Yesterday, the beers and the football were in sync, perhaps for the first time.
We had a thrilling beer match between Denmark (Elephant) and Cameroon (Castel). Both are very fine lagers. We had spent the day walking (glorious walking weather. We went across the most English of landscapes around Mapledurham to visit the Packhorse pub) and I had spent two hours in the garden potting on the tomatoes and chillies, so we were really looking forward to a cold beer. Denmark had immediate appeal, as it was tasted first! But would the more complex flavour of the Cameroon overtake it? There was some discussion about what Cameroon's score should but. In the end, Denmark won, 5-4.
And then in the evening we actually watched the football. What a match. We were on the edge of our seats. But it was so disappointing to see the entertaining and energetic Cameroon side go out. There is something wrong that Cameroon has gone out and that England is still in, after England's woeful performance on Friday (we meant to tell you, our neighbours thoughtfully programmed their PVR so that we missed the last 15 minutes of the match. Thank you, Barrie and Suzie!). At least Cameroon may still be able to survive the group stages in the Boxbeck Beer World Cup.
Other results yesterday (subject to validation) Netherlands (that now famous Bavaria) drew with Japan (Kirin Ichiban) 3 each; Ghana (Star in a bottle, brewed in Ghana) drew with Australia (VB) 3 each.
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Friday, 18 June 2010
A night to remember! (not)
Expectations were high on the eigth day of the World Cup and we were certainly given good reason to remember why we started a beer tasting competition four years ago. Mind numbing boredom! No goals! Incompetence!
At least on the beer front things were far more exciting......
We were round at Barrie and Suzie's for a night of snacks, pizzas and beers in front of the TV.
First up was a replay of Greece v Nigeria. In a dramatic about turn after a poor performance on Thursday Nigeria (Star in a can) got a respectable draw against Greece (Vergina). Next was Germany v Serbia and the latter came very close to the second zero of the tournament so far. The Serbian team (Apatinsko)suffered badly from having been decanted from a two litre plastic bottle on Sunday. The score was 2-1 in Germany (Bitburger)'s favour. Another surprise in the Slovenia USA match. We had high hopes of Slovenia (Zlatarog in a can), but in the end quality won and USA (Dixie in a bottle) romped home 4-3. Last and not least was the big match of the day and England (Hop from Greene King) triumphed over a very steady Algeria 4-3.
We wandered home in the light drizzle pondering the dichotomy between the beer and football performances and wondering how much more we could take.....
At least on the beer front things were far more exciting......
We were round at Barrie and Suzie's for a night of snacks, pizzas and beers in front of the TV.
First up was a replay of Greece v Nigeria. In a dramatic about turn after a poor performance on Thursday Nigeria (Star in a can) got a respectable draw against Greece (Vergina). Next was Germany v Serbia and the latter came very close to the second zero of the tournament so far. The Serbian team (Apatinsko)suffered badly from having been decanted from a two litre plastic bottle on Sunday. The score was 2-1 in Germany (Bitburger)'s favour. Another surprise in the Slovenia USA match. We had high hopes of Slovenia (Zlatarog in a can), but in the end quality won and USA (Dixie in a bottle) romped home 4-3. Last and not least was the big match of the day and England (Hop from Greene King) triumphed over a very steady Algeria 4-3.
We wandered home in the light drizzle pondering the dichotomy between the beer and football performances and wondering how much more we could take.....
Match report - things are getting dull now
The match reports won't be so much fun now, all the beers have been tasted.
Yesterday Argentina (Quilmes) beat South Korea (Hite) 4-2. Quilmes perhaps showed a glimpse of its previous World Cup form? France (Kronenbourg) got the 1st 5, just pipping Mexico (Bohemia) at the post. Both these beers are really nice. We slightly preferred the Kronenbourg and so gave them an extra point. In the final match, Greece (Vergina) beat Nigeria (Star in a tin) 3-1.
Tonight will be a big night - pizzas and football at the neighbour's. We may have to do Saturday's matches a day early!
That's all for now.
