The Cup of Good Hop

Cup of Good Hop Final - which is the world's finest beer?

2010-07-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

This is the final Cup of Good Hop - at least as far as WC2010 is concerned. We'd like to thank everyone who has made the competition possible, all those who have promoted it and made COGH the wild success it has been. It's been a hell of a lot of fun, and chances are we will reprise the format during the season, and undoubtedly we'll do something around the theme of the 2012 Euro qualifiers.

So, enjoy the last two matches, Stuart's final examination of European beer and other fripperies and catch you soon. There is of course, the whole COGH experience here - more than 50 posts from tracking down our first beer, through all 64 match reports to the grand final right here.

All the best and enjoy,

Peter and James...

Northumberland Police's new crack negotiator yesterday

3RD / 4TH PLACE PLAYOFF

Match 63:

France 1

Cointreau 46

Nigeria 3

Amataxi 6, 48, Yobbo 23, Ohdear 71

Guinness Foreign Extra rides roughshod over La Choulette, though both sides can be far happier with their COGH performances compared to the complete rubbish they served up in South Africa over the last month. The French brew was ultimately a little too sweet, and tasted a little too much like Special Brew for it to win the bronze medal. The Guinness - dark, brooding and tasting a little of liquorice (but not too much to offend) had ample class to cruise through the penultimate encounter - a fitting build-up to the final itself, which promises to be a classic.

Now...
here's Stuart Fuller's final preview of the 2012 Euros...

Group G
England – Fullers Honey Dew Ale
Switzerland - Samichlaus
Bulgaria- Zagorka
Wales- Brains
Montenegro- Niksicko

A strange suggestion for the English entry but sharing my surname, and having a distinct honey taste, Honey Dew Ale is absolutely perfect, served ice cold on a summer’s day. It has to be a good beer to get anywhere near our World Cup winner, the 14% Samichlaus brew which is only brewed once a year on the 6th December in celebration of Santa Claus. It is a ploy by the Swiss that if you drink this you have no knowledge of whether Santa actually makes it down the chimney or not. Wales may be a dark horse here as well. Brains is no weak link here. The tipple of choice of toddlers in the valleys, and drunk in huge quantities by Gavin Hensen after mistaking it for Ronsil i.e “Does what it says on the tin”. Bulgaria have only recently got into beer after blocking out the memory of some awful fashion statements with Raki for so many years and so Zagorka may not fair too well although I doubt it will stop Redknapp making a ludicrous bid for him. Montenegro’s offering could well be the title from a Tarrantino film and the gore that could result may just be a bridge too far for us.

Group H
Portugal – Super Bock
Denmark – Jacobsen Brown
Norway - Ringnes
Cyprus – KEO
Iceland – Viking Sterkur

This is the group that could spring a surprise. It is also the group of pleasure if we were ever thinking of holding the Euro Championship of women. Denmark is my second home and for that reason I am calling the shots on this one. Carlsberg produce a dozen or so brands in Denmark and the Jacobsen brown is a lovely chocolately brew found in a few bars and off licenses around the city. Ringnes may be the most popular beer in Norway but it is another “same old” from the Carlsberg brewery and the similarities with plain old Carlsberg international brew is all too clear to see. Super Bock is another holiday favourite and is commonality may be its undoing here. Cyprus’s KEO is in the same camp – almost unheard off outside the tourist resorts but you cannot escape it when you are there in the sunburn burger bars. Iceland is a strange place – not just for its economic and volcanic situation. Beer was actually banned until 1989 and every day on the 1 March the country stops for Beer Day to celebrate its repeal, enjoying a few Viking Sterkurs along the way. Out of sheer admiration for such abstinence they may get one of the two top spots here.

Group I
Spain - Moritz
Czech Republic - Budvar
Scotland- Deuchars
Lithuania- Svyturys
Liechtenstein - Brauhaus

Without a brewery of its own for over 90 years, Liechtenstein’s offering is certainly worth the wait and could well spring a surprise in this group. Lithuania is one of those countries that need an identity and its beer seems to blend in with the offerings of Poland and Latvia and that may be an issue here. Scotland – well what can we say? Tenants Extra would be harsh on a country better known for its Whisky. But we have plumped for a Deuchars which is becoming one of the best exports from north of the border since Kelly Dalglish. We could have gone with a typical San Miguel from Spain or for their offering from the COGH but we have gone with a Catalan Moritz which hopefully is more palatable than a walk down the Las Ramblas at night. Finally, the Czech’s. They love a good Pilsner but we don’t think you can get a better lager in the world than Budvar and this must be favourites from a weak group.

Summary
In an ideal world we would love to see some of the underdogs qualify but we know that come Cup of Good Hop time in June 2012 we will be faced with the likes of England, Italy, France, Germany et al. And that will surely mean no place on the European stage for the classics of Hooligan or Layla Dirty Blonde. Shame real shame.

The sole reason Dutch football is riding high

Cup of Good Hop Final

Match 64:

Spain 1

Amarillo 54

Switzerland 3
Federal 20, Toblerone 51, Franc 76

Samichlaus was heralded as the world's finest beer with a majestic display - not only for its sublime taste, but also the mythic 14% effect on the brain. It's hard to describe the feeling but its mighty, mighty fine. The whole of Spain can be proud of the performances of Alhambra Mezquita throughout COGH - arguably of better quality than the national team in S. Africa, but ultimately it wasn't quite enough. Samichlaus was the first beer we sourced way back in mid-May, and little did we know that we needn't have searched any further to find the best... over and out - well done Switzerland, you brewing maestros...

The Winner: Glorious

The presentation of the trophy... emotional scenes

Semi-Finals - which are the two mightiest beers?

2010-07-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Cristiano Ronaldo - a cry baby who is incapable of doing anything other than rolling around on the floor... or is that his son?

Twitter Titter #6

davidschneider

Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo on the birth of his son, John Terry Jr

Cup of Good Hop
Semi-Final 1

Match 61:
France 1

Ribaldry 35

Spain 1

Amarillo 4

(Spain won on penalties)

An almighty battle and no mistake - was almost impossible to select a winner - but ultimately Alhambra Mezquita winkled its way into the final by a whisker. France's La Choulette was 'just a tad too sweet' and 'tasted more boozy' than its smooth Spanish adversary. However, to come this close to the final means the French can hold their beery heads up high - well, far higher than their footballers can. And with Spain's WC2010 progress and Rafa Nadal, what a summer it has been for the Spanish - no need for an inquisition right now...

COGH unveil new taster for next World Cup

Euro 2012 Preview - part two

Stuart Fuller takes us through down some of the stranger cul-de-sacs of european booze who'll be fighting it out in COGH 2012...

Group D
France – Kronenbourg

Romania – Ursus

Bosnia –Herzegovina – Nektar

Belarus – Brovar (Carlsberg)

Albania – Birra Malto

Luxembourg - Mousel

France has more to offer than just Kronenbourg and this variety will be needed to get out of a group of ordinary beers on the face of it. Bosnia’s Nektar may be fit for the gods in Sarajevo but will it cut the mustard when up against a big Brovar from White Russia. Carlsberg again providing the ammunition in a world in which they dominate.

And what about Albania? Birra Malto sounds a bit agricultural to me, as it is been fermented with various unexplained root vegetables. Luxembourg is just dull, and despite its borders with great beer nations France, Belgium and Germany I am not holding out much hope. I have a feeling this will be the group of death in terms of disappointing offerings but I may be wrong....

Group E

Netherlands – Amstel

Sweden – God Lager

Finland – Sahti

Hungary – Arany Arzok

Moldova – Bere Chisinau

San Marino – Amacord

Finland’s Sahti, which apparently has a strong taste of bananas kicks off the group and sets a fruity tone for events to come we imagine. The Swedes love a beer, but their government frowns upon such excesses and waters down their brew, so much so that many hop on a boat every Saturday in Helsingborgs and head to Denmark to import their special brew.

God Lager - from the Nils Oscar brewery - is Sweden's biggest export but will it have the strength to knock out the likes of Hungary’s Arany Arzok’s who Arsene Wenger tried to sign for Arsenal a few seasons ago. Top marks to San Marino for actually bothering to have a brewery despite its size and no marks for Amstel, because, well it’s just Amstel which tasks as if it has been produced in a brewery that is simply called Beer.

Group F
Croatia – Zlatni Medved
Greece - Mykos
Israel – Layla Dirty Blonde Beer
Latvia - Kimmel
Georgia – Argo Dark
Malta – Cisk XS

Croatia may have top billing as seeds in this group but will it come out on top in a group of unknowns. Zlatni Medved or Golden Bear is one of the best reasons to go to Zagreb, along with the stunning women and the football violence – perhaps the three are interlinked in some way? Greece – Euro2004 winners but since then they have bored us rigid on the world football stage and with an offering like Mykos they will need to do so much more to finish above bottom spot.

Now Israel...We could have gone with the Maccabee brand but when you see a beer named after one of the songs and singers of all time you just have to track that down. Eric Clapton and Madonna would be proud of this export beer. Kimmel is the best known brand in Latvia and has been the tipple of choice for all discerning stags for the past few years.

Many a monumental night has been accompanied by strippers and Kimmel and we think the Latvians may be onto a winner here. I typed in Georgia Beers into Google and blow me down it told me that she was a world renowned author of Lesbian fiction. Do we need to look elsewhere for a winner in this group? We do? Bother – ok well let’s try an Argo Dark then.

Finally, Malta, home of one of the most historical pubs in the world – aptly called “The Pub”. It was here that Ollie Read finally fell off his bar stool whilst drinking a Cisk XS 9% pale lager...probably.

Semi-Final 2
Match 62:
Nigeria 2
Oddbinnsa 1, Youngboy-Byrne (O.G) 42
Switzerland 3
Pepperami (pen) 7, Schwigger 50, Yacking 77

The Swiss going storming on, picking off some of the genuine heavyweights of the tournament as they progress. The intoxifying effects of Samichlaus - 'Santa Claus' in German - is by this point quite profound. 'It really has a different affect on the old noggin than anything else,' says Dan. And more to the point, its an effect we all love. Guinness Foreign Extra has had a hugely positive reaction over the course of this tournament, and could well have got through to the final had it faced any of the other semi-finalists... hard lines.

Next time... tune in on Sunday for the Cup of Good Hop Final and 3rd / 4th playoff match and much, much more... cheers, Peter and James

Two beers - 26% - well hello... + 2012 Euros preview

2010-07-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

World Cup trophy replica made entirely of
cocaine - not to be sniffed at

Match 59:

Nigeria 4

Amataxi 2, Yobbo 34, Ohdear 61, Shittu 66

Australia 2

Chippyfeel 37, Galesalesovic (pen) 90

A tasty match here but yet again Guinness Foreign Extra piles on the goals and powers into the semis. 'I don't know how many of these you could drink in an hour, but I wouldn't mind finding out,' says Deaks, loving the sole African contender left in the competition. Coopers Sparkling Ale put in a very respectable account of itself, only to be felled by one of the giants of world beer. 'This would win the Oceanic COGH Cup by a country mile,' says James, supping down the final drops.

It's a genuine shame that Paraguay got knocked out last night...

COGH 2012 Euro Previews (part one)

Cup of Good Hop taster Stuart Fuller looks forward to what the future of fusing beer and football might hold...

With the ticker tape still floating down on Soccer City in Jo’burg, our thoughts in Europe turn to Poland and Ukraine in 2012 for what promises to be a very strong tournament judging by the European fairing in South Africa. And after the success of the inaugural Cup of Good Hop it would be rude for us not to start looking forward and trying to predict what the final sixteen beers could look like. We already know that hosts Poland and Ukraine will be well represented.

Who has not tried the delights of Polish Zyweic or even a cheeky Bosman – beer that has helped Poland become the 10th biggest beer drinkers in the World. Ukraine on the other hand is more defined. Like its women – blonde, striking in outside appearance, but essentially just after your money. Obolon and Lvivski are major brands, whilst Arsenal has its own brand too – made by Carlsberg which at least makes it more interesting than the real Arsenal.

So what can we look forward to in qualifying? Will the Swiss carry on their COGH form into the Euros? And what of the emerging nations? Well, one thing is for sure – the COGH team will be sampling them all over the course of the next two years. We’ve just to find them first. Hooligan anyone?

Group A

Germany – Weissbier

Turkey – Efes

Austria – Steigl

Belgium – Hoegaarden

Kazakhstan – Derbes (owned by Carlsberg)

Azerbaijan – Xirdalan (Castel brewery)

Group A looks like it will go with on-field form with the Germans favourite simply down to the number of excellent beers they could offer. Our tip would be the refreshing Kolsch beer from Cologne or the very dark, almost black offering from the Neckar, Schwarzbier. Austria will also fancy their chances with Salzburg’s Steigl tasting so good it makes nanny’s go all loopy and start signing Do-Reh-Me. Is there a country in the world with as many different beers as Belgium? Probably not and for that reason they will struggle. Who can really take them seriously with their chocolate or cherry offerings, or when they put a wedge of lemon in the Hoegaarden? Efes off some might say, but this is the staple drink in Bodrum and enjoyed by many before they got dysentery (personal experience talking here) and spend the rest of their holidays talking on the phone to God.

And what about the outsiders? The ex-Russian states of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have western influences all over them. The biggest breweries are owned by foreign giants such as Kazakhstan’s Derbes brew which is owned by Carlsberg and Xirdalan in Azerbaijan owned by Castel. Have they got a chance? Not really.

Group B

Russia – Baltika

Slovakia – Saris

Republic of Ireland – Guinness
Macedonia – Skopsko

Armenia – Hooligan (beer and vodka)

Andorra – San Miguel?

