World Cup of Beer 2014 Quarter Finals

The Beer World Cup quarter finals now gets under way. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking during the later stages of the Football World Cup

Chile V Japan

Kirin Ichiban V Nomade Scotch Ale: 0-1 to Nomade. Looked good, nice fruity and malty aroma, with a taste that was of a sweet malty flavor with notes of grapes and smoked malts. The expected aftertaste wasn’t overwhelming, and the flavours kicked in near the end. It wins out as it was a stronger drink with stronger tastes. Kirin is a nice light pale lager that goes down easy and smooth. 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 also had a sweet smell of a light grain and malt aroma. The taste also 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. Nice but its the quarter finals and I go for the ale this time around, the stronger the drink and alcohol content the better chance of progression at this stage of my competition!

Germany V Argentina

Quilmes V Friedenfelser Hefe-Weizen. 0-2 Win for Friedenfelser as its taste was delicious and left me wanting more! A lot of carbonation but that’s normal for a German wheat beer. Once it settled the colour was of a very clear orange beer with a nice frothy head, that looked very appealing.The aroma was quite strong with notes of sweet banana, yeast and wheat.But it pulled way ahead of Quilmes due to its fantastic taste and was very nice, very easy to drink. It tasted very sweet, and contained flavours of yeast and wheat, with a strong fruity banana aroma, and the aftertaste, was very manageable. Overall it was a good, pure and clear well balanced drink with a nice strong feel to it. Quilmes was also a decent beer, drinkable and does the business, i.e quenches the thirst. It has a very interesting taste of a little corn and grain sweetness to open it up, a kind of sickly sweet, with a bitter aftertaste in the end. A nice beer, enjoyable, but no match for a Bavarian master brew. Again Freidenfelser pull out a winning beer from their vast collection.

Australia V England

VB Bitter V London Pride. 1-2 Win for London Pride. The Ale from England’s capital city gets victory in a very close battle with VB of Australia. London Pride pours an amber reddish colour with a very good sized head. The aroma of some biscuit malts and earthy hops with hints of caramel sweetness, is all pretty great on the nose. While the taste is of light caramel, some earthy hops with a mild bitter aftertaste. I also found it a bit strong in the taste which I enjoyed, more of a kick to it than other ales. Australia’s famous VB with its iconic brown stubby, and the famous aftertaste, pours a dark golden color, clear, topped with a thin white head with good retention.The aroma is mostly of faint grains, sweet malts and low hops. It has a sweet malty taste, and the expected creamy aftertaste hits you pretty quickly. I have gotten to appreciate VB over the course of these few weeks, and its now a beer I can definitely say I have developed a taste for, but London Pride gets this victory as its taste is more subtle and complex, having a lot of interesting flavours that make the beer easy to enjoy and strong enough to give me a good alcohol buzz.

Nigeria V USA

Guinness Export V Samuel Adams. 1-2 Win for Samuel Adams in a close battle, that both beers held up well in. Guinness Extra Stout has its unique taste, with its famous black colour and tan whitish head, that smells of, well, Guinness! The smell is very strong on the nose, and is of dark cocoa, coffee and roasted malts. The taste is also quite strong, with a long bitter aftertaste, that had a bite to it. Overall a good strong stout, tasting of roasted malt with traces of coffee. Samuel Adams, on the other hand, had a great appearance, of a nice dark golden colour with a good sized frothy head that hangs around. The look of a decent beer. The smell was pleasant and not overbearing, of malts and a bit of floral hops. The Samuel Adams taste had a variety of strong flavours from the hops and malt which were well balanced, all tingling away at my taste buds. Caramel was one taste that stood out. The finish is strong with a long lasting heavy aftertaste. Overall a nice solid beer and a great delicious taste. I gave the victory to Samuel Adams for two reasons. One it had better flavouring, and the other factor was that it was much smoother, so hence more enjoyable than the strong stout.