Carlsberg Lager
Brewed by Carlsberg Danmark A/S
Style: Euro Pale Lager
Copenhagen, Denmark
Carlsberg, one of the most iconic beers in the World, and to be found in bars and pubs all across the planet. Founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1847, in Copenhagen, Denmark, he called the company Carlsberg after his son Carl.
Jacobsen had a scientific bent and a keen interest in all things related to chemistry. With this he set up the Carlsberg Laboratory in 1875, which worked on scientific problems related to brewing. It featured a Department of Chemistry and a Department of Physiology. The Carlsberg Laboratory also developed the concept of pH and made advances in protein chemistry. They also did a bit of research into beer production as well!!
In 1876, J.C. Jacobsen established the Carlsberg Foundation, run by trustees from the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, which managed the Carlsberg Laboratory as well as supporting scientific research within the fields of natural sciences, mathematics, philosophy, the humanities and social sciences in Denmark.
Since Jacobsen’s death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation, as unfortunately he had a falling out with his son Carl and decided not to leave him the brewery after his passing. A bit unlucky for Carl.
It also brews and controls, Tuborg, Kronenbourg, SuperBock, San Miguel (UK), Holsten, Somersby cider, Russia’s best-selling beer Baltika, Belgian Grimbergen abbey beers, Feldschlösschen in Switzerland, and more than 500 different beers in numerous countries all over the world, but especially in south east Asia and Europe. Carlsberg also produce at home, Special Brew, a particularly strong lager, oh so well loved by street alcoholics and down and outs all across the UK, and Elephant beer, an export lager beer that references the history behind the The Elephant Gate outside the brewery in Copenhagen. I wasn’t such a fan of that beer, read my review here.
The company is a big employer, with 41,000 people working for the company, primarily located in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia. With an annual turnover reaching just under 10 Billion Dollars the company is a major player on the World beer market.
But for all the beers and acquisitions, it is Carlsberg Lager that is the flagship beer brand in the Carlsberg Group’s portfolio. The 5% abv pilsner beer, first brewed in 1904, is sold to over 140 countries world wide, with its iconic Art Nouveau-style logo and even more well known advertising tagline “Probably the best lager in the world”.
The beer is also very closely associated with the beautiful game of football. They were one of the major sponsors of Euro’s 2004, 2008 and 2012 and also UEFA Euro 2016 (where their ad-boards were changed to read their abridged tagline, “Probably”, due to France’s laws against alcohol advertising) and they were also a sponsor of the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Carlsberg also have a well known link with Liverpool F.C. having sponsored the club from 1992 and were advertised on their club shirts for many years. Carlsberg also sponsor, or have sponsored, F.C. Copenhagen, Havant and Waterlooville, Odense Boldklub, Hajduk Split and, Bulgarian team, Pirin Blagoevgrad.
Review: 0,33l bottle of Carlsberg: ABV: 5%
A lager that is popular with football lovers the world over, as the beer likes to capitalise on its strong association with the round ball. It also sells by the bucket load in the supermarket as its relatively cheap and easy to find.
The export version that is sold throughout Europe. I think the UK version is different, less alcohol for the crazies to deal with.
Comes in a long dark green bottle, which looks a bit shite to be frank.
Initially on the pour get a nice white head, and a clear golden coloured beer. Goes all a bit flat after a while as the head dies a death, not really much of a looker.
Smell is not bad, nice and malty on the nose, some grains too. Ok for smell.
For the taste, it is all bitterness and the hops are strong. I wish it had a cleaner smoother finish.
Full of sweet malts and the grain flavours are imposing.
I always find Carlsberg to be a little too strong for me, strong in the taste, it has that slight bitterness in the front that one doesn’t have with other lagers. Also a citrus bite to it. Some people like all this, I don’t though. It is definitely an acquired taste. It is manageable if I was at a party or something, or desperate, but I prefer to drink smoother lagers, ones that you don’t squirm when you drink them.
Not quaffable enough for my liking, but I can understand how some could like this beer.
First produced way back in 1892, Ozujsko Pivo is the flagship brand produced by Zagrebačka Pivovara (Zagreb Brewery), the largest brewery in the country which has been of Molson Coors Brewing Company since 2013.
The brewery Zagrebačka was founded when the brewers from the upper town of Zagreb realized that they were not able to produce enough beer for the ever-growing and developing city. Panic set in but not to worry as help was at hand. A joint stock company was set up to run Zagrebačka Pivovara on the 19th of May in 1892, with the notion of alleviating this awful situation in the city. The brewery at that time was one of the most modern developments not just in the locale but in the whole city of Zagreb, attracting visitors from all across the city to see the happenings of the new modern premises with its new cooling systems and boilers, and state of the art lightning system, and I suppose to sample the beer as well! Nowadays Zagrebačka has developed into Croatia’s largest brewery and, besides Ožujsko pivo, produces a variety of popular beer brands.