You may think that this group is a foregone conclusion with Guinness and Baltika all but confirming qualification early doors. There is no denying the quality of Ireland’s finest, nor the variations (Guinness Cold, Mild, Export to name a few) but they are all a bit samey. Russia’s Baltika is crisp, refreshing but still has that Cold War edge. But then along came the Armenian offering – Hooligan. What brilliant mind came up with the idea of mixing Vodka and Beer together, and then calling it Hooligan? Sheer genius and we make this favourite for the group. Andorra deserves nil points for not bothering to produce a beer of its own.

Group C

Italy – Peroni

Serbia – Lav Pivo (owned by Carlsberg)

Northern Ireland – Clotworthy Dobbin

Slovenia – Union

Estonia – Le Coq

Faroe Islands – Green Islands Stout

Surely a group for the underdogs? Whilst Italy would expect to win with its Peroni, the comedy names keep on coming in this group. Northern Ireland’s Whitewater brewery produces some excellent beers but the contender here could be Clotworthy Dobbin. Estonia’s Le Coq has nothing to do with the sportswear brand, but is the signature brew of the biggest brewery of the same name. Surprisingly the Faroes’ could fairo quito wello in this group and if we can lay our hands on the Green Islands Stout then it may be a match for the 2nd favourite Lav from Serbia.

Match 60:
Paraguay 1

Alcatraz 20
Switzerland 2

Tell 41, Federal 85

This was an immense encounter - the two strongest beers in the contest going head-to-head, and with a combined ABV of 26% there was going to be fireworks along the way. However, whilst Swiss giant Samichlaus had universally high ratings, Palo Santo Marron was a love-it-or-hate-it kind of feel to it. 'It is the Marmite of beers,' says Dan, 'and I bloody love it.' Is definitely one for those who like esoteric flavours, but in this match of the big, dark flavours that have put the frighteners into all their opponents thus far, there were infinitely more holes in Swiss cheese than the Samichlaus defence.

Next time:- the semi finals - France v Spain & Nigeria v Switzerland plus more 2010 previews...

COGH Quarter Finals - The Big Beasts start to clash...

2010-07-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

Cup of Good Hop - The Final Countdown

There are only eight matches left in COGH - eight countries left - eight beers that have admirably displayed their attributes, their strength and all the ingredients that make them among the best brews on the planet. To reach this stage, every single one of them are winners, but ultimately seven of them will lose. Here's how the quarter-finalists line up:-

France (La Choulette) versus

Germany (Erdinger)

Japan (Sapporo) v

Spain (Alhambra Mezquitza)

Nigeria (Guinness Foreign Extra) v

Australia (Coopers Sparkling Ale)

Paraguay (Palo Santo Marron) v

Switzerland (Samichlaus)

Match 57:

France 2
Aznavour 34, Mitterand 69

Germany 1
Hasselhoff 67

A mammoth pan-European encounter produced drama a-plenty, with the French Blonde Bombshell winning our over the Weissbeer. 'This is like Special Brew for Kings,' said Peter of the Gallic £3-a-bottle concoction. Erdinger won lots of plaudits but just fell short in a titantic, tight battle. 'Ooh la-la,' was all Dan had to say, and let his tastebuds do the judging as La Choulette took a well deserved berth in the semis.

Match 58:

Japan 0

Spain 2

Chavvy 23, Burrito 80

To be fair, Sapporo had enjoyed a relatively easy passage into the last eight - winning the frankly awful Group E. Consequently when it was time to face some proper beer in top-flight competition it was found wanting. 'Essentially it doesn't taste of anything much,' says Stu. Conversely Mezquita was pulling up taste-trees, a strong yet finely balanced beer that can hold its own with the best - is among the bookies favourites for the COGH trophy.

Why the England Team resembles Indian food + Rest of Round of 16

2010-07-01T02:35:00.000-07:00

Currying favour? Why the England team resembles Indian food

Unappetising - England's performance

It was the same old story – gathering with a sense of realistic anticipation to watch England play Germany yesterday. Beery laughter, combined with a genuine belief that Gerrard et al had a decent chance of defeating the old foe. After all, were they not worth twice as much on paper than the Germans in terms of market value? Did the majority of them have vast experience in the Champions League? Tick tick.

Yet within an hour the bar in Brighton was thinning out and the laughter had been replaced with angry recrimination. What went wrong? The players obviously wanted to win, but were completely outclassed. Reports that they were bored at their training camp suggest that most of them have mindsets similar to spoilt, surly ten-year olds. The manager wanted to win – not least to justify his £6million a year salary – but proved to be intransigent and tactically inept from start to finish.

To quote BBC commentator Alan Green – it’s been a mess, but what kind of mess is it and how can we rectify it? In an attempt to get our heads round the myriad problems that have beset the England team over the last month we have chosen the extended metaphor of Indian food to investigate why England failed to deliver tasty product. This was inspired by a post-pub take out from one of Brighton's finest.

David James – day-old Pilau rice
Traditional staple but essentially past his best.

Glen Johnson – puri flatbread
Generally uninspiring - failed to rise to the challenge.

Matthew Upson – pilchard curry
Looked tasty to begin with but eventually got distinct feeling there was something fishy going on.

John Terry – Rogan Josh
Exposed to intense heat before the tournament then went off the boil. Odd moments to savour.

Ashley Cole – stuffed paratha
Oily and not to everyone’s taste - rich and somewhat flaky.

Stephen Gerrard – six pints of lager
Marvellous when placed in the appropriate part of the evening. Otherwise troublesome and can throw the whole meal wildly out of kilter. Apparently popular with sixteen year-olds.

Frank Lampard – mutton dhansak
Generally tasty and well balanced but meat getting a little tough.

Gareth Barry – tarka dall
Lumpen and quite unappetizing – not the centerpiece of a meal, can be satisfying on occasion.

James Milner – mushroom biryiani
All things to all people but can be bland if unaccompanied.

Wayne Rooney – vegetarian ceylon
Thought to be hot by many, but disappointingly mild in reality. No meat, no impact.

Jermaine Defoe – popadoms
Lightweight and relies on early service – intrinsically uninteresting.

Defoe - unlikely to withstand much pressure

Joe Cole – mango lassi
Tasty and often well worth ordering but often forget to do so.

Emile Heskey – ghee butter
Fat scraped off the bottom of the barrel. Best if stored for extended periods.

Peter Crouch – onion bhaji
Well regarded side dish but often overlooked.

Fabio Capello – the chutney tray
Gives impression of being strong and shiny but ultimately leaves you in a pickle.

Capello - no variation under the lid

Sepp Blatter – dirty kitchen
Standards have been allowed to lapse, stove is outdated and work surface is filthy. Suffers from insufficient inspection – should be closed down.

So what to do about this? We need better service and hot, exciting new dishes made from more wholesome ingredients. Most of the existing stock needs to be thrown away and the restaurant needs a complete rebranding and a new, simpler business plan. So when your appetite for international football next kicks in, don't settle for anything less.

Cup of Good Hop Match 55:
Paraguay 2
Dirty-Sanchez 34, Santa-Claus 51
Holland 0

The distinctive nature of Palo Santo steamrollered Oranjeboom without breaking sweat, let alone wind. 'Are you still here,' says Deaks - referring to the Dutch entry, and there were no cries of dissent to counter this, no fingers in the dyke of defeat. Game over.

Match 56:
Switzerland 4
Hurlimann 2, Von Trapp (pen) 13, Toblerone 61, Boy-Dun-Gud (O.G 88)

North Korea 0

A thorough leathering - and that was us by this stage. Samichlaus's label has written upon it 'The World's Most Extraordinary Beverage' - which is some claim but not without some justification. 'It tastes like all your favourite Christmases,' says James, and we nod in unison like Churchill the unfunny insurance dog. 'The gothic typeface suggests something dark and mysterious,' says Peter, 'this beer can lead me through any number of strange adventures and I wouldn't care.' Probably enough to put curls on Harry Potter's head.

Nigeria & Australia breeze into last eight + England WC autopsy

2010-06-27T03:08:00.000-07:00

What the Uruguayan linesman actually saw...

England's performance - what the lads thought

Following England's shapeless, listless WC2010 performance against the Germans, the COGH team decided to do a bit of unofficial market research - and asked those we had been watching the match with to write down their thoughts. For the record, our straw poll included members of the national press and other articulate souls, though we had consumed rather a lot of Hurlimann and Asahi to help drown our sorrows. 'F*ck the millionaires' and 'they're all a bunch of c*nts' were two of the early heartfelt sentiments, though the first actual suggestion was 'try a team consisting of Championship players - at least they might have some heart.'

One sage commented: 'There's ineptitude and inspiration - and there's a gulf between the two we cannot seem to cross.' Comments began to descend toward the less profound at this point - 'c*nt rags' and 'bag of shite'. Passing judgment on England's wide play, one pundit said he 'could have shat a better cross', and *** (comment about Stephen Gerrard removed for legal reasons).

If our impromptu research is anything to go by, the average England fan is seething... And it would seem it is the way the game is run and financed in this country that is at the heart of the problem. With any luck Capello will resign- but let's not hope he is the scapegoat in this deeply flawed situation. What's to be done? A maximum wage? An NFL-style draft? A limit on foreign imports? Remove agents' power and influence? Your thoughts would be welcome, and we'd suggest sending them to the FA and Premier League too...

Peter samples the Uruguayan entry... again

Match 53:
Nigeria 3
Monty-Video (O.G) 32, Ohdear 45+1, Oddbinnsa 60
Uruguay 0

Another storming victory for Nigerian Guinness and a final exit for Harvey's Blue Label, the beer chosen as a tribute to Brighton boss Gus Poyet. Like the Crossbow Cannibal the latter could put up no feasible defence against the African onslaught. Not a whooping on the scale of the group matches but more comprehensive nonetheless more comprehensive than Grange Hill. By this point Dan and Deaks are sporting rather natty sunglasses and their notes have disappeared to nowt, and Stu is growing increasingly fixated on the caps.

Cap of Good Hop

The New York Post takes a mature approach to USA exit

Bird's eye view of the COGH tasting table

Match 54:
Australia 2
Floater 12, 50
USA 1
Measley 74

Coopers Sparkling Ale retains its popularity while Sierra Nevada Glissade finally runs out of fans. 'The Aussies certainly know how to make great beer - when you can tear them away from the barbie and bush fires,' says Peter. Coopers is smooth and gives us no problem, whereas the States are bundled out, like in WC2010, after providing much entertainment but could not live with the Group D Winners.

Iberian Derby plus Japan take on the Italians

2010-06-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

Firstly, sympathies go out to our American readers after their elimination from WC2010 yesterday. I was drinking a couple of bottles of La Choulette, the French entry to COGH during the game. I hope this didn't in any influence the course of the game... It was going to be Guinness Foreign Export.

'I never touched him ref, honest'

Match 51:

Japan 1
Miyagi 61
Italy 0

The Forza Azzurri bandwagon grinds to a halt, but we've had better taste-offs to be honest. 'There's no way the Italian beer deserves to go any further - it isn't much cop,' says James. 'Agreed,' says Dan, 'and Sapporo would walk any World's Driest Beer competition - if anyone could be bothered to hold one.' Now there's a thought... not really - but nonetheless Japan go marching on to the last eight.

Fabio Capello posting his team sheets earlier today -
apparently John Terry is 8/1 to be first England player to cry if they lose

Dave Henson

One of the cultural highlights of the World Cup for me has been the songs of Dave Henson - he of Vuvuzela Song fame. Have a listen to I'll Be Watching You and At Least We're Better Than France - both made me laugh quite a lot.

England 2006 - 2007 in two words

Match 52:
Portugal 1
Castrol 58
Spain 3

Torrid 35, 40, Biscuits 70 (pen)

A whole different encounter. By this time we're all thoroughly relaxed, but still have sufficient faculty to enjoy the sophisticated flavours in Alhambra Mezquita in all it's 7.2% glory. Slightly sweet and deeper than resentment about Gibraltar. In comparison Sagres is 'respectable holiday beer' and 'alright once in a while but nothing special'. No contest.

The Knock-Out Phase - No Second Chances

2010-06-26T04:24:00.000-07:00

What next for Cup of Good Hop?

As the World Cup rolls towards the beginning of its end, our thoughts here at COGH turn to what should become of the site. We've had suggestions that we should run a Champions League version next season, and we are currently sizing this up. We could also run occasional Premier / Football League Beer face-offs. What do you think? Write and tell us what we should do, even if its to take a long run off a short pier.

Oh dear... well, we'll see tomorrow won't we?

Match 49:
France 4

Marceau 13, 57 Merci-Beaucoup 70, Cissy (pen) 85
Argentina 1

Galtieri 49

Sweet, hoppy with a touch of spice. We're not talking about a Skippy the Bush Kangeroo porn flick - this is La Choulette, and its thorough beating of Quilmes. 'This is going to be one tough mother to beat,' says Deaks approvingly. The Argentines may be having a stunning WC2010, but their beer oddessy came to an end, as one of the last 'Bog-Standard Lagerland' entrants bites the dust. Peter's parting shot was that Quilmes tastes like 'something your dad would drink in the 70s with a bit of lime cordial in it.' Ouch.

Barbie drink's from Cindy's furry Cup of Good Hop -
Obviously too much Jelen Pivo

Match 50:
Slovenia 2
Rektal 36, 48
Germany 2
Mullered 12, Geradehaus 50
(Germany won on penalties)

Weissbeer (Erdinger) vs quality ale (the Slovenian hops of Broadside) - not exactly comparing like with like but we had to go there, and there was barely the thickness of a beermat to separate them at the finish. 'They're so different,' says James, 'one's a summer beer and the other is one for around Christmas.' Stu comes up with a suggestion - 'well as its summer then we should give it to the Germans, and thus one of the toughest decisions yet in COGH is reluctantly made.

