Iran: Tasting the local brew!

BEER! One of my favourite beverages! I really make it a point in what ever country I travel to that I taste the local brew of that country. Of course I have some favourite choices from around the world, but this time I travelled to Iran. The traditional beer which has alcohol is not legally available and since I don't know the proper contacts, this kind of beer could not be easily found in Iran, and there were no pubs to do any pub crawling anywhere, so I opted out and tasted the non alcoholic version which I found satisfying and, surprising that Iran produces so many with unique flavours! When I was living in the Persian/Arab "Khaleej" countries, I would drink the non alcoholic variety so I was already acquainted with it's palate.

Pomegranate flavoured beer- it was quite good really!

This reminded me of a shandy which would even be permissible for children but was good with the ubiquitous kabob.

 This same brand somehow tasted much better drinking from a glass bottle.

 Coffee flavoured beer (!!) A definitely acquired taste. Never again

 This was really one of the best beers (Delster) which I have come across in Iran and was especially good with an oily and fried dish. I've never seen it sold elsewhere in the country except in this one Tehran restaurant.

This is a famous German beer "Holstein" with lemon. It had a more "German flavour" to it as it had hops .   ( next to it is Zam Zam, I didn't taste that)

This was a nice beer too, and was similar to the "lemon" beers we had above, without the lemon of course!

When I was in Tehran, there is a small provisional shop which was near the Russian Embassy. There I managed to acquire a cold "BALTYKA" in an aluminium can. - non alcoholic of course :(
The can was written in Russian and also Farsi, but also read "Brewed in Russia".  Young guys, when looking at my clear plastic bag, had big eyes and pointed at it when they spied it out among the other tantalizing items I bought! Maybe they had the right idea about good tasting beer like I have and were also searching for the "right connection" as I was??

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Beer/Porter: Żywiec Porter. Good taste and good feeling!

This is one of my favourite porters. Żywiec is a town in southern Poland. It would go really well with some bigos or some smoked kiełbasa. I couldn't wait to have some as soon as I opened the bottle. When this Polish porter is poured, it comes into the glass very dark but but opaque brownish/black in the glass with a lovely foam head! I could definitely taste chocolate, maybe some caramel and coffee grinds- and the more I taste it, the more of a good feeling I get!  Even after I had finished the whole glass I was able to sniff the burnt coffee charcoal aroma left behind! okrzyki!  na zdrowia

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Ethiopia: Bitter But Better than Ole St. George

There are some good beer drinking in Ethiopia!

St. George is famous with locals and with tourists, but when I tasted Meta beer I immediately noticed how close the taste is with the famous Plzen Beer "Pilsner Urquell" from Czech Republic. Also similar to Plzensky Prazdroj! The hops and slightly bitter taste really brought that beer to mind. Give it a try and I would love to hear other Plzener drinkers opinions.

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Egypt: A Date With "Stella"

Egypt is for the most part an Islamic country, but there are also Christians and many tourists. Hence there are some choices of beer and even wine- produced in Egypt!

I tasted Sakkara beer, it comes in a tall can and the alcohol content was 10%. My favourite beer in Egypt is STELLA- it is smooth, and refreshing and can be sold in special shops ( I saw them in Alexandria) as well as in places where tourists are.  I went to a nostalgic looking bar in Alexandria which felt back in time, to an era when iconic singer Umm Khalthom  ام كلتوم would sing.  In this bar were mostly Egyptian men in their mid- 50s , and Umm Khalthom music was playing.
A huge mural painting of Umm Khalthom was on the wall. I enjoyed the moments of that place, and I also enjoyed 
the Stella beer.

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Are all beers in Estonia great like this?

Whilst on a visit to Chicago, I had an opportunity to buy some beer from Estonia, Saku. When I opened the bottle I instantly knew I was in for a unique treat! It reminded me more of a porter style, but unique in a caramel taste. I gave it 100 points! Are all the other beers in Estonia great like this? ( What are the old pubs like in Estonia?)

Favourite beer from Czech Repubic:  Krusovica ( every style), Gambrinus, Plzenski Prazdroj  (Pilsner Urquell), Staropramen

Favourite beer from Poland: Zywiec, (especially the porter), Tatra ( strong) Tyski

Favourite beer/ales from UK:  McEwans Ale, Newcastle Brown Ale, New Castle Summer Ale

Murphy’s porter, Bass, Mole’s Mole Catcher

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