Beer and Brewer Magazine

Travel, they say, broadens the mind. Nick Race has decided to broaden his palate instead, with a look at who drinks what in the Rugby World Cup.

In 7 September in St Denis, just north of Paris, two teams will square off on a field marked out 100 metres in length and 70 metres wide. In the centre of the field will be an oval ball, made of four panels of synthetic leather, foiled polyester, latex and adhesive, measuring 28cm long, 56cm in circumference and weighing a hair under half a kilo. In the stands will be 80,000 avid fans, flags flying, at full roar and almost to a man, a beer in their hand.

The Rugby World Cup is an institution, only behind the Olympic Games and the Soccer World cup as the most watched, most followed sports events on the planet. For each World Cup, more than 80 countries field teams to qualify. Sometimes, it's the only international game these guys play at all. And on every sideline at every one of those games, supporters are going to celebrate the win or mourn the loss with a frosty beer.

An ambition of mine, and I'm sure some other fans, is to watch a game of rugby in every country that plays it. And with one of those beers in my hand. But before you race off into wilds unknown, you need to do your research. So I've looked into it. Though I'm sure some of the larger brewers out there wish they were all drinking the sponsor's beer (Heineken at the Rugby World Cup), there's often a big difference between what the man on the sidelines, or on the couch at home, is drinking compared to the official beer of the games.

So the question is, what does the man in the street drink, in any country where there's a rugby game going on? Well, here's the low-down.

The Americas

• St Lucia in the Carribean serves up an icy cold Piton; it's drinkable but mainly thanks to the surroundings.
• Bermuda presents one of the better brews in this collection. North Rock Bitter is really good. It goes down smoothly with the waves lapping your toes.
• The Cayman islands also brews a drinkable drop. Stingray lager is made for the Seppos tourists, so it's a bit Budweiser-esque.
• The St Vincent and The Grenadines team can throw a short pass and make a good beer. Hairoun lager is light and easy to drink, though not challenging.
• Barbados makes Banks, which is pretty drinkable. It's crisp, clear and refreshing.
• Brazil's typical tipple is Brahma, ‘the Budweiser of Brazil'. Little flavour, and it's hidden behind the bubbles.
• Peru's Cusquena lager is a different kettle of fish. It's crisp and tastes of the mountains.
• Chile's Austral beer is a plain-Jane lager that's drinkable but far from special. Need work on the lineout as well.
• Venezuela has the icily named Polar. Keep it chilled to get rid of some of the metallic taste.
• In Canada Labatts and Molsen are the two big sellers. Both are pretty rotten but I'd take a Molsen in a pinch.
• USA and Budweiser, the beer to which other bad beers are likened. As the old joke goes, it's like sex in a canoe.
• First match is France v Argentina. The Argentine team's supported by Cervesa Quilmes, a damn drinkable drop!
• Paraguay has Cerveceria Paraguayana Pilsen, a big name for a small beer. It's a straightforward pilsener, surprisingly like Urquell.

The Pacific

• Samoa recently put up a great fight against the Springboks in SA, a valiant rugby effort, but unfortunately not a country known for its beer. Samoa's beer is Vailima, a bog-standard lager that goes down smoothly but only because it's bloody hot outside.
• Tourists and locals swear by Fiji Bitter. Sitting on the beach, it's hard to imagine a finer brew but take it away from the palm trees and it's average at best.
• Another sunny archipelago, Tonga produces great rugby players with plenty of heart. Same can't be said for Ikale; Tonga's budget lager. It's close to water but not as refreshing.
• The Cook Islands make Cooks Lager, named for the Captain himself. If Cookie were alive today, he'd be rolling in his grave, as it's pretty naff. It's dry as dirt, and tastes vaguely of antispectic. Pass!
• Tahiti's Hinano lager is a miss on the great beer tour. It's weak and so bland it tastes like something a chemical company would come up with as ‘beer flavour'.
• One of the worst. The Solomon Islands has a single brewer with a single ‘popular' beer. SolBrew. It's the pits. But good luck finding anything else to drink while you do the Mexican wave.
• Onward to Vanuatu's Tusker beer. It's so-so, but drinkable. You'll forget about the taste when cheering for Vanuatu's team at try time. Mostly because it has no aftertaste.
• PNG's South Pacific Export claims it represents the region. It shouldn't; it's horrible.
• If we have to list them for you, you shouldn't be reading this. Okay, New, VB, XXXX, Swan, Crown, Coopers ...
• The Kiwis have a few good local drops; Speights, Tui, Steinlager and Lion Red. We love them like (distant) cousins, but dodge the Tui in the Esky - it's a trick they're playing on us.