Rounding up the Group Stage - Shocks Galore...

2010-06-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hope these Italian fans kept hold of this coffin - only have to change one colour and wording and its perfect

Match 45:

Portugal 2
Contralto 30, Mandi 72

Brazil 1
Kooka 45+1

An encounter that will fail to live in the memory save for the fact it puts out the Boys from Brazil. 'Sagres is better than average Eurolager,' says James, 'but not much more.' Brahma elicits little praise from our panel - 'there's no Samba party going on with this - pretty dire,' says Stu. At least the Brazilians trouble the scorers at last - but all massively in vain. This will make embarrassing reading for such a great World Cup nation.

A Japanese fan outside the Danish Embassy in Toyko last night

Theballisround

Many interesting insights on the modern game can be found at COGH Executive Beer Taster Stuart Fuller's theballisround blog. Click on the link to find Stu's reminiscences of WC2006.

Match 46:
North Korea 1
Sum-Yung-Boy 25

Ivory Coast 0

The North Koreans chalk up their second victory in poor group. 'Mann's Brown Ale is a bit of a crime against beers,' says Peter - 'that doesn't say much for Tusker does it?' replies Deaks. 'The last of the group games means we can say goodbye to a lot of shit beers,' says Stu, and four tipsy heads nod in agreement. Apart from Nigeria, this completes a sorry showing for African beers overall.

Final Group G Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Portugal	3	3	0	0	5	1	4	9
2	North Korea	3	2	0	1	2	1	1	6
3	Brazil	3	0	1	2	1	3	-2	1
4	Ivory Coast	3	0	1	2	0	3	-3	1

COGH Analysis: In a group with no much to recommend it at all, Portugal sweep maximum points as if by default. The North Koreans - with the weakest beer in the competition - can count themselves incredibly lucky to make the next stage. And as for Brazil and the Kenyan / Ivory Coast entries - don't call us...

Free kicks: Had you forgotten how good they are?

Match 47:
Chile 0

Spain 3
Meddle (O.G) 36, Biscuits 51, Torrid 80

Another case of a superior team taking on absolute gack. The lads are still no fans of Chili Beer 'Poo - it stinks,' says Deaks - 'it's probably a ring stinger as well,' adds Peter. Alhambra Mezquita is strong, smooth and lovely, and brushes the South Americans aside as if lazily swatting a fly during a siesta. A taxi is hired for the Chileans without a goal troubling any of their opponents.

Thought for the day

Yesterday here at COGH we hoped there wouldn't be any red cards in today's matches - and Blimey O' Reilly - there weren't any. The performances of Howard Webb and linesman Darren Cann were the best by any Englishmen in WC2010 thus far...

Darren Cann - National Hero

Match 48:
Switzerland 5
Toblerone 1, 4, 70, Tell 40, Youngboy-Byrne 29

Honduras 3
Ponce 16, 55

Every match the Swiss have been involved in has been touched with class - and this was no exception. 'This gives you the most amazing euphoric feeling - it's not like drinking normal beer,' says Peter of the 14% barnstormer that has taken the competition by storm. The Hondurans are certainly no mugs and to get three goals against the mighty Swiss is a performance to be applauded. 'Banana Bread Beer can count themselves very unlucky to be going out at this stage. Would probably win best third place,' says James with an air of regret at seeing them go.

Final Group H Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Switzerland	3	3	0	0	14	7	7	9
2	Spain	3	2	0	1	10	7	3	6
3	Honduras	3	1	0	2	7	8	-1	3
4	Chile	3	0	0	3	0	9	-9	0

COGH Analysis: The Swiss go through as top scorers in the competition, as the Spanish claim a well-deserved second spot, and set up an all-Iberian encounter in the Round of 16. The Swiss should have no trouble against the North Koreans. As for Chile, the least said the better, and the Hondurans can go home very proud of the displays they have put together and the friends they've made.

Round of 16 Matches:
A1 France v Argentina B2
B1 Nigeria v Uruguay A2
C1 Slovenia v Germany D2
D1 Australia v USA C2
E1 Japan v Italy F2
F1 Paraguay v Holland E2
G1 Portugal v Spain H2
H1 Switzerland v North Korea G2
(Ties to be played same times as WC2010 equivalents)

E+F: The ins and outs of the final group matches...

2010-06-21T02:28:00.000-07:00

Glen Johnson trying to avoid being hit square in the Jubulanis yesterday

Group E
Match 41:
Denmark 0

Japan 2
Snackazawa 43, Mizuno 48

A double whammy does for the Danes as their disappointing COGH campaign comes to an end. The lads don't hold back in what they feel about Carlsberg. 'Bath water. Not fit to grace this fine competition,' says Dan, whilst James thinks it 'smells of feet.' Peter follows up with a cutting 'It's awful, I'm getting more off these figs I'm eating.' Sapporo by contrast as dry, clean and hundred times more drinkable.

Tim Stewart's World Cup Diary

We'd heartily recommend Tim Stewart's on-the-spot reporting from England v Slovenia on our siblog European Football Weekends.

Match 42:
Cameroon 0

Holland 2
Bruin 32, Agagoo 75 (O.G)

Two very similar games to round off the groups, except the French / Cameroonian entrant Tradition is way out of Carlsberg's league, but not in a good way. 'Worst beer we've tried, and that's saying something,' says Deaks, eager to wash his mouth out with something more pleasant. The Dutch grab their first and only goals of the tournament but strangely they are enough to give them a decent shout of the second round.

Final Group E Table:

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Japan	3	3	0	0	5	0	5	9
2	Holland	3	1	1	1	2	1	1	4
3	Denmark	3	1	1	1	1	2	-1	4
4	Cameroon	3	0	0	3	0	5	-5	0

COGH Analysis: In an amazing last gasp bid Holland have overtaken the Danes on goal difference, but will face the formidable Paraguayans in the next round. Japan were not troubled in the group, and will fancy themselves against Italy. The Danes can consider themselves unlucky, especially as their first choice beer was smashed in an unfortunate accident. As for the French / Cameroonian entry, they are no loss to the contest.

Whoops!

Vladimir Mijaljevic commentating for Serbia's biggest TV station RTS said of the German goalkeeping situation: “Neuer is in goal, because Enke cannot play. He is injured.” Obviously no-one told Mijaljevic that Robert Enke tragically committed suicide last year.

Group F
Match 43:
Slovakia 0

Italy 1
Columbo 39

Two evenly matched sides going head-to-head in a battle for that vital runners-up spot in the group. The Italians edge out the Slovaks by being 'a little tastier' but overall an uninspiring encounter. 'You'd not refuse a few of these, but I've had better up Ben Nevis,' says Peter. Stu is equally non-plussed. 'I don't think either of these will be going very much further in the competition to be honest.' No-one disagrees.

Thought for the Day

A player has been sent off on each of the last eight day's play - a new World Cup record. It seems that there are so many fiddly things that 'deserve' a yellow card these days, wrecking many perfectly good matches. Here's to no red cards today... what would be the odds of that? 50/1?

Impenetrable: England's route to the WC2010 final

Match 44:

Paraguay 3

New Zealand 0

'This beer would put you in Accident and Emergency if you're not careful,' says Dan. Not everyone is a fan of Palo Santo, but all have to admire how they've managed to fit 12% ABV of beer into something that doesn't taste like surgical spirit. Mac's Gold, on the other hand, is pallid, plain and out of COGH without a point or even so much as a goal.

The NZ team in celebratory mood... Obviously with beer from other countries

Final Group F Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Paraguay	3	3	0	0	9	2	7	9
2	Italy	3	2	0	1	3	3	0	6
3	Slovakia	3	1	0	2	2	4	-2	3
4	New Zealand	3	0	0	3	0	5	-5	0

COGH Analysis: Paraguay coast over the finishing line as group winners and will not fear the Dutch. The Italians were arguably fielding an understrength entry and so did well under the circumstances. As for the Slovaks and the Kiwis, both were fancied before the start of the tournament and have largely disappointed, but stood little chance against a most distinctive South American entry.

Tomorrow: Will Brazil qualify? Are Switzerland COGH's new dark horses

Dramatic Finale to Groups C + D - What's the Story Golden Glory?

2010-06-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

Group C

Match 37:
Slovenia 2
Bojangles 70, Pistilic 81

England 1
Runny 9

England make a bright start - Peter: 'Its lovely. So long as you like peaches. Lends itself to duck pate or cheesecake.' James responds with 'that sounds like a recipe for gout,' and similar feeling amongst the lads means the writing is on the wall for the Three Lions. The Slovenian Hops in Adnams' Broadside are a more conventional hit 'would warm you cockles any old day,' (Dan) and patriotism is put aside in favour of scientific enquiry. It is found to be eminently drinkable - with a punch without the pungency. This could well have disastrous consequences for England's chances.

Other news

So, its do-or-die day for England in WC2010. Great story here from The Daily Mash about John Terry's frame of mind before the big game. Other news:- Apparently an Algerian witch doctor sent the pigeon behind the goal to cast a spell on England last Friday. Elsewhere Raymond Domenech is to write a book entitled How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Possible explanation found for poor Croatian show in qualifiers

Match 38:
USA 3
Measley30 (pen), Hold'em 40, Bubble 57

Algeria 0

The States' entry - Sierra Nevada Glissade - racks up an easy victory against the Algerians who leave COGH without so much as a goal, let alone a goal to their name. 'Fruity, lingers like a good'un,' says Dan about the US of A. Skol, the biggest, if shortest name in lager in parts of North Africa, has a torrid time. 'Light and refreshing my arse,' says Dan, whilst Stu describes it as 'flavoured water. In fact, I don't think they've bothered to flavour it.' The Executive Beer Tasters were going to ring the Skol Consumer Helpline on the side of the can, but ultimately we couldn't be bothered.

Final Group C Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Slovenia	3	3	0	0	10	3	7	9
2	USA	3	1	1	1	7	5	2	4
3	England	3	1	1	1	6	4	2	4
4	Algeria	3	0	0	3	0	11	-11	0

COGH Analysis: England go home due to scoring one fewer goal than the USA - the cruellest form of elimination known to man. The Slovenians triumphed after a couple of narrow wins over their main rivals and annihilation of the Algerians, who never really stood a chance in the company of three strong opponents. England can take a lot away from this experience, but must be bitterly disappointed to be going home at this early stage.

Group D
Match 39:
Ghana 0

Germany 2
Bierhoff Jr 39, Geradehaus 90+2

Yet again there's a shutout for Star - and Erdinger does more than enough to ensure safe progress. 'It's a lovely contrast to have a bit of white beer,' says Peter, who by now has drunk enough generic piss to last a lifetime. 'Nice lid. has five stars on it, shame you can't say that about the beer,' says Stu about the African also-ran. It's plain to see by this point that beers such as Star are going to get little sympathy as we've sampled most of the big guns three times.

Match 40: Australia 4
Chippyfeel 9, Kewl 41, Floater 49, Molehill 80

Serbia 2
Yearic 29, Alcoholic 64

Coopers Sparkling Ale very well received all round. James sums it up 'Interesting and tasty. Smallest bottle in the group but packs a big punch.' Jelen Pivo also has its fans, with Dan noting it was 'very nice, which was pleasing as it came in a bottle the size of a battleship.' However, the antipodean class shone through, and it was arguable there was possibly just too much Serbian Beer knocking around to be impressed by it. At the end of the day, Coopers is a speciality world-renowned ale as opposing to above-average mass market lager. No contest really.

Final Group D Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Australia	3	2	1	0	10	5	5	7
2	Germany	3	2	1	0	8	5	3	7
3	Serbia	3	1	0	2	7	8	-1	3
4	Ghana	3	0	0	3	1	8	-7	0

COGH Analysis: Australia top the table on sheer fire power ahead of a German side who'd have won most COGH groups hands down. Serbia's Jelen Pivo can also count themselves unlucky due to the company they've kept, as they have found the net nearly as many times as those who have qualified. Ghana were outclassed on a regular basis, looking the epitome of average throughout.

Third round of matches - It's Le Crunch time...

2010-06-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Half-time for WC2010 and Cup of Good Hop

So we're halfway. Thirty-matches and 32 COGH taste-offs down, and we've seen a lot of drama and shocks in both competitions. Argentina and Holland may be churning out victories on the pitch, but its a different story in the pitcher. Nigeria may have suffered at the hands of their group opponents in South Africa, but their beer has managed to capture hearts, minds and tastebuds. It's now time to blow the whistle for the second half - let's hope there's as many thrills, but no spills - as we try to find the world's best beer. Let's kick off now and see how the group stage concludes...

Kim Jong-Il yesterday - not pleased... Apparently ordered the shark tank to be restocked

Funniest WC banner so far...

Match 33:
Mexico 1
Jalapeno 16

Uruguay 1

Monty-Video 43 (pen)

'This is the Andy Dawson of international beers cos it was a late replacement,' says Deaks of Corona, probably wishing we were sampling Pacifico. 'Unlike Dawson there's no substance here.'
Dan has had enough of it too. 'One I’d only turn to after I’d reached my beer capacity for the night.' Stu says sniffily, 'It's training beer - like a training bra,' and James rounds off the critique with 'Not quite right - Smells wrong if left alone for five minutes.' However, we the wheels were also coming off the Uruguayan bandwagon. We generally liked the bottle and label better than the inoffensive yet slightly thin taste of Harvey's Blue Label. Essentially two beers we've kinda want to see the back of.