Yesterday Argentina (Quilmes) beat South Korea (Hite) 4-2. Quilmes perhaps showed a glimpse of its previous World Cup form? France (Kronenbourg) got the 1st 5, just pipping Mexico (Bohemia) at the post. Both these beers are really nice. We slightly preferred the Kronenbourg and so gave them an extra point. In the final match, Greece (Vergina) beat Nigeria (Star in a tin) 3-1.
Tonight will be a big night - pizzas and football at the neighbour's. We may have to do Saturday's matches a day early!
That's all for now.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Match report, champagne cocktails and poetic justice
A bit of a secondhand match report this time. I chose to have champagne cocktails in Mayfair with my old friend Roddy, leaving the Woodcote Woodies Village League semi-finalists to adjudicate the beer matches.
The matches were not as high quality as yesterday. The favourite beer was Chile (sub: Cusquena from Mexico. Why is it so hard to source South American beers?) - many trying to talk it up to the as yet unachieved 5. However, it still managed to beat Honduras (sub Cristal from Cuba) 4-3.
The next two beer matches did not follow the football matches. Spain (Alhambra) beat Switzerland (Swiss Mountain) 3-1. This was a weak showing for Spain - we fully expected it to be one of the favourites.
For those of you interested in beer competition history, Spain won the 2006 Boxbeck Beer World Cup with Estrella Damm.
The Swiss beer was difficult to source. We secured it from the St Moritz restaurant in London. A very nice lady sold it to us at a very reasonable price. Shame it's such a soapy, sour brew.
Finally, South Africa (Castle) had a storming 3-0 victory over Uruguay (sub Patagonia from Argentina). The well out of date Patagonia was as awful as last time and went down the sink again. I think it's fair to say that Uruguay won't leave the group stage (to everyone's relief). Next time we will find a decent beer for them!
And you will be pleased to know that the Woodcote Woodies won their match, and will be in the finals next week.
The matches were not as high quality as yesterday. The favourite beer was Chile (sub: Cusquena from Mexico. Why is it so hard to source South American beers?) - many trying to talk it up to the as yet unachieved 5. However, it still managed to beat Honduras (sub Cristal from Cuba) 4-3.
The next two beer matches did not follow the football matches. Spain (Alhambra) beat Switzerland (Swiss Mountain) 3-1. This was a weak showing for Spain - we fully expected it to be one of the favourites.
For those of you interested in beer competition history, Spain won the 2006 Boxbeck Beer World Cup with Estrella Damm.
The Swiss beer was difficult to source. We secured it from the St Moritz restaurant in London. A very nice lady sold it to us at a very reasonable price. Shame it's such a soapy, sour brew.
Finally, South Africa (Castle) had a storming 3-0 victory over Uruguay (sub Patagonia from Argentina). The well out of date Patagonia was as awful as last time and went down the sink again. I think it's fair to say that Uruguay won't leave the group stage (to everyone's relief). Next time we will find a decent beer for them!
And you will be pleased to know that the Woodcote Woodies won their match, and will be in the finals next week.
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Match reports, and keeping you in suspense
Avid blog followers are anxiously awaiting the full story about how we sourced our North Korean beer, Taedonggang. But you will have to wait a bit longer, as I only have time for a short post today.
The matches started in fine style, with Slovakia (ZlatyBazant) drawing 4-4 with New Zealand (Speights). This was a tightly fought contest, with a case being made for Slovakia to achieve the yet unachieved - the perfect 5. There was a moment of anxiety when the New Zealand beer was poured - it look like bitter. Would it have to be eliminated, as breaking the rules? But, no, it was just a dark lager. After this contest, hopes were high for the subsequent matches.
Cote d'Ivoire (Flag) vs Portugal (Superbock) was also a draw, 3-3. The result was rather flattering for Portugal, who scraped an extra point for no good reason. Portugal had a dismal showing in the 2008 Boxbeck Beer European Cup - was it Superbock or was it Sagres? Our records don't say, but I think it's safe just to avoid all Portuguese beers (unless you are in Portugal of course).