In a very shiny yellowish can, looks a bit cheap. 
For the taste well its nothing that’s going to blow your mind, but its a typical full bodied lager, malty, light and clean, quaffable and not bad. Nice big mouthfuls to enjoy at the start.
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!
Coming all the way from the lovely city of St. Petersburg, Knightberg is a family owned brewery that is taking Russia’s second city by storm. The brewery has been one of the main influencers in the burgeoning craft beer scene in the former imperial capital.
With the fall of communism, many western beer influences flooded the city, from Irish and Belgian type bars, from shops selling generic popular brands such as Carlsberg and Heineken to eventually the “craft beer” scene today that is similar to what we have in the rest of the continent, with beer bloggers, huge and well attended beer festivals and small breweries popping up all over the place. Yes the craft beer scene is truly alive and well in Russia. 
Knightberg – knight and Berg – a knightly hill, is a place of competitions, holidays and feasts. Symbolizing festivities, fun, joy and delight all the result of having some great tasting beer in the company of good friends. Starting out in 2007, Premium Pivovarny Peterburga (Knightberg), brewed beer according to their own recipes at a brewery in Kondopoga, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. The first IPA Krasnaya Mashina (Red Machine) was brewed in 2012 in collaboration with the home brewer Zhenya Tolstov also by Knightberg. Today the brewery brews all the main varieties one would expect from a major supplier, from your usual and standard IPA’s the edgy Stouts, Knightberg has something for everyone and caters for all taste buds.
Coming in a very cool looking logo, as are all the Knightberg beers it has to be said. It features a snazzy looking bird, I guess a seagull, perched on top of a lighthouse, battling against the cold sea breeze of the Baltic airs.
So onto the taste. Got a nice mouthful, of tasty dark chocolate, a very deep and creamy tasting chocolate. Also tasted the roasted malts and the caramel.
Just to note that this was 4.8% but I note in some reviews I have seen online they have it as a 4.5 to 4.7%.
The aroma is nice and malty, get the smell of the the fruits and the hops, a typical pale ale aroma, not too strong.
Weird enough logo, has a giant in the background, hops look like gun shells, must be strong so.
Caramel found, on the initial taste at least.
Another Knightberg beer, and another shit hot cool logo. This time of a robot with the heart of a hop. Very clever and for me it conjures up the idea of Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man, who had to survive by eating metal. Replace hops with metal, I know I couldn’t survive with good beer (and football!)
Get a lot of malt on the taste, very sweet at the early stages, very tingly on the tongue. A nice start. 
This time the logo has a pic of a broken down London bus, used as a squat, a nod to English stouts of yesteryear perhaps?
I have never had an oatmeal stout before and can see the difference easily enough to a regular stout. It is much lighter and not as filling, but very drinkable. Lovely mouthfuls, goes down very nice. This to me is a tiny bit like a Schwarzbier, albeit not as watery and with more flavours.
This time we get a logo of a chilled woman all in pink, sitting on a Vespa bike, another cool looking logo from Knightberg. Pink of course representing all the cherries in this fruit beer.
On the nose…..oh my word, very nice smells of the cherry, quite prominent on the aroma, also can get the sugars and spices. Kind of like a cherry bubble gum on the nose, really nice and pleasant. 
Coming in a nice big green bottle with a cork to pop. Great, looks like a lot of drinking will be done so!
Head maintains, some good lacing. 
Head maintains well. A good looking stout, no complaints so far.
Colour is yellow with a small white head. Head does go flat after a while and it isn’t the most appealing of beers from its appearance. 
Smell is very fruity. Plums and berries. Nice. 
“Fosters, the Australian for lager” or so they say, but is it really? I am sure we all have heard the stories at this stage that Aussies dont actually drink Fosters. Its like a funny weird game the company play with the public, the more people cotton onto this “fact” the more they flex their “Australian credentials” via advertisements and sponsorship of all things Australian. 
With this initial success, the brothers sold the company to make a quick buck and the company eventually ended up in the hands of the Carlton & United Breweries company. These days it is owned by the international brewing giant AB InBev, and its biggest market is in the UK (second only to Carling), distributed by Heineken International who own the European rights to the brand (SABMiller for the US and Molson in Canada) 
If I was surprised about the look, then I was shocked with the smell. There was none, NONE! Completely odorless. Pretty neat trick I think.
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. 
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. 
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.