World Cup snippets

Great story here about the 1966 World Cup... And another from the same source - Newsarse...

RIP Frank Sidebottom

Chris Sievey, Aka Frank Sidebottom died yesterday after a short battle with cancer. The COGH team would like to extend their gratitude for all the football related laughs he brought us during his lifetime. His final song, Three Shirts On My Line is here. There's plenty more out there to investigate.

Match 34:
France 4
Merci-Beaucoup 31, 88, Cissy 36 (pen), Kronenbourg 71

South Africa 1
Botha 62

The revolving door of fate no longer turns for the hosts. They were simply outclassed by the French, and the result was never in doubt after persistent early pressure lead to a clear then increasing lead. 'I couldn't imagine doing a session on these,' says Deaks, looking like he never wants to drink Durban Pale Ale ever again. Every judge continued to take to the French. 'I shall say these only once, this is delicious,' says Peter in an 'Allo 'Allo accent. And so it was sedimentary that the host without the most beer would depart the stage early.

Final Group A Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	France	3	3	0	0	11	4	+7	9
2	Uruguay	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4
3	Mexico	3	1	1	1	4	5	-1	4
4	South Africa	2	0	0	2	2	8	-6	0

COGH Analysis: Mexico missed out on a place in the group of sixteen by a single goal and can count themselves incredibly unlucky. Uruguay are through instead - and join the Mighty France, who may have had a dreadful WC2010 but have shone like a glint in that gorgeous barmaid's eye in COGH. They will be feared by whoever finishes second in Group B. It looks incredibly likely that Uruguay will face Nigeria in the next round. South Africa have surrendered with barely a whimper - an exceedingly poor show for the host nation. So it's goodbye to Durban Pale Ale and Corona - and on reflection we have to say good riddance.

Match 35:
Nigeria 4
Yobbo 31, Ohdear, 34, 85, Amataxi 50

South Korea 1
Pak Choi 38

'Full of flavour but could cause misbehaviour.' We should approach Guinness with this genius ad strapline coined by Deaks. In terms of flavour and depth there's very little in COGH to rival it. South Korea's OB is simply no match, and three visitations of it to our tastebuds is quite enough. 'Would be quite sickly after a few,' says Stu, pulling a dissatisfied face. 'The bubbles fade very quickly,' observes James, and Dan responds in song '...and like my dreams, they fade and die.' With that OB's chances of further progression in COGH.

Match 36:
Greece 1
Taramasalata (pen) 42

Argentina 1
Labia 4

Dan considers Quilmes to be 'clean, crisp but lacking in depth. Ideal in Buenos Aires but not so desirable in BN1,' and Deaks more or less echoes these thoughts - 'nice label colours, watery - not much punch. Fresh but dull.' James is no more complimentary: 'It's more Notts County than Ruddles County, an afternoon of these would not hurt, but wouldn't inspire either.' Drinking Mythos is like sampling Quilmes' identical twin... 'drinkable, harmless, forgettable.' And with that we wave goodbye - without much regret - to the Greek entry.

Final Group B Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Nigeria	3	3	0	0	11	3	8	9
2	Argentina	3	1	1	1	3	5	-2	4
3	South Korea	3	1	1	1	4	8	-5	4
4	Greece	3	0	1	0	2	6	-4	1

COGH Analysis: In a remarkable reversal of fortune, the South Koreans have been turned over at the death by Argentina who squeak into the next round with a humble point. They owe the Nigerians a great debt, who put a fatal dent in OB's (Korea's) goal difference. Argentina v France would be a mouth-watering tie on the pitch, but will the beer equivalent match up?

Spain's passage to next round under threat - or is it?

2010-06-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Kader Keita Acting School - cheap rates - no talent required

Cup of Good Hop Polls

You've had the opportunity to vote for your favourite beers on COGH, and they have produced some surprising results so far. Things couldn't be tighter in Group A, whereas Quilmes is the clear front runner amongst Argentina's foursome, despite the presence of Guinness Foreign Export (jeez, their PR department should start bunging us some cash before long - but it really is a stunning beer). Another surprise is the walkaway victory for Macs Gold (New Zealand) in Group F - which seems to be contrary to the thoughts of the COGH Executive Beer Tasters. As the tournament unfolds we will give you more opportunity to state your preferences and generally get involved.

Are we experiencing the worst refereeing in World Cup history?
Probably not, but it sure feels like it... Chile v Switz latest of too many examples

Match 31:
Chile 0

Switzerland 4

Toblerone 10, 77, Tell 47, Franc 56

A predictable outcome for this bottom v top encounter. The Swiss continue to impress to the utmost, with complicated yet subtle flavours and a profound effect on the noggin. Chile are peppered with attacks 'tastes hot, smells funny,' says Deaks, and Peter wants no more - 'wrong combination of flavours. Not a keeper.' James finishes off the job with a dismissive 'I'm anti this beer big time.' There's no coming back from that kind of barracking when taking on the best.

Us against An-them

It occurred to me during the Portugal v North Korea match that both of their national anthems are tuneful, upbeat and cheery. Then it struck me that given Portugal's political history theirs is possibly about peasants getting mercilessly shot by the militia, and heaven knows what they've got to be cheery about in North Korea. What's been your favourite anthem - or indeed the one that makes your eardrums feel sick... Let us know here at COGH - leave a message or email pstymail@yahoo.com.

Facebook Focus

Alex Edgar The England team went to visit a South African orphanage. "It was good to put a smile on the faces of people who have no hope and are constantly struggling," said Joseph Umboto, aged six.

Match 32:
Spain 3
Del Fuego 45, Amarillo 67, Que-Pasa 77

Honduras 2
Escobar 14, Palacial 71

Though we are all big fans of Banana Bread beer, we have to give a narrow decision in favour of Alambra Mezquita. 'This is a serious beer - class in a glass,' says Stu. 'I could drink a lot of these,'
says Deaks with some zest. There's a lot going on with Alambra, and is more of a connoisseur's beer, but that takes nothing away from the plucky Hondurans. 'Lovely smell - you could drink these too excess in one sitting,' says Peter - who pledges to look out for Banana beer in future when in need of a tasty, novel boozing experience.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Switzerland	2	2	0	0	9	4	5	6
2	Honduras	2	1	0	1	4	3	1	3
3	Spain	2	1	0	1	7	7	0	3
4	Chile	2	0	0	2	0	6	-6	0

COGH Analysis: The Swiss have laid waste everyone in their path, but its a top of the table clash next. This could be a prime opportunity for Spain to leapfrog into the second round, as they face the Chileans, who've yet to make any positive impact on the competition yet.

Brazil yet to score shocker...

2010-06-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Twitter Titter #5

davidschneider

I'd say the disarray in the French team dates from the appointment of sports psychologist Paddy O'Shaunessy

and latest news:-

simonmayo

Sky sources: England coach Fabio Capello agrees to tell players of team selection earlier. (via @SkyNewsBreak)

Here's a link to current scenarios in all groups. Especially interesting is the possibility of a coin toss if England score two more goals than the US in their final games.

Cup of Good Hop Match 29:
Brazil 0

Ivory Coast 0

Deaks' 'Barak Obrahma' quip is more entertaining than either brew, and Tusker yet again fails to impress. 'The only big game this will be involved with is the elephant on the label,' says Peter. By this time the lads are very bored of generic Lagerland lager, and this goalless encounter is testament to that. 'Brazil need to have a word with themselves beer-wise, this is a shoddy display,' says James.

Not everyone is complaining about the Vuvuzela

Match 30:
Portugal 1
Mandi 10

North Korea 0

An encounter nearly as flat as Mann's Brown Ale itself. Sagres gets the nod over a 2.8% beer that has recipes written on the side of the bottle. 'It's going to qualify for the last 16, but I can't see Portugal getting much further,' says Stu. Like Ronaldo, there's something a little effeminate about Sagres, whereas Mann's has completely lost the faith of the judges. 'It's giving me the shivers,' says Peter, who can't face drinking any more. 'You've got to wonder who still buys this rubbish.' I suppose we did, but for a very specific reason.

Group G Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Portugal	2	2	0	0	3	0	3	6
2	North Korea	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3
3	Brazil	2	0	1	1	0	1	-1	1
4	Ivory Coast	2	0	1	1	0	2	-2	1

COGH Analysis: Portugal top a poor group and have yet to concede a goal. Brazil, on the other hand have yet to score one and run the very real risk of first round elimination at the hands of North Korea. The Ivorians could spoil their party but will have to perform significantly better than in their previous two matches.

Group F - shock leaders after two games

2010-06-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

COGH around the world

So far people from more than 60 countries have visited Cup of Good Hop - from every continent and just about every major nation on earth. A quick rundown the alphabet of the global community of Hoppers includes Brunei, Iceland, Libya, Pakistan, Vietnam and Zimbawbe. Wow. I hope you're enjoying COGH out there as much as we enjoy producing it. Drop us a line anytime.
Thanks, Peter & James. Now back to the action...

Group E caps: Poor show from Italy and Slovakia

Match 27:

Slovakia 1
Rubik (pen) 47
Paraguay 3
Santana 13, Alcatraz 20, Stukka (o.g) 81

For a beer to be described as 'very bitter, gassy and unremarkable' is not a good start and is liable to result in slip-ups in Cup of Good Hop. Such is the fate of Ostravar, who let Paraguay in with an early brace and never recovered. Paraguay's distinctive style and 12% strength laid the Slovakians asunder - though not everyone's cup of tea, they are the best tipple in the group for many of the EBTs.

Our siblog European Football Weekends has been publishing Fat Boy Slim's World Cup diary. Here's the latest instalment...

Fatboy Slim - our blog soul brother

And here's the prime data from the first round of matches in a handy chart.

Click picture to enlarge

Match 28:
Italy 1
Rizotto 65

New Zealand 0

Not the most inspiring encounter. Peter concludes: 'At this stage it's hard to distinguish Forza Azzurri from Mythos and the rest of Lagerland, but to be fair it's better than Mythos.' James feels that Macs Gold, with it ridged bottle and ring-pull cap is style over substance. Stu is in accord, rubbishing its 4% status along the way toboot. You feel the Kiwis won't be extending their stay in COGH beyond stage one.

Group E:

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Paraguay	2	2	0	0	6	2	4	6
2	Italy	2	1	0	1	2	3	-1	3
3	Slovakia	2	1	0	1	2	3	-1	3
4	New Zealand	2	0	0	2	0	2	-2	0

COGH Analysis: Paraguay have ensured qualification with two fine performances, and face the bottom feeding Kiwis. The drama-o-meter will be turned up to eleven at the Italy / Slovakia game, as only alphabetical order can separate them thus far.

Japan tighten grip on Group E

2010-06-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

'You know where you are with beer and football - til you don't'

World Cup's best tipster

The COGH research bureau has unearthed the safest bet in the WC so far - a Brit who put £110,000 on France to reach the final. Graham Sharpe of William Hill confirmed: 'A southern based telephone client has staked a bet of £55,000 each-way on France to win the World Cup at odds of 20/1 - and will make a profit of £1,650,000 if they do so - the biggest ever World Cup winnings'. Don't hold your breath - whoever you are.

Cup of Good Hop Match 25:

Holland 0

Japan 1
Godzuki (pen) 62

Sapporo has made all the running in the group, and with good cause. 'Holds its own, pleasing, light and refreshing,' was James' opinion. Oranjeboom was judged to be less of a lager and more of an annoying tune from the past, Dan said 'I have nothing to say,' and this summed up the general consensus that it was generic and quite, quite dull. These guys aren't fans of Oranjeboom either.

The contestants reclining in their mass ice bath. Note - Serbia so big it needs its own cold pack

Match 26:
Cameroon 0

Denmark 1
Arsen 21

Deaks thoughts on Carlsberg are simple 'The rank outsider - with an emphasis on rank.' But even compared to Tradition the Danish entry is the epitome of ambrosia. James considers the Tradition to be 'strange', and in two matches has managed to win precisely no fans amongst our Executive Beer Tasters. They are not likely to trouble any COGH goalkeeper unless they've had at least a dozen the night before.

Group E Table:

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Japan	2	2	0	0	3	0	3	6
2	Denmark	2	1	1	0	1	0	1	4
3	Holland	2	0	1	0	0	1	-1	1
4	Cameroon	2	0	0	2	0	3	-3	0

COGH Analysis: Japan dominate this low scoring group, who take on the Danes who have done better than expected up til now. The Dutch still have a fighting chance of progression, so long as they play to their strengths against the goalless and pointless Cameroonian side.

n.b. here's the tune to that Oranjeboom advert - warning, if you click on this it'll be in your head for the rest of the World Cup.

Group D - Triumph of the Big Two...

2010-06-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

Africa's World Cup?

A cursory glance at the match stats so far suggest it's been anything but Africa's World Cup. Of eight matches involving teams from the host continent (up to Friday 18th) only Ghana have managed to win, and every other game has resulted in a loss apart from South Africa's draw on the opening day. South America are the most successful continent by a country mile, with five wins and a draw from six matches. European teams are drawing more often than they are chalking up wins, but who would ever have thought that Germany, Spain and France would have trouble in the group stage?

Germany miss from the spot for once

Match Breakdown (as of June 18th, in order of success)

South America
Matches 6
Won 5
Drawn 1
Lost 0

Europe Matches 11
Won 4
Drawn 5
Lost 2

North America
Matches 4
Won 1
Drawn 2
Lost 1

Asia & Australisia
Matches 6
Won 1
Drawn 2
Lost 3

Africa
Matches 8
Won 1
Drawn 1
Lost 6

Jelen Pivo: Big, but not one of the Big Two

The Jelen Pivo World Cup lounge...

