reason why they could not do it again. Lets see!