Asia

• Japan's Asahi beer is well-known, and the ‘Super Dry!' label on the can is pretty spot-on. Nothing groundbreaking but surprisingly satisfying.
• Thailand's Singha beer is a slightly honeyish tasting warm-weather lager. It's not a bad drop but the Thais need some more time on the training field.
• South Korea has two big brands, Cass and Hite. Both are Japanese-style dry, both served in frosted mugs, and neither have any taste at all.
• Hong Kong still fields it's own rugby team, and Hong Kong Gold Premium beer is pretty far from China's Tsingtao. Gold is a watery, tasteless mug of disappointment.
• Singapore's rugby team is university-fed and as upstanding as the Singaporeans in general. Though not huge drinkers, Singapore's beer, Tiger, is a pretty nice drop.
• Next door, the Malaysians favour a lighter brew. Anchor Smooth is a pilsener that's light on the fizz, light on the belt, and very light on flavour as well.
• Taiwan fields the most imaginatively named beer of all: Taiwan Beer. Served icy cold in big green bottles, Taiwan Beer is interesting and different. It's a lager beer, but they add rice in with the malt, which give it a difference.
• Indonesia's Bintang pilsener is another refreshing beer, if only for the climate in which it's drunk. We love the beaches of Bali but always drink Heineken. Wonder why.
• India's Kingfisher is a fire quencher, rather than a thirst quencher. Though it's not too bad and goes down well with a hot curry, I wouldn't track one down in a foreign land.
• Sri Lanka's Lion Lager is pretty reasonable drop and by far the most popular. The Lion Stout is a much better beer and well liked the world over.

Africa

• The South Africans' beer of choice is Castle Lager. This one's drinkable but I wouldn't dip my bread in it. You should be able to dig some bottles up at your local.
• Tunisia brews a rather Irish sounding beer called Celtia. It's not bad per se but disappears as soon as you swallow a mouthful.
• Cameroon isn't a typical rugby nation, first entering in 2003. It was a valiant effort but they didn't qualify. If only its beer, Castel, had half as much oomph.
• Senegal's Flag Lager is average, plain and very cheap. The worst part is that fridges are pretty rare around those parts, so expect to drink it warm.
• Zambia's Mosi lager is the lifeblood of the Zambian people. Good rugby playing nation with a good BBQ drop of beer!
• Botswana's St Louis lager tastes as American as it sounds. The pitch could use some on a dry day but fans should stick with water; it's stronger.
• Madagascar's Three Horses pilsener is a clear, refreshing sample that's got a cracking dry finish. If you're lucky, a trained lemur will bring you one. Really.
• Uganda's Egyptian-sounding Nile Lager isn't as manic as Egypt itself. The beer's plain and boring, but certainly drinkable.
• Guyana has a top notch local brew called Banks Lager. It's a top drink for a hot day with decent flavour and light on the fizz, so you can slam it down fast.
• Kenya's Tusker lager is a drop that turns up in bottle shops around Oz from time to time. The taste is so average, it hurts.
• Ivory Coast churns out Mamba lager. It's got a dangerous name and is super-malty. Very unbalanced for a lager.
• Namibia loves Windhoek, which is widely available across southern Africa. It's a Euro-style lager and very drinkable.
• Casablanca is the soul of Morocco, and the biggest beer is named for it. Predictably, Casa Beer tastes as corny as the name.
• Zambezi beer is named for the river in Zimbabwe but I hope the water isn't drawn from there.