Cup of Good Hop Match 23:

Germany 3
Mullered 41, 51, Badstubby 77

Serbia 2

Crossstic 13, Zigzagic 43

Two words sum up Erdinger for Deaks - well engineered. The Serbian beer is both big and well received 'it's much nicer than Stella - gets you in the mood,' says Stu, but ultimately it doesn't have enough to match Die Nationalelf, as the Germans are sometimes known. Peter seems to be failing to keep up with the pace when he says 'I might need a little time to finish Germany off,' and the double entredre is well received. James considers Erdinger to be 'subtle but powerful', with the team in full agreement that they should shave a narrow win.

Stuart with the trophy they are all lusting after

Our Team

Just in case you've forgotten or didn't know what our EBTs (Executive Beer Tasters) look like - here they are again...

Peter Styles

James Byford

Dan Last

Lee Deacon

Stuart Fuller

Twitter Titter #4

An occasional COGH series revealing the tweets that make us titter

@billybragg USA continue their winning streak with a brilliant 2-2 victory over Slovenia

What! Another Drinking World Cup!

We've had an email from Tom Drummond , an app that allows you to pledge allegiance to your telling us about the Drinking World Cup allowing you to pledge your allegiance for your nation - indeed any nation of choice - by saying that you are going to drink on their behalf. Seems eminently sensible to us. Cheers!

John Travolta putting a scientologist curse on the Australian team last week

Match 24:

Ghana 0

Australia 3
Kewl 27, Molehill 50, 52

Australia, like the Germans, consolidate after cancelling each other out in the first round of games. Ghana have no answer to the Aussie firepower, with very little by way of attack. Peter thought that Coopers 'beat Star pants down' and Deaks described it as 'special and refreshing. It's a top performer - good bowling Shane.' As far as Star was concerned, Dan picked up on their marketing message. 'They promise a million sparkling bubbles - and deliver considerably less.' James thought Star was 'lacklustre' and 'metallic', and it was clear to all that Star was going to be the whipping boy of Group D.

Group D Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Australia	2	1	1	0	6	3	3	4
2	Germany	2	1	1	0	6	5	1	4
3	Serbia	2	1	0	1	5	4	1	3
4	Ghana	2	0	0	2	1	6	-5	0

COGH Analysis: Germany have almost guaranteed themselves a place in the last sixteen with as their final fixture is against the lowly Ghana, but the tie that's going to wet many whistles is the one between the Socceroos and Serbia, with the Eastern Europeans needing all three points to progress.

England's Glorious Return

2010-06-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

STOP PRESS - CUP OF GOOD HOP ANALYSIS OF LAST NIGHT'S GAME: Jacques Cousteau, Inspector Clouseau, Amelie Mauresmo, Air, Nicolas Sarkozy, Cyrano De Bergerac - your boys took one hell of a beating!!!

Well then... back to the beer. It's the second Group C after the massive 'Fruit v Flowers' clash of England's Golden Glory versus Sierra Nevada of the USA.

England now face the mighty Skol, who were trounced 5-0 by Slovenia in the previous round of games.

Match 21:
Slovenia 3

Pistilic 50, Bojangles 71, 73, Beersa 89

USA 2

Bubble 20, 50

When asked for reasons why he liked the Slovenian entry, Peter says 'it ticks a lot of boxes, though as a UK ale it is a bit of a wolf in Slovenian clothing,' followed by a Zola Budd / Owen Hargreaves / Greg Resedski et al analogy from James. Dan says 'the USA beer is very flowery, and if I drank I load of that I feel like I'd have to buy my wife some flowers.' It was also compared to a high-maintainence woman as it was 7.5% but didn't really taste like it was. Stu got the thread immediately: 'It looks good when you take them out, but get them home and the make-up comes off and its all - What's that doing there, move that over there etc...' Punditry out of the top of the top drawer. Deaks agreed, though was disappointed that Budweiser was not the US entrant.

Strewth! Cindy and Barbie losing interest in the beer

COGH gossip: After Robert Green's handling error against the USA, apparently Capello made him come in the next day for an extra training session, during which he had over a thousand shots fired at him and he didn't concede a single goal. Unfortunately it was Heskey doing the shooting...

Match 22:

Algeria 0

England 3

Runny 9, 53, Pilsner 88

Stu berates Algeria for not even turning up with a bottle cap. 'How f***ing dare they,' agrees Peter. 'Yeah - you've just got to look at their attitude really' - Dan. And to face it, they're not doing themselves any favours by having one of the world's worst beers as the favourite tipple in downtown Algiers. England run the show with a peach of a game - mirroring the peachy, summery flavours inherent in Golden Glory. 'More of a sprint beer than for a marathon,' says James. We'll see...

Group C Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Slovenia	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	6
2	England	2	1	1	0	5	2	3	4
3	USA	2	0	1	1	4	5	-1	1
4	Algeria	2	0	0	2	0	8	-8	0

COGH Analysis: The Slovenians are the surprise package of the group, and have already booked their place in the last 16. England are their next opponents, whilst the US face the hapless Algerians. England seem to be sitting pretty on paper, but we're playing with beer.

Guinness is Back, Guinness is Back - Hello, hello

2010-06-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here at COGH it isn't all drink, drink, drink - we've got some lovely food on the go - here's the fish stew that's going to line the sides for the rest of the tournament.

Over in South Africa Henry Winter, Chief Football Correspondant for the Daily Telegraph, has been our most high-profile advocate. Today on our siblog European Football Weekends, Henry talks to our Executive Beer Taster Danny Last about elephants, Capello and why watching a dire goalless draw is good for the soul.

Anyhow, back to more important matters...

Match 19:

Argentina 1

Militant 64

South Korea 0

Quilmes may fare well in times of increasing climate change, for Peter thought that the Argentinian entry was 'nice if you're hot and bothered'. James took a dim view of OB - 'it's not as distinctive as it claims to be,' he said with some distain. Bottle and cap design then took centre stage, and the South Koreans were blown away by some lovely blue-and-white dtp action. It was also thought you could do more Quilmes than OB on a long session, thus giving it a narrow victory with a scrappy goal.

Peter gives OB the red card

Twitter Titter #3

COGH Executive Beer Taster Stu @theballisround posted this:- After the first round of games, the Cup of Good Hop correctly predicted the results in 6 out of the 16 games - the power of beer!

He says he's going to set up a spreadsheet to track the results, and see if beer is a more reliable predictor of the future than astrology or any other form of mumbo jumbo - I bet it is... Also, I'd recommend some good World Cup comedy courtesy of The Onion.

Match 20:

Greece 1

Tzaziki 30 (pen)

Nigeria 4

Amataxi 13, 67 (pen), Yobbo 23, Oddbinnsa 75

Dan puts his cards immediately on the table in favour of Nigeria: 'This is a dark horse I'd like to get my leg over,' he says with a wry smile. 'It has so much going on,' adds Peter... 'It's like they've got Rooney, Essien, Messi...' - at which point James retorts with 'It'd certainly get messy if you had more than a couple. By now the Guinness label is a little squ-whiff, but battles on with total resolve. James is still convinced that Mythos is part of the Global Lagerland conspiracy, whilst Stu gives it the thumbs down compared to the most warmly received beer of the tournament so far...

Group B Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Nigeria	2	2	0	0	7	2	5	6
2	South Korea	2	1	0	0	3	4	-1	3
3	Argentina	2	1	0	0	2	4	-1	3
4	Greece	2	0	0	0	2	6	-4	0

COGH Analysis: Well, you've got to think that Nigeria are through with flying colours, Greece are out and it just remains for the middle two to battle it out. However, it is the Koreans who face the Super Eagles in the final game in the group.

Yet more Group A - let's see them again...

2010-06-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well, it would seem that Switzerland's World Cup side have been inspired by the performance of their COGH compatriot. Spain have got a mountain to climb - surely more appropriate for the Swiss. Who would have thought our humble beer challenge would be like an amber-coloured crystal ball?

Meanwhile, the five of us have been studiously capturing our thoughts on Post-Its, in notebooks and all other kinds of media. Deaks has been doing a stirling job as the compiler of the former and sticking them on the COGH Wallchart.

Hang on - what are Sindy and Barbie doing?!

There may have been fewer goals in the first round of matches in the World Cup than ever before, but there has been plenty of action as far as COGH is concerned. And now it's time for each of our beers to do battle once more - and for us to boldly go where no beer drinkers have gone before...

Fifa's new World Cup ball considered too light

Match 17:

South Africa 0

Uruguay 2

Forlan-Over 48, Uren 74

Durban Pale Ale continues to annoy the lads - 'there's a load of crap in the bottom,' says a non-plussed Peter. James rules it out as a session beer, saying he'd not be drinking the host's beer again in a hurry. 'It's even got a disappointing cap,' adds Dan disparagingly. Harvey's Blue Label - chosen as a tribute to Brighton's Uruguayan manager Gus Poyet gets an infinitely better reception. 'This is what real beer tastes like,' opines Deaks, wishing it was 5% and not a wishy-washy three-and-a-half. Clearly an example of doing the easy things well, and grabbing three deserved points.

COGH prefers Uwe Seeler to Vuvuzelas

Match 18:

France 3

Ribaldry 7, 34, Cissy 25

Mexico 1

Dirty-Sanchez 40

Mexico made to look bog-standard by this artisan delight. 'I still think this is a girl's beer,' says Stu, looking bemused by its presence in his hand. 'Stick a bit of lime in it,' says Dan, but receives little response. La Choulette continues to impress, a complex whirlwind of a beer that smells and tastes as seductive as a night on the Left Bank with some up-for-it sort called Mimi. 'They love a strike and Sasha Distelle, but I know what I like and I like this...Allez, allez allez' Nuff said.

Corona - Someone did put some lime in it eventually

Group A Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	France	2	2	0	0	7	3	+4	6
2	Uruguay	2	1	0	1	4	4	0	3
3	Mexico	2	1	0	1	3	4	-1	3
4	South Africa	2	0	0	2	1	4	-3	0

COGH Analysis: Les Bleus are flying high and into the next round, probably as winners. The whole group depends on the Uruguay v Mexico tie, and the hosts look like they will be eliminated barring miracles, rather like their WC2010 equivalents.

And finally... [drum roll]... a massive final four

2010-06-16T03:13:00.000-07:00

We were in a more than suitably relaxed mood after sampling the last of the 32 beers... and downing the representatives of Group H was the perfect way to close the curtain on the first round of matches.

So here, for the final time, are those lovely tasting notes from the experts:-

Honduras

Banana Bread Beer, 5.2%

'The aroma is a lot stronger than I was hoping for, I wasn't expecting it to smell exactly like banana bread, but it does. Just on the nose there was very little else. The initial taste is a banana attack and a very strong attack at that. The mid palate taste and even feels a bit like butterscotch which is I think saves it from being too overwhelming. The finish is a little watered down which was actually quite pleasant. I definitely think that this isn't a beer you can drink often but was exciting anyway and could probably be had with some food.' Beeradvocate.com

COGH excuse - Honduras don't export their beers, but bananas are their greatest contribution to the world. Hope that isn't too patronising.

Chile

Cave Creek Chili Beer, 4.2%

'Holy crap, this is awful. No head, smell's like black pepper and bad Mexican food that they tried to cover up by making it super spicey! Aweful. No balance. I get no hops, no malt, just bad peppers. It smells like cat pee, and not in a good sauv blanc kind of way. I will never go anywhere near this beer ever again!' Beeradvocate.com

COGH excuse - neither love nor money could source something sultry and S. American - so we went down the literal route instead.

Switzerland

Samichlaus, 14% (yes that's one-four per cent)

'The label claims "Strongest Lager Beer in the world", and at 14% ABV, that seems fair. The beer pours a dark amber colour, with a dense, but quickly dissipating off-white head. It is not the most aromatic of beers, but there is an intense fruity note of cherry and red berries, with some Christmas cake spice and dried fruit. In the mouth it is powerful, dense and smooth, with an immediate rush of sweetness, before a very Scotch whisky-like character emerges. That raisiny sweetness persists through the mid-palate, with more malty, treacley notes pushing through. It is a balanced beer, with heady alcohol showing up in the finish, but also good acidity and a nip of assertive hops. Surprisingly drinkable given its massive alcohol, and very enjoyable.' Beerpages.com

Spain

Alhambra Mezquita, 7.2%

'Made in the style of an Abbey beer, it has a striking ruby-red colour and a high-rise, persistent white head just tinged with pink. There are cherry and floral notes on the nose, with a hint of old roses and fine, malty notes beneath. On the palate There’s a mocha-coffee richness, and plenty of sweetening, Belgian Trappist-style notes, with a great thrust of grapefruit pith acidity adding balance. This is a big mouthful of beer, with its 7.2% alcohol making its presence felt in a long, grippy finish.' Beerpages.com

Before we kick of the games - I have to say how funny I found Dave Henson's Vuvuzela song - should be adopted as the official song for the whole World Cup - let alone England... Well done Dave, the country salutes you...

Match 13:

Honduras 2

Ponce 66, Palacial 70

Chile 0

Stu dismisses Chile straight off - 'there's no room for novelty beers in this World Cup', and there are several faces stretched in pain before him in agreement. Much as we're all in love with the world and all its kind after 32 beers, Chile just couldn't compete in a group described as a 'taste sensation'. The inverse was true, however, of another novelty beer - 'give us our daily Banana Beer Bread' (James) was the consensus, as it was slipped down lovely-like and allegedly counts as one of your five-a-day.