Finally, the moment we had all been waiting for - North Korea (Taedonggang) vs Brazil (Palma Louca). Similar to the football, hopes were high for North Korea, when Brazil put in a poor performance. What a tasteless and insipid brew. It only scored a 2. But, sadly, Taedonggang could not live up to its lovely label. Its peculiar, "lager and lime" flavour meant it only scored a 1. So Brazil snatched the match, 2-1.
That's all for now.
The matches started in fine style, with Slovakia (ZlatyBazant) drawing 4-4 with New Zealand (Speights). This was a tightly fought contest, with a case being made for Slovakia to achieve the yet unachieved - the perfect 5. There was a moment of anxiety when the New Zealand beer was poured - it look like bitter. Would it have to be eliminated, as breaking the rules? But, no, it was just a dark lager. After this contest, hopes were high for the subsequent matches.
Cote d'Ivoire (Flag) vs Portugal (Superbock) was also a draw, 3-3. The result was rather flattering for Portugal, who scraped an extra point for no good reason. Portugal had a dismal showing in the 2008 Boxbeck Beer European Cup - was it Superbock or was it Sagres? Our records don't say, but I think it's safe just to avoid all Portuguese beers (unless you are in Portugal of course).
Finally, the moment we had all been waiting for - North Korea (Taedonggang) vs Brazil (Palma Louca). Similar to the football, hopes were high for North Korea, when Brazil put in a poor performance. What a tasteless and insipid brew. It only scored a 2. But, sadly, Taedonggang could not live up to its lovely label. Its peculiar, "lager and lime" flavour meant it only scored a 1. So Brazil snatched the match, 2-1.
That's all for now.
Monday's matches, and how we choose the beers
Yesterday saw some high quality competition. Denmark (Elephant) edged Netherlands (Bavaria) 4-3. Cameroon (Castel - sourced from France) played better than expected (our rare beers from Nigeria and Serbia had lowered our expectations) beat Japan (Kirin Ichiban) 4-3. Finally, Italy (Peroni) had an easy 4-2 victory over a rather tasteless Paraguay (sub Brahma from Brazil).
Our supporters often ask us "how do you choose the beers when you have a choice of more than one beer per country?". For the first Beer World Cup, it was random, we just picked what came to hand. For the Beer European Cup 2 years ago, we picked the most popular beer. This led to an interesting result - Grolsch reached the semis and we often drink it now. But having Becks representing Germany was bad, unsurprisingly they did not progress beyond the group stage.
For this World Cup, we have selected beers with confusing or interesting names - Bavaria for the Netherlands, Bohemia for Mexico and so on.
But for the next competition, we are considering having qualifying rounds so the best beer gets in. The downside is that we will have to drink even more lager...
Today is the big day - North Korea - Taedongdang makes its appearance....
Our supporters often ask us "how do you choose the beers when you have a choice of more than one beer per country?". For the first Beer World Cup, it was random, we just picked what came to hand. For the Beer European Cup 2 years ago, we picked the most popular beer. This led to an interesting result - Grolsch reached the semis and we often drink it now. But having Becks representing Germany was bad, unsurprisingly they did not progress beyond the group stage.
For this World Cup, we have selected beers with confusing or interesting names - Bavaria for the Netherlands, Bohemia for Mexico and so on.
But for the next competition, we are considering having qualifying rounds so the best beer gets in. The downside is that we will have to drink even more lager...
Today is the big day - North Korea - Taedongdang makes its appearance....
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Focus on our sponsors, and weekend report
What a weekend! We've been tired of football since Friday, and now we're tired of lager.
This weekend was Sponsors Weekend. If it weren't for our sponsors, we would not have been able to source South Korea (Hite), Slovenia (Lasko Zlatorog) and Serbia (Apatinsko). Of course, our real coup is the Taegandong from North Korea, but I will save that for another post.
Our sponsors gathered for a weekend of beer, food, football and tennis. The weather smiled on us and we enjoyed the great outdoors. A good time was had by all except in the England - USA football game.
South Korea (Hite) was very ordinary and had no faults. It was up against Greece (Vergina), which was slightly more interesting. Greece edged the contest 3-2. The Hite was sourced from a supermarket in London - many thanks to Alan for his contribution!
