Dropping in for a drop?

The "Ya-Rona"   bottle store situated on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Castle Lager is the most popular beer in South Africa and is, in fact, a very good drop of the old cool amber liquid. The other main brand of beer is Lion Lager but personally I prefer Castle, which is far more popular, especially with a few sticks of biltong or tending to the braai (BBQ). No self respecting South African would ever braai over flames, it has to be just hot coals, if a flame appears it is always immediately put out with a splash from the Castle bottle. Both Castle and Lion beers, in fact, about 99% of all commercial beers in South Africa, are brewed by South African Breweries.

Redback Original is brewed The Matilda Bay Brewing Co Ltd from Fremantle, Western Australia and is an excellent wheat beer. The draught Redback that is available at the Sail and Anchor in Fremantle is well worth tasting.

According to my mate, Kevin, Erdinger Dunkel Weissbier is one of the best beers in Germany. The Erdinger Dunkel is a very deceptive beer. Almost the colour of a stout it is an amazingly refreshing beer and very light tasting yet full of flavour. I agree with Kevin this is one of the best beers I have ever tasted.

Okay, now for another great beer! This one is from Belguim. We all know that Belguim is hard pushed to find three great Belgians that will stand up in history but they sure as hell know how to make beer! The La Chouffe is a classic amongst ales anywhere in the world. If you see it for sale buy it - irrespective of the price - just buy it and taste the malt and hops. Thanks for the the tip Werner!

I am spoiling you with excellent beers now as if the Erdinger wasn't enough. This ale comes from Morland's Brewery in Suffolk, England. It is a live beer with a great lingering taste.

The Forbidden Fruit Beer, again from Belguim, is something to be reckoned with at a mere 8.8% alcohol. Extremely tasty but treat this stuff as wine and not a quaffing brew.

This one is again a strong one at 8.8%. It is very light in colour and the appearance is somewhat deceptive. Don't worry though the taste will leave you with no doubts. Visit the Duvel Brewery.

Another beer, Orval. that is brewed under the supervision of Trappiste Monks. This brew comes in quite a distinctive bottle. It is very fruity in flavour and full of body.

Chimay is probably the most famous of the five Belgian Trappiste brews. This picture is the Chimay Brown and is quite a tame number at only 7.0% alc. Chimay Triple is 8% alc and Chimay 2000 is 9% alc.

A collection of Belgium's Best. Those Trappist Monks certainly know how to brew a fine drop of ale.

Some other imported and Australian beers that I have rated according to my taste.

Some other brewery/beer sites can be found at the following sites:

Good beer site is to be found here at Owen Ogletrees website.

The Newcastle Brown Ale site is a real winner! "Newkie Broon", as it is affectionately known by consumers, is a famous ale brewed in the north of England.

For great Aussie beer try looking around www.malt-shovel.com.au an excellent drop!

Try having a look at the Heineken page also.

The late 60's, early 70's was a pretty piss poor era in respect of getting decent ale in the UK. The six major breweries had swallowed up all the small guys and every beer tasted the same, no matter what part of the country you were in. That was when CAMRA (CAMpaign for Real Ale) was born. Real beer drinkers climbed on board this movement in huge numbers. The campaign has been so successful that the large breweries diversified and started using the names of the small local companies they had taken over, they even started producing local beers. These beers were quite good in some instances, but CAMRA really did a great job in rejuvenating the small local brewing industry in the UK. I am sure these local breweries will get on the Net eventually but if you know of any that are already have a presence let me know.

Here are two of my favourite breweries in the UK:

Young & Co have some great beer, including a Winter Warmer which is obviously only brewed in winter. They still deliver to the local pubs by Clydesdale horse and dray as this is cheaper than using trucks, buggar the other traffic!

If you ever go to the UK and find yourself anywhere near Rutland County try some Ruddles County it is an excellent beer. I would suggest a limit of eight pints though!

This used to be my local pub, the Royal Cricketers Arms at Prospect, near the reservoir, built in 1870 (that's old for Australia). One good thing about this pub is that it really is run along the style of good English country pubs. There are no TV's, no pool tables, no juke boxes, excellent pub lunches and roaring log fires in the winter months. For further information contact the owners, the Kellie gang (James, Susan or Daniel) on +61 (0) 2 9622 6498. Bass Ale imported from England is available at this excellent establishment along with traditional English Pork Pies, pickled eggs, etc. . . . . . .

The landlord's father served with the British Army for many years and the walls in this area of the pub are adorned with military memorabilia.