Ponce by name... you know the rest

Twitter Titter #2
Am enjoying this new thread to COGH so here's another from @DavidSchneider - Robbie Earle doesn't actually know ITV's sacked him. They phoned him but accidentally played him an advert instead.

Be seeing you Robbie. Send us a line if you fancy doing a column in COGH instead - and we'll chew it over. You can follow Peter & James on Twitter - @pstymail & @rockjimford. Big thanks to @henrywinter for the tweets.

Match 14:
Spain 4
Torrid 2, 34, Biscuits 56, Chavvy 62

Switzerland 5
Pepperami (pen) 3, Youngboy-Byrne 29, 73, Schwigger 50, Yacking 77

A thriller - pure and simple. Beer Titan versus Beer Titan in a near-perfect encounter. The Spanish were clean, crisp and incredibly tasty. Dan was their biggest advocate, but that judgment was not clouded by his trans-national marital status... it may have been slightly fogged by downing a 7.2% brew as his 31st of the day. Peter then lets go what can only be described as an 'air biscuit', bringing the game into disrepute. 'The best game of the tournament' (copyright Deaks) saw near maximum goals, but the phenomenal Swiss edged it with a taste not unlike your favourite Christmas combined with near hallucinatory effects. At 14%, it is the Messi of the beer world and all should stand and applaud the Swiss - who to paraphrase The Third Man have clearly produced more than cuckoo clocks after 500 years of peace and brotherly love.

Samichlaus - formidable

So stay tuned for the second round group of games - there's plenty more from COGH to enjoy. We've just passed the 5,000 hit barrier - who'd have thunk it? Bye for now, and here's to some entertaining football in the African sunshine.

Cheers - jusssst going for a little lie down after that last match.

Peter.

Not so nuts about Brazil...

2010-06-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

A fascinating clash of cultures in Group G, with the Iberian influences of Brazil and Portugal going head to head with the totalitarian nuttiness of North Korea and the war-torn morass that has been the recent history of the Ivory Coast. Similarly, in terms of getting hold of the beers, we had no trouble with two (#Bra and #Por), whilst the other two steadfastly refused to surrender. Therefore, we have been forced to field a couple of ringers, which are:-

North Korea
Mann's Brown Ale, 2.8%
'In 2000, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il announced he wanted a brewery. At the same time, the Ushers Brewery in Trowbridge, Dorset, was put up for sale. A deal was done and within 18 months, the North Korean government had dismantled the brewery, shipped it home to Pyongyang, put it back together again and begun brewing “Taedong River Beer”. As you can’t get Taedong River Beer in the UK, we’ve opted for Mann’s Brown ale, the terrific traditional beer that was once brewed on the same brewing kit. A slightly sweet, malt driven creamy ale with a nutty finish.' thedrinksbusiness.com

Ivory Coast
Tusker, 4.2%
'Tusker is a medium lager, yellow in colour but with little of a head. It is quite crisp and clean and makes an ideal 'Sunday Afternoon' beer. Tusker leaves a satisfactory aftertaste. It tastes quite sweet and fruity. It has much more of a taste to it than many lagers and if you are looking for something different then this is probably worth checking out.' yoodoo.com

Brazil
Brahma, 4.8%
'This beer has a very weak bite, flowery aroma and very pleasant afertaste leaning toward citrus/grape. It almost feels as if your drinking a soda rather then a beer. There is no sickly feeling or gassyness after it goes down, not carbonated at all. I expect a large amount of synthetic ingredient, which is infact a good thing with this beer as they've managed to make it taste very-non generically stale.' thebackpacker.net

Portugal
Sagres, 5.2%
'This pale, lager-type beer is a little bland on the nose, with some mild malty notes. On the palate it is quite smooth and rich-textured, with a decent amount of dry, almost bitter-edged hoppy fruit and decent length, but it is bit too "clean" and under-flavoured for me.' Beernotes.com

Twitter Titter #1

This is a new COGH occasional feature where we pull out the tweets that have made us titter...

Enjoyed @DolphinHotel's 'North Koreans already celebrating their team's 3-0 thrashing of #Bra thanks to 62 goals from Kim Jong-Il.'

Match 13:
Ivory Coast 0

Portugal 2
Castrol 20, Contralto 69

Though we were a bit dismissive about Sagres as a 'holiday beer', it was nonetheless crisp and hoppy. However, this was less entertaining than the 'Tusker Du' comments and the exchange between Stu and Deaks.
D: 'I'm not getting anything off this.'
S: 'Reminds me of my honeymoon.'
D: 'Why? Didn't you get any?'
S: No - I went to Kenya.'
Still, such mirth was not enough to save Tusker from a two-goal turnover.

Key man: Kim Jong-Il
Match 14:
Brazil 0

North Korea 1
Jong-Il 77

Critique reached new lows as Mann's was described as a 'Paraguay wannabe', and 'it's giving me the shivers', and Brahma received a damning 'its what you'd drink on Copacobana Beach when feeling up a girl who was actually a boy.' At this point, Dan asked 'how do you spell deteriorating?' Kinda summed it all up. Low quality, apart from the five-star humour.

Group F - Paraguay make early running...

2010-06-15T01:54:00.000-07:00

Group F on paper looked simple - the Italians and Slovakians will knock it out of the park, leaving beer novices New Zealand and Paraguay to scrabble the BFH (bus fare home) together. However, as with many things after a day's solid drinking - all was not it seemed... Be prepared to enter the COGH Twilight Zone...

n.b. this is a library still, as we were not sufficiently on
the ball at this stage to get a group photo

Italy
Forza Azzurri, 5%
'Brewed in Udinese - which is Deaks' favourite Italian team, there is very little else known about this brand, which we found in a convenience store on Lewes Rd, Brighton.'
COGH research bureau

New Zealand
Macs Gold, 4%
'The Bottle was funky, looked like Mac had made it in his shed and the label suggested it was naturally brewed. So its not your average beer, and to be fair it tastes quite good with a good maltyness (is this a word?) to it. Unfortunately I couldn't warm to it and I would have to advise giving this one a miss…' alcoholexperiment.com

Paraguay
Palo Santo Marron, 12%
'Brewed in three massive 10,000 gallon tanks made from Paraguayan lignum vitae wood, which is hard enough to be used in cutting gems and dense enough to sink in water. This fact is even more silly, but it's still not the howler. No, much more absurd than all of this is the fact that Palo Santo Marron is a brown ale of all things.'
Spondologos

Slovakia
Ostravar, 5%
'Brewed since 1897 by this Prague microbrewery which was swallowed up into the larger group Prazské Pivovary (Prague Breweries) which is now controlled by Interbrew, this is a very tasty Pilsner with a marmite and fried egg aroma. A decent body with soft honey and barley sugar notes, gently cut by citrus hops which gradually melt into a fragrant memory. '
bottledbeer.co.uk
COGH excuse - we tried and failed to get hold of Golden Pheasant - and as previous noted their US distributors were most unhelpful.

That's quite enough of that. Let's see what Barbie and Sindy are up to:-

Still chatting by the trophy. Both are a little tipsy but still in control of their faculties. Let's get on with the important bit now - the match reports. Bet you can't wait...

Match 11:

Italy 1

Machetti 21

Paraguay 3

Alcatraz 26, Cruzcampo (pen) 46, Noreiga 79

The Italian brew was generally considered 'ok', and quite literally nothing more, with 'slightly better than Mythos' being the most complimentary anybody got. Whereas opinion was wildly split over the Paraguayan wood-aged brown ale. Everyone but Peter ('tastes like cough mixture and fish') loved it. 'Smells wonderful, licorice. Genuinely interesting. Special occasions only, crazy juice,' mused James - with Stu, Dan and Deaks in dogged agreement. The wisdom of the crowd easily winning through. One of the biggest shocks of the tournament thus far.

These lads were pleased with the result, and had had a few Palo Santos to celebrate

Match 12:

New Zealand 0

Slovakia 1

Amsik 30

'It's got a novelty cap and novelty bottle - but I wouldn't go to New Zealand to get one,' thus spake Deaks. James agreed, saying it was style over substance and Stu merely shook his head, and the fate of Macs Gold was sealed. Peter pretentiously detected 'smoky notes' in the Czech, pretender, and though found it a little less than welcoming, thought it would definitely get you there. Job done. New Zealand is fielding the only amateur player in WC2010, and judging by the state of their beer, you can well believe it.

Forgot to post a picture of our exclusive 'Very Nice World Cup
of Good Hop' wallchart. More on this later

So, we've nearly met all the contestants - what do you think so far? Don't forget to vote on the poll options on COGH. Better still, go out and buy some of them yourself - then vote, or not...

Group E - not as impressive as we'd have liked...

2010-06-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Group E: E's are not good...

This has been a problematical group. We had a really good micro-brewed IPA for Denmark called Mikkelle, but it got smashed and I could not get another. Then we had massive problems getting Cameroonian beer, to the point where it was the 32rd and final one we got, and even then it was French. On a brighter note, COGH has just now had visitors from 50 different countries (4,650+ hits), with El Salvador giving us this accolade. Thanks so much to our international readers, hope you're enjoying it. Oh well, here goes nothing... on with the action.

Holland

Oranjeboom, 5%
‘Pale yellow. Good foam retention for this style. Nice active carbonation. Flattens out quickly. Lots of dry grass and strong barley malts. Fortunately, there is a dry, crisp mouthfeel. I also like the taste a bit. It's not like grass, but actually more like hay. Pretty dry. Unfortunately, the metal taste consumes everything with this beer.’ Beeradvocate.com

Japan
Sapporo, 5%
‘Poured transparent golden yellow color with small head that quickly dissipated leaving almost no lacing around the glass. Mostly grains and slight hint of rice scent. Very light hops and grains, mostly very plain and simple. Light bodied with medium carbonation.’ Beeradvocate.com

Denmark
Carlsberg, 5%
‘Pale, gold color with a steady stream of bubbles. Faint hop odor combined with a hint of hops. This beer also has a metallic character. Slight bread-like flavor noted in the malts with a medium hop flavor. In all, the flavors are well balanced.’ Beeradvocate.com

Cameroon
Fischer Tradition, 6%
‘Washed out, watery tastes of nutty, faintly sweet caramel and salted bread speckled with brown sugar. Fruitiness akin to a splash of Mott's apple juice and white wine. Mild herbaceous hop character with a light, balancing bitterness. Small touch of alcohol warmth. Finishes relatively crisp with lingering tastes of bread and apple.’
Beeradvocate.com
COGH Excuse - we couldn't get Cameroonian lager anywhere, and colonialism is a tried and tested French tradition going back centuries.

Match 9:
Holland 0

Denmark 0

The first COGH washout. This could have been because by this point we were 20 beers down... Dan's notes for Holland were non-existent and we were starting to witness - and indeed be - some of the World Cup's first casualties. James also thought Oranjeboom was a sub-standard issue from the global Lagerland factory, and that Carlsberg smelled of feet. Stu and Deaks had stopped taking notes completely by this point... Nil points for all concerned. Move on - there's nothing to see here...

This is what Nuts Magazine was focusing on during our goalless draw…

Match 10:
Japan 2
Kawazaki 45, Mmmbeer (o.g.) 61

Cameroon 0

Contrasts a-plenty here. Cries of 'FOUL!' rang out from the lads after tasting the French / Cameroonian entry. Peter thought it had a solvent-like mid flavour, an aftertaste beyond horrible and was without doubt the most offensive beer so far - and we should know after this many. Sapporo, on the vastly less deformed hand, was according to James 'pleasing, light and refreshing'. No contest.

Biggest joke of the group - Tradition is a lovely beer

Next up:- The Azzurri, The All Whites and some South Americans playing in Sunderland shirts...

Bring on the Germans... that's right - it's Group D time

2010-06-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Dan interviewing Peter about permutations in the COGH Group of Death

Three big beery nations in this one - someone's gonna get it... Ouch! Would have to say Ghana are underdogs in the group before the off...

Serbia
Jelen Pivo, 5%
'Extremely pale in color. It pours with a sizable, very white head of foam that dissipates relatively quickly. There is minimal lacing on the glass as the head shrinks down to form a film on top of the beer. Surprisingly, and quite pleasantly, Jelen Pivo is moderately bitter in flavor.’ deliciousattack.com

Ghana
Star, 5%
‘A million sparkling golden bubbles with a uniquely rich foamy head and crisp excellent taste.' Awoko Newspaper

Germany
Erdinger Weiss, 5.3%
'Medium gold colour, with lots of swirling yeast haze in the glass. The nose is really quite clean, crisp and citrussy, with a little hint of yeastiness and grass, but rather neutral overall. On the palate the texture is creamy and dense, and this is a very smooth, sleek, tasty beer that is nevertheles a touch non-descript.’
Beernotes.com

Australia
Cooper’s Sparkling Ale, 5.8%
‘A little hint of cinammon, fine hops and fruity notes. On the palate it is medium-bodied and smooth, with a rich moussy attack, and subtly toasty character. It is a very classy beer, with a tight-grained, bitter hoppiness and a lovely focus of quite fruity, herbal flavours and that subtle toast held in check..'

Beernotes.com

Match 7:
Germany 3
Bierhoff Jr. 8, 52, Badstubby 89

Australia 3

Kneel 24, Chippyfeel 45 (pen), Galesalesovic 90

Takes virtually no time for this one to catch fire - a real classic for the archives. James asks Deaks how he's set for time - only for Big D to reply 'I've got two weeks off...' But the beers themselves are of course the focus. Coopers is described as having beautiful body and compared to Elle McPherson by Peter, whereas Dan's response to German Weissbeer Erdinger is 'Ding Ding Ding!!!' The Aussies have a tangy frontrunner that packs a punch, though the Germans hit back from Stu's derogatory 'it's like a flat Hoegaarden' and managed to more than wangle an enthralling draw. Comfortably the best match of COGH so far.