Slovenia (Zlatorog) was a very fine beer. We remembered it from our walking holidays in the country (much better than their wine). It had reasonable competition from Algeria (sub: Casablanca from Morocco). The first time we had Casablanca was for the 2006 Beer World Cup, and all 6 bottles were off. Quality control obviously has improved since then, and Algeria's team wasn't bad at all. But Slovenia's class showed through, and the final score was Slovenia 4, Algeria 3.
Many thanks to our sponsor, Trevor, who had the Zlatorog shipped over specially for us, in a delightful football shaped cardboard container. We even had the choice between green or black tins (we opted for green). We have since heard that imports of beer from the Lasko brewery are likely to have started, in time for the world cup. They will have to be quick - not sure how much longer Slovenia will last in the football. But if you do find it, give it a try.
Serbia (Apatinsko) was presented in a very unappetising 2 litre bottle. This will present it a challenge as the competition goes on, as it loses its fizz. But we can be sure that the taste won't improve.... It looked as if Serbia was not facing stiff opposition - Ghana's Star looked like the same beer as Nigeria's dismal brew but in a bottle. But Ghana's entry was brewed in Ghana, not Nigeria, and was a reasonable lager. So Ghana won, 3-2.
Bernard sourced the Apatinsko from somewhere in Shepherd's Bush from a shop we found on the web. Thank you, Bernard.
Other results this weekend:
Argentina (Quilmes) beat Nigeria (Star, in a tin) 3-1. Argentina doesn't seem to be showing the same form as the last world cup, when it reached the quarter finals. The Star was awful.
England (Hop) drew with the USA (Dixie) 4 each. Both very nice lagers.
Germany (Bitburger) drew with Australia (VB) 3 each.
This weekend was Sponsors Weekend. If it weren't for our sponsors, we would not have been able to source South Korea (Hite), Slovenia (Lasko Zlatorog) and Serbia (Apatinsko). Of course, our real coup is the Taegandong from North Korea, but I will save that for another post.
Our sponsors gathered for a weekend of beer, food, football and tennis. The weather smiled on us and we enjoyed the great outdoors. A good time was had by all except in the England - USA football game.
South Korea (Hite) was very ordinary and had no faults. It was up against Greece (Vergina), which was slightly more interesting. Greece edged the contest 3-2. The Hite was sourced from a supermarket in London - many thanks to Alan for his contribution!
Slovenia (Zlatorog) was a very fine beer. We remembered it from our walking holidays in the country (much better than their wine). It had reasonable competition from Algeria (sub: Casablanca from Morocco). The first time we had Casablanca was for the 2006 Beer World Cup, and all 6 bottles were off. Quality control obviously has improved since then, and Algeria's team wasn't bad at all. But Slovenia's class showed through, and the final score was Slovenia 4, Algeria 3.
Many thanks to our sponsor, Trevor, who had the Zlatorog shipped over specially for us, in a delightful football shaped cardboard container. We even had the choice between green or black tins (we opted for green). We have since heard that imports of beer from the Lasko brewery are likely to have started, in time for the world cup. They will have to be quick - not sure how much longer Slovenia will last in the football. But if you do find it, give it a try.
Serbia (Apatinsko) was presented in a very unappetising 2 litre bottle. This will present it a challenge as the competition goes on, as it loses its fizz. But we can be sure that the taste won't improve.... It looked as if Serbia was not facing stiff opposition - Ghana's Star looked like the same beer as Nigeria's dismal brew but in a bottle. But Ghana's entry was brewed in Ghana, not Nigeria, and was a reasonable lager. So Ghana won, 3-2.
Bernard sourced the Apatinsko from somewhere in Shepherd's Bush from a shop we found on the web. Thank you, Bernard.
Other results this weekend:
Argentina (Quilmes) beat Nigeria (Star, in a tin) 3-1. Argentina doesn't seem to be showing the same form as the last world cup, when it reached the quarter finals. The Star was awful.
England (Hop) drew with the USA (Dixie) 4 each. Both very nice lagers.
Germany (Bitburger) drew with Australia (VB) 3 each.
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