World Cup of Beer 2014 Semi Finals

The Beer World Cup semi 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 Germany

Nomade Scotch Ale V Friedenfelser Pils 1-2 to the German Pils. The Bavarian beer wins in this close contest. The pils isn’t much to look at but more than makes up for that with its good aroma and great smooth taste. An appearance of a golden yellow colour on pour with a thin white head that doesn’t last, but the aroma, on the other hand, is lovely and it smells like a true German style Pils that you can’t wait to start on. The aroma has notes of bread, grain, malt and grass with some citric hop notes. A good smell. The taste was nice and balanced, with flavours which had a light sweetness and notes of malt, bread, straw, with a hint of citric hops and the bitter finish is moderate. It’s a very good Pilsener, with a light body and one that I could drink all night. Another top beer from the Friedenfelser collection. In opposition, Nomade Scotch Ale, was good and had a gorgeous aroma that smelt of fruit and malts, and a taste that was also very smooth and full of great flavours. The taste was a sweet malty flavour with notes of grapes and smoked malts. It also had a small bitter aftertaste that wasn’t overwhelming. One disappointment was that the colour didn’t appeal, looked a little flat, but overall a solid ale that I found quite strong to drink, with a kick in the end of each mouthful that did the business. Both brews I enjoyed, the ale was more flavourful, while the Pils was smoother, so I just gave the victory to the Pils for the fact that it was the brew I wanted to continue watching the game in extra time with, but only just. A tight victory.

England V USA

London Pride V Samuel Adams: 2-1 to London Pride in this battle between two famous beers that represent their respective cities, London and Boston, very well. Samuel Adams, is a very good looking beer, that pours a dark golden colour with a nice sized frothy head that hangs around a while, leaving a good amount of lacing left on the glass. The smell was also top quality. I got a good earthy smell of malts and some 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. The finish is very strong with a long lasting heavy aftertaste. Overall a nice solid beer and a great delicious taste that is both memorable and enjoyable. I like this beer! But London Pride gets the win, just about. As I really do enjoy the complexities of flavours that it has going on inside the bottle. It pours a lovely amber reddish colour with some white head that doesn’t last too long. Unlike Samuel Adams, London Pride isn’t much of a looker. The aroma, though, has a nice sweet smell to it of some biscuit malts and earthy hops with hints of caramel. Nice. Its the taste that is the most important factor to this drink. A lovely refreshing flavour which hits the taste buds immediately. It tastes of light caramel, some earthy hops with a mild bitter aftertaste. It has a different, subtle, complex taste to it than what you can expect from a lot of beers, which has to be appreciated. I also found it a bit strong in the taste which I enjoyed, more of a kick to it than other ales and regular beers. It was also a better session drink so I gave the victory to London Pride and into the final they go.