Match 8:
Serbia 3
Zigzagic 1, Alcoholic 32, 77

Ghana 1
Gowaan 55 (pen)

Careful consideration of Jelen Pivo

Serbia's Jelen Pivo was impressive from the start - not only did it come in a two-litre bottle but it was lively, lively, lively. It looked like we were going to be subjected to a gassy uprising from the Balkans, but then the only COGH beer with a stag in the logo locked horns with our tastebuds and easily outclassed the fading Star, which was considered bland and then dipped into further obscurity. JP managed make some firm friends, and there was still more than plenty of the bottle left to sup...

Mass hilarity caused by JP... splendid

Barbie and Sindy join in the fun - god knows where they came from

Stay tuned for two more posts today, by which time we should be bang up-to-date with events over in South Africa and in the COGH Lounge. Laters,

Peter...

Group C - England enter the fray

2010-06-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Group C: As the experts see it...

England
Golden Glory, 4.5%

'Brewed with extract of peach blossom, which is an absolutely unmissable aspect of this beer's aroma and flavour that some will love and some will hate. It pours a deep, amber/gold with a thin, quickly dissapating head. On the nose a perfume of downy peach and floral, summery aromas leaps from the glass.'
Beernotes.com

USA
Sierra Nevada Glissade, 7.5%
'Very pretty nose. You definitely can smell flowers on it, mixed with some malts and a little bit of sweetness that reminded me of a melon. Crisp and refreshing, but the malt gave it a medium body so you knew you weren’t drinking just another light beer.'
Fanbrew.com

Algeria
Skol, 3%
'A light, crisp and clean lager with some hoppy and fruity characters.'
Thedrinkshop.com

Slovenia
Adnams Broadside, 6.3%
'Ruby red beer with spicy hops, pear drop fruit and hop resins on the aroma, burnt fruit, a hint of chocolate, chewy grain and peppery hops in the mouth, followed by a long, bittersweet finish with tangy hops, rich dark malt, ripe fruit and a light chocolate note.'
Beernotes.com
(COGH excuse - made with Slovenian Hops)

Match 5:
England 2
Pilsner 37, Whiskey 51

USA 2
Tipsey 4, Chunderoo 78

Deaks takes a deep breath when asked for his opinion on this match - the summer peachiness of Golden Glory versus the 'flowery yet substantial' (according to James) Sierra Nevada Glissade. We discussed if Golden Glory was 'overpeached', and if so, was that a good idea. In the end neither beer convinced us they'd be more than a passing fancy, so we decided to share the spoils in a keenly fought, highly entertaining encounter.

The New York Post getting a little confused about the basics... back at COGH
we were starting to know how they felt...

Match 6:
Algeria 0

Slovenia 5
Bojangles 9, 67, 89, Illic 45+1, Pistic 52

No contest here. Whereas James considered Slovenia 'deep, smooth and fruity,' Skol certainly didn't live up to the 'Lager of the Highest Quality' written on the can. It had no discernable smell, as Deaks referred to it as 'Gary Lager Piss'. It was thought that the Slovenian Hops of Broadside resembled Newcastle Brown, but was superior and would be be consumed on a winter's afternoon around a roaring fire. Algeria already look like they have no part to play in the competition and we're only one game down...

More COGH soon... please share / feedback / do your thing or get hold of us on Twitter @pstymail, @rockjimford, @bigdeaks, @dannylast and @theballisround. Cheers for now...

First Group B Games

2010-06-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

The Group B contestants stand for the national anthems. L to r Quilmes (Argentina), Mythos (Greece), OB (S. Korea), Guiness Foreign (Nigeria)

So with the competition well underway, we set our sights on the next four contenders:-

South Korea
OB, 4.4%
'The light crisp hop character combines with the effervescent mouthfeel on the tongue before the flavor finishes on the dry side. This clean dry finish might also be attributable to the use of some rice in the grain bill.'
Realbeer.com

Greece
Mythos, 4.7% "This light golden-coloured lager has a pleasantly citrus note on the nose, and a little hint of honey, as well as a nice hoppy freshness. On the palate it is quite creamy textured, and is enjoyable, if a touch unexciting."
Beernotes.com

Argentina
Quilmes, 4.9% 'There's a lightly malty, slightly honeyed note on the nose of this golden-coloured beer, followed by a nice sense of mellow nuttiness. On the palate it has a broad, expansive character with a fruity, dry flavour and rich texture. Not particularly distinctive, but enjoyable.'
Beernotes.com

Nigeria
Guiness Foreign Export, 7.5% 'The aroma is complex, with bitter roasted grain, a woody and vinous note and spicy hop resins. The palate is bitter from roasted grain and hops, balanced by dark fruit, with a long, dry and bitter finish with hints of liquorice and dark mysterious fruits, including something akin to sour bananas.' Beernotes.com

International caps...

Match 3:
Argentina 1
Messy 72

Nigeria 4
Shittu 2, Yobbo 35, 84, Kainu 56

La Albiceleste were blown away by the dark side as Nigeria got universal acclaim. Tasting like chocolate, Dan said Guinness Foreign Extra was 'a party in my mouth and everyone's invited'. Weighing in at 7.5%, it was thought that if we had too many of these we may be subject to an ASBO, but that seemed like a price worth paying compared to Quilmes, which seemed to be a run-of-the-mill lager that although it was smooth and crisp failed to inspire.

Guinness Foreign Extra: A party in the mouth and best so far...

Match 4:
South Korea 2
Sung-Me Hi 24, Eee-Woo Way 55

Greece 1
Stellaos 30

'Greece is not the word,' says Deaks - who nonetheless describes Mythos as 'harmless holiday fun'. James is starting to come to the conclusion that beers like Quilmes, Mythos and Corona come from a non-descript global lager plant. Stu echoes this by comparing it to 'bog-standard Amstel'. There is more controversy with OB from South Korea - Peter identifies a distinctive aftertaste which he thinks is agricultural. He is then informed that this is due to the rice that is added to the process, then muses as to whether he actually enjoys it or not. A gimmick such as this, however, is enough to win a poor game.

Mythos: Deaks was not a fan

Four games down, only sixty to go. More COGH match reports coming to you soon...

Friday's Games (June 11th)

2010-06-14T04:32:00.000-07:00

Here at COGH we intend to bring you match reports on the day, but we've been a little err... busy with beer at the weekend

Come on!!!

The World Cup of Good Hop - what it's all about...

Consequently, as we've been otherwise engaged, the first few reports will be a tad tardy. So - without further ado, let's meet the teams for Friday's games:-

Group A photo (l to r: Uruguay, S.Africa, Mexico, France)
Here they are again from a different camera angle...

South Africa

Durban Pale Ale, 5.7%
"It pours a hazy Caramac colour, with an immediate blast of marmalade orange on the nose, a toffee character and just a hint of spice. On the palate it is medium- to full-bodied, and an initial hit of sweetness is soon swept along by a tide of nicely chewy and tangy hops and a gentle fruitiness."
Beerpages.com

Mexico
Corona, 4.7%
(it was going to be Pacifico but James drank it on the train one night)
"Is there any better tasting beer than Corona? It means Crown in Spanish, and I have to think I agree with their assessment."
Walter Stevens, Reviewstream.com

France
La Choulette, 7.5%
"Russet-coloured French beer with a spicy and bitter orange aroma and a hint of chocolate. Bitter, peppery hops burst through on the tongue, balanced by rich grain and a Grand Marnier orange fruitiness." Beerpages.com

Uruguay

Harvey's Blue Label, 3.6%
"A full-bodied pale ale which should impart a delicate hop character behind the residual sweetness of the malt sugars."
Harvey's website

Match 1:
South Africa 1
Matthew Booze 32

Mexico 2
Bar-erra 68, Blanko 84

Dan is quick of the mark with a disparaging opinion of the host nation's effort - 'cloudy and bitter - possibly off', and a general consensus that it resembled stagnant piss. Conversely, Deaks thought Mexico was 'crisp and refreshing... need nachos... good hair of the dog material'. Stu was less enamoured, declaring Corona 'a girl's beer - pure and simple'. A lacklustre curtain opener - especially considering all the hype and excitement leading up to the tournament.

Cloudy or off? It's a tough call...

Match 2:
Uruguay 2
Loadeiro 7, Forlan-Over 78

France 4
Gallo 4, Squiffaci 45, 47, Ribaldry 90+3

A sparkling encounter which gave the lads something to cheer about. The French impressed from the start, with James being bowled over by the label if not the cap. Peter reckons he's be happy accompanying La Choulette dans la piscine - and admired the melony through taste and sweet notes flying over the palate. Uruguay put in a good account of themselves, with Dan imagining it would normally be poured by a barmaid with thin arms, but ultimately could not live with this Gallic talisman.

Arty shot: The Uruguayan attack(Front), with La Choulette resplendent in the background.

Well, that's about it from a memorable Day One of COGH. Stay tuned for the first Group B games very soon... It's ok, we won't broadcast any ads over the goals, unlike some channels we could mention.

Ok - now the real action begins...

2010-06-14T03:32:00.001-07:00

This is how it ended... let's find out how we got there

Yesterday we tested all 32 COGH beers to destruction - and very nearly ourselves. Over the course of the World Cup we will release the match reports, and ultimately reveal the greatest beer on the planet - at least the best one we were able to get hold of over the last month.

Fuelled only by bar snacks, fish stew and err... loads and loads of beers, our intrepid team left no stone unturned, no bottle untried and put petty patriotism to one side to seek out the ultimate fusion of hops, yeast, water and most importantly alcohol. Let's meet the team of EBT's - Executive Beer Tasters.

Peter 'call me chef' Styles

James 'host with the most' Byford

Dan 'you couldn't make it up' Last

Lee 'Big Deaks' Deacon

Stuart 'theballisround' Fuller

There is another motley crew you need to meet - the beers. Here our all 32 contestants in their swimwear. Aren't they beautiful?

And so - without further ado - let's kick off the action - the Cup of Good Hop team is ready to bring you all the action. Let's go...

Two great sporting events this weekend

2010-06-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

It's now considerably less than 24 hours before the world’s greatest sporting festival kicks off in Johannesburg – a month-long celebration of triumph, adversity, determination and the sales of bottle openers that chant ‘ENG-ER-LAND’.

Africa is primed, as is the watching world – waiting with baited breath for the tournament to unfold. Some – like this Daily Mail (UK) reader would like things to be a little different from the 64 game soccerfest that awaits:-

These opinions are not only bigoted but wholly wrong-headed – I for one would watch 22 grandmothers play each other if by some quirk they qualified for the World Cup, and fully intend to watch every game – yes, even Slovakia v Paraguay.

What’s more I’ll be following #wc2010 on Twitter, scouring the net for the best journalism, eye-catching features and trying not to get annoyed by some of the pundits. I will also be posting up daily match reports from our own sporting titan – The Cup of Good Hop – which we are holding in Brighton this Sunday.

Our methodology will be quite simple – four of us (myself, James, Dan Last from European Football Weekends and Stuart Fuller from theballisround) will conduct 64 ‘tasting matches’ with the beers until a winner is found. In the absence of any Cameroonian beer, we have plumbed for ‘Celebration’ an old-skool French brew. After all – colonialism was a long-lived tradition for the French for centuries – though I’ve heard a rumour that Stuart is hot on the trail of authentic Cameroonian beer.

We will write reports for each match, capture as much of the event across various media as possible, and serve it up to you – and with any luck it will be a light-hearted, informative garnish to your World Cup main course.

Ok, so we’ve had to substitute the odd beer or two to complete our quest, but on the whole it’s a pretty impressive haul and we’re going to take great delight in demolishing the lot. You can get involved by voting for your favourite beers with the newly-installed right-hand column polls. If you’re tempted to do a COGH yourself but haven’t had the time to trawl around for all 32, you could do better than study Beer Genie’s guide to the World Cup – they’ve chosen many of the same brews as us, but have also supplied culinary tips and some ‘did you knows’ http://www.beergenie.co.uk/beer-and-the-world-cup.

Before the action starts I’d like to say a few thank yous – there’s all you out there who have taken an interest in COGH (more than 3,700 so far, from 38 countries across the globe) – and to the likes of Paul, Dave, Stevica and others who have tried to source some of the hard-to-get beers in the final hours. I’d also like to thank Dan and Stuart for agreeing to be our EBTs – Executive Beer Tasters on Sunday, and for the support they have given us over the last month. I'd like to unthank the BBC 5Live producer who cut me off in my prime after 30 seconds on the Tony Livesey show last night. Well, I think that’s enough of that…

I’ve just noticed that ‘Bongo Bongoland’ is now the number one trending topic on Twitter – oh dear. At least most of the posts don’t share the sentiments of Mike ‘Bongo Bonkers’ Phelps of Yeovil.

So, watch out for COGH match reports on Monday and then throughout the competition, laced with other content that we can be arsed to cobble together inbetween games – have a wonderful month – may your cup be of good hop.

I’ll leave you with some photographic flavour for the tournament to come and my betting tips – Torres (14/1) and Crouch (50-1) for top scorer – fingers crossed and ten quid down…

Know any Dexy’s Midnight Runners?