Europe & UK

• We all remember the last World Cup. The English stole the finals and warm beer is their punishment. London Pride is one of the easiest to get your hands on in Oz.
• Tennants Lager out-sells all other brews in Scotland. It's rough, so you might want to switch to cider after a few throat burners.
• The Welsh love bitter, with Thames Welsh Extra Strong being the tipple of choice. Thames Welsh ESB is a damn good drop.
• Ireland's Guinness is one of the smoothest drops out there, and the only stout on the list. It's no longer merely a beer but more a national icon.
• This year's gracious hosts are sipping Kronenbourg with their baguette and foie gras, but none of that fancy 1664 stuff; the plain Red variant is the beer of choice.
• Italy is fast becoming a great rugby nation. The beer of choice beyond doubt is Birra Peroni, a great lager that you can get here in Australia with ease.
• Luxembourg's Bofferding pilsener has an aftertaste as short as the country is small. It's not bad but so close to great beer nations, you'd drink it out of national pride.
• Picking a representative beer from the German menu is tough. I'm going with Lowenbrau but really, how do you choose?
• Spain's Voll Damm is a great beer. The team needs to work on some rugby skills, but the Spanish brew is definitely worth drinking, strong, rich and taste. Cheap too. But why the Dutch name?
• Andorra is the only European country that doesn't brew its own beer. Andorrans drink Spanish beer but prefer the lighter Estrella Damm.
• The Romanian on the street prefers Ursus Premium, which is sweet and bubbly, suiting the Romanian character. But not their players - tough as old boots.
• Dreher Pils is the beer of the rugby follower in Hungary. This one's quite plain, the opposite of the exciting vibe from this up-and-coming rugby nation.
• Sweden churns out a drop called Pripps Bla. It's Bla all right; a lager so uninspired you might as well be drinking water with a few drops of metho.
• Denmark's known for a few drops. Carlsberg comes to mind immediately, but the cheaper Tuborg shouldn't be ignored. It's got flavour and soothes a cold throat.
• Slovenia's Lasko Pilsner is cheap. Keep that in mind when you're drinking it and it'll make you feel better about it.
• Lithuania has an interesting one. Svyturys Extra is a bitter that isn't too bad. Rugby is still up and coming here but the beer's worth a try!
• Georgia's Kazbegi lager is similar to Romania's Ursus. Sweet and bubbly, but the attitude's a bit more subdued.
• Boznia & Herzegovina's Sarajevsko lager is a blessing and a curse. It doesn't taste bad but stories abound of folks getting crook from drinking it. I'll take my chances.
• Moldova's Arc Pilsner is a pretty standard beer. The rich farming land could be put to much better use with a few fields of barley, if you get my drift.
• Just the thought of Belgium is enough to give most beer lovers high blood pressure. But it's not all wine and roses. On the street, the tipple of choice is Jupiler Pils. I wouldn't wash my dog with it.
• Bulgaria's Shumensko Lager is reputed to be a damn good drop. I've not tried it - yet but like the field of dreams, if they brew it, I will come.
• Poland is better known for vodka than malt, but Zywiec Jasne Pelne is the popular choice and it's got guts. Nice and strong, good with dumplings, you'd have it again.
• Heineken for The Netherlands? No, the Cloggies prefer Amstel but don't fear, there'll be plenty of Heinies being sunk in France this year.
• The Czech Republic exports Pilsner Urquell but the populist choice is Gambrinus. It's similar but with a bit more flavour.
• Latvia has a drop called Aldaris. I've never seen their team on the pitch but the beer isn't too shoddy, so there's hope there.
• Lav is the beer behind Serbia's national team. They need a bit more practice but Lav's not bad.
• Switzerland's known for chocolate, clocks, banks and lacking beaches. Local drop Cardinal is suitably neutral and unexciting. Phil Collins lives there.
• Portugal's got energy and Sagres lager is the same. Beware headaches the next day.
• Malta's Cisk lager is a lovely golden brew with a huge head and a decent flavour.
• Kazakhstan's Zhigulevskoye is a pilsener that tastes like grass. In a good way. The Kazakhi beer is nice and crisp and one of the better budget brews in this lot.
• Russia isn't known for its beer. When Vodka's cheap, drinking Baltika just seems wrong.
• Down Israel way, Goldstar is the beer of choice. It's a light lager, pretty easy to get down, but leaves many with a wild, though presumably kosher, headache.

And with that, we've looked at the majority of teams that had a go at the World Cup. The rest are ‘dry' countries. No beer at the footy - then frankly, why would you bother?

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