South Africa’s veteran skipper announces his retirement after lifting the trophy

Confusion reigns in the US team

Peter & James, 10 June 2010

COGH picture special

2010-06-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

Here are all our contestants so far (31 of 32) posing in group order on the lawn. Aren't they lovely? Online polls for all groups are down the right hand column from today. Enjoy the fine art below...

Group A: Uruguay, Mexico, France, S. Africa

Group B: Nigeria, Argentina, S. Korea, Greece

Group C: Algeria, Slovenia, USA, England

Group D: Australia, Ghana, Serbia, Germany

Me setting up the as yet incomplete Group E:
Japan, Netherlands, Denmark, Cameroon (missing)

Group F: New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia, Italy

Group G: Brazil, N. Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal

Group H: Switzerland, Honduras, Chile, Spain

And here they are en masse...

The Titans of Europe join the fray...

2010-06-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

So, with six days to go – it was time to fill in the blanks. To buy the obvious, can-get-with-our-eyes-shut countries.

James and I went to Trafalgar Wines and managed to get the following:-

ENGLAND: We wanted Jaipur – a tremendous beer from Thornbridge, but they didn’t have this in stock. If anyone should have a bottle knocking about let us know asap. Instead, we have gone for Golden Glory.

So, a lot of hopes pinned on this ale, but James assures me its very nice indeed...

GERMANY: We were lacking in Weissbeers in COGH thus far, so plumbed for a tried and tested favourite - Erdinger. Should put in a shift in a tough group.

USA: Have listened to our trans-atlantic readers, and have replaced Budweiser with Sierra Nevada Glissade - which I thought sounded more like a lubricant than a beer.

FRANCE: La Choulette Ambre

According to their website and my pigeon french, its made by artisans of the north, as well as lots of detail my C Grade at GCSE prevents me from having an earthly clue about. However, its 7.2% and looks the part.

ITALY: I'm no expert on Italian beer, save for buying a few Peronis to make a themed dinner party go with a swing, so the choice of Forza Azzurri Beer could well have been a questionable one. Should we have stuck to Peroni or Birra Moretti? Probably... apologies to any Italian readers, although having said that COGH has had visitors from more than 30 countries but Italy is not one of them.

DENMARK: We searched for a decent Danish entrant, but in the short term have only got a humble bottle of Carlsberg to show for our efforts. Perhaps this reflects the understrength Denmark team which is a shadow of their 1992 equivalent. Will try our best to find better replacement, but they do say its the probably best lager in the world... we'll see eh?

And with the quest in the final stages, we decided to use a bit of creative thought in order to come up with contestants for a couple of countries we were struggling with...

URUGUAY: As a tribute to Brighton manager Gus Poyet, we decided that the Sussex-brewed Harvey's Blue Label would be a fitting replacement for Patricia, Pilsen and all the other South American brands that seem so unobtainable here, especially given its very appropriate colouring.

Ooh, just look at those martlets... good old Sussex by the sea

SLOVAKIA: We have also had massive trouble getting Golden Pheasant, so opted for the Czech concoction that looked like it had been brewed nearest to Bratislava. It's called Ostravar and am sure it will be lovely...

So, in essence after all our exhaustive beer hunting - we are missing one country now - and that's Cameroon. Here's a quick of what we've got...

GROUP A

France - La Choulette
Uruguay - Harvey's Blue Label
Mexico - Pacifico
South Africa - Durban Pale Ale

GROUP B

Argentina - Quilmes
Nigeria - Guinness Foreign Export
Greece - Mythos
South Korea - OB

GROUP C

England - Golden Glory
USA - Sierra Nevada Glissade
Algeria - Skol
Slovenia - Adnam's Broadside

GROUP D

Australia - Cooper's Sparkling Ale
Germany - Erdinger Weiss
Ghana - Star
Serbia - Jelen Pivo

GROUP E

Cameroon - YET TO FIND
Denmark - Carlsberg
Japan - Sapporo
Netherlands - Oranjeboom

GROUP F

Italy - Forza Azzurri
New Zealand - Mac's Gold
Paraguay - Palo Santo Marron
Slovakia - Ostravar

GROUP G

Brazil - Brahma
Portugal - Sagres
Ivory Coast - Tusker
North Korea - Mann's Brown Ale

GROUP H

Switzerland - Samichlaus
Chile - Chili Beer
Honduras - Banana Beer
Spain - Alhambra Mezquita

We will shortly release exclusive photos of the beers in their collective pomp and posing according to their groups in a pastoral setting. In the meantime, if anyone disagrees with any of the choices we have made - or have some French colonial beer to send us for Cameroon, please feel free.

Cheers for now, not long til the fun begins.

P ;)

Cup of Good Hop on the Beeb

2010-06-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

Click on the link and go to 1h 34m 50secs in order to hear me and James talk about Cup of Good Hop on BBC Sussex and Surrey. It's about ten minutes long and I think we did pretty well. Listeners were treated to live beer tasting (Star, Ghana) which makes for great radio in itself ;).

We will extract the audio and put it up as stand-alone multimedia as soon as we can. Photos of our trip to the Beeb will also be online shortly. Will also scan in our appearance on page 22 of the Sussex Evening Argus yesterday.

Meanwhile, we're still looking for four beers:

Cameroon (Pelforth or any other old-school French Colonial beer would do), North Korea (Taedonggang - though we may have to replace with a bit of creative thinking), Slovakia (Golden Pheasant) and Uruguay (Patricia or Pilsen). With seven days to go, if anyone can help us please get in touch. We're looking to round up the beer hunting by next Wednesday (9th) so we can get on with the serious business of holding the COGH Beer World Cup.

I suppose its not as high pressured as Capello's preparations, but we've still got to keep our eye on the ball. This week we heard from the US distributors of Golden Pheasant, and were very helpful in sending us a picture of their beer - nice try, how about sending us the real thing. Here it is:-

So near and yet so far...

COGH injury shocker! Ferdinand and Drogba may be crocked and seemingly out of contention for the World Cup, but here at Cup of Good Hop we've been hit by an injury scare too. Yesterday I had five stitches put in a nasty gouge in my foot caused by a sandals-and-bike pedal related incident. At least I didn't get clattered by Heskey...

Will leave you with a recent BBC story about the first North Korean beer tv advert - give it a watch, it's nuts... and this article about the carbon footprint of a pint of beer was also very interesting.

best for now,

Peter

Random picture of me singing Mr Blue Sky after a few liveners...

The big Serbian Contender

2010-06-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Trecked out to London's Shepherds Bush Market area to hunt down the Serbian choice of Jelen which is stocked by the Macedonian specialists, vardar.co.uk on Askew Road. I arrived at the shop only to find it locked shut. However, just as I preparing to take a pic of the outside for the hell of it, the owner turned up and confirmed that he did in fact stock Jelen in 2 litre bottles! Cost the reasonable sum of £4.95 and thankfully no laptop to carry now the iPad is here and so fitted perfectly into my rucksack.

So here it is BEER #29:

Shame the Macedonians didn't make it to South Africa as the proprietor had loads to choose from and was a very friendly chap. Looking forward to the radio natter later on, let's see if that generates our missing Slovakian and Uruguayan candidates and who knows, perhaps some more ideas for North Korea.

Had an interesting chat with a lady at a business meeting earlier about nothing to do with COGH who suggested that a micro-brewery in Derby might be interested in creating a unique Cup of Good Hop ale.. Thats one to follow up unless there are any others out there reading us and would like to talk?

- RockJimford

The home straight

2010-06-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sign found by James in the Shepherd's Bush area

Tuesday sent out versions of the press release to local, UK, football and beer media. Got some nibbles but no bites, then around 3pm I notice that Henry Winter, famed footy journo of Daily Telegraph fame has picked up on COGH and wished us good luck. Suddenly we're getting a hundred hits every five minutes! Consequently we're through the 2,000 barrier - and we haven't even held the beer World Cup yet!

More importantly, the search for the last few beers goes on. Arranged to meet photographer for the Evening Argus (Brighton's local paper - piece in Thurs) outside the Afri-Mart on Preston Road in order to pose for photos. Whilst there bought a couple of bottles of this:-

BEER#28 - Ghana - £2.69

Promises 'a million golden bubbles'. We'll see

I also contacted Heineken (who make Pelforth Brune (kinda Cameroon)), a US distributor for Zlaty Bazant (Golden Pheasant, Slovakia) and a couple of others. Who knows if these requests will bring results - we live in hope.

We've had an offer of a bottle of Jelen Pivo (Serbia) from Stevica Madjar - he's been a star, first being kind enough to help, then because getting beer out of Serbia is not as simple as it seems. Their Post Office forbids the transit of beer- but Mad Steva as he's otherwise known reckons he's got a plan. We may have a back-up plan for Serbia just in case his generosity is foiled by faceless bureaucrats.

If anyone is near the radio / internet tomorrow at 11.40am BST, me and James will be talking about COGH on BBC Sussex and Surrey and conducting live beer tasting in the studio. This will be the first time we've had the opportunity to put any of the contestants through their paces. Don't worry - we have some spares!

So as the beer hunting rounds the final bend, we're still totally in the dark as to how we're going to get Slovakia, Cameroon and Uruguay, have a cunning back-up plan for North Korea and are still in need of Serbia. We have the numbers of all the respective London embassies, so may well give them a call over the next couple of days and see if we can pull some diplomatic strings.

That's about all the news that's fit to print at the moment - though I'm sure James has got some interesting posts now he's back from holiday. We have more great ideas for COGH over the next few weeks including 'Hop Trumps', an exciting game you can play during ad breaks inbetween matches.

PS.

World Cup names to watch this summer...

2010-05-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

In the last COGH I promised you tastefully shot photos of the beers in all their glory - and I tell you they are on the way (they are on James' camera) - but in the meantime I've had a trawl through the World Cup squads to find those names that will make us giggle into our beer throughout the summer.

In the past there have been some classics. Who could forget Angola's Titi Buengo and Paraguay veteran Chiqui Arce from 2006? Or Stefan Kuntz from a decade before?

So the question is: Though Portugal's goalie Quim may have hung up his gloves - will there be surnames to make commentators corpse?

Well, a quick look through the squads reveals that its not going to be a classic year, but there are some sources of amusement.

One of those in contention to be between the German sticks is Hans Joerg Butt, and Waldo Ponce is raring to go for Chile. I suppose we have our fair share of Johnsons and Bent of course, and Cameroon's Gaetan Bong raises a smile, but otherwise we'll have to satisfy ourselves with New Zealand's Shane Smeltz and North Korea's Kim Kum Il.

Kum

Butt

Ponce

Bong

Anyway, that's quite enough of that. James is off in Spain tracking down more beer, I'll keep my eyes open and our hunt for those five rare ones continues, as well as getting the five we can get with our eyes shut.

Enjoy, over and out, Peter.

The search widens...

2010-05-30T01:32:00.000-07:00

Cup of Good Hop
World Cup beer blog
32 Nations – 32 Beers - Two blokes

http://cupofgoodhop.blogspot.com/

Press release 30/5/10. For Immediate release.

World Cup beer bloggers: ‘Help us find last five rare brews’

Two Sussex beer bloggers are in a race against time to find five brews from five World Cup countries in order to complete their collection, making it possible for them to host a Beer World Cup this summer.

The Cup of Good Hop - http://cupofgoodhop.blogspot.com – will pit the best beers from countries such as Brazil, Nigeria and Japan in a match-by-match basis in order to find the greatest combiner of hops, yeast, water and alcohol on the planet. The blog has achieved more than 1,000 hits since its inception a little over two weeks ago.

Brighton-based beer hunters Peter Styles and James Byford have so far sourced 27 of the 32 national tipples, but are stumped as to where to find brews from the following countries:-

Cameroon
Ghana
North Korea
Slovakia
Uruguay

Peter says of the challenge: ‘It’s been great fun collecting the beers so far but these last five have left us stumped. None of these countries export their beer to the UK and it would be a great shame if our challenge was to fail as a result. If anyone has a beer from any of these countries going spare, we’d be so grateful.’

Anyone who can help Peter and James with their noble quest should contact them on 07946 825926 or email pstymail@yahoo.com. Alternatively, they can just enjoy the blog and the World Cup as it unfolds from June 11^th.

ENDS

Cup of Good Hop, Peter Styles,
http://cupofgoodhop.blogspot.com/
email: pstymail@yahoo.com
mobile: 07946 825926

Cup of Good Hop - The Picture So Far

2010-05-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

Beers 17-22 - here we go, here we go, here we go...

2010-05-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

Fully recovered from my brush with the law, I decided to stay closer to home in order to embark on the second half of COGH. A return visit to Trafalgar Wines, Brighton elicited the following purchases:- (n.b. James has bought Netherlands and re-purchased Mexico (Beers 16 & 17), and a post detailing this will doubtless appear in the fullness of time, and the next post will be more arthouse, with pictures of the beers in their natural habitat and exclusive footage where we get up close and personal with the contestants.)

BEER#17 Spain - £2.00

Alhambra Mezquita has an ABV of 7.2% - stacking up yet another COGH beer that is to be treated with maximum respect. Should be a strong contender in the group games.

BEER#18 - Chile - £1.80

The Chileans don't export their beer, and steps will / may be taken to get hold of these rare countries, but in the meantime a little punnery got us as far as Chilli Beer. Ahem... Apologies to purists here - and I doubt it will be the only one during the course of this post.

BEER#19 - USA - £1.99

Apologies to purists for this. Despite appeals to go for a US microbrewery, we've plumbed for Budweiser. Is this an anti-American bias creeping in? Na... it's because this 'can' of Bud has got a picture of the World Cup on it. Sucker.

BEER#20 Slovenia - £2.00

Again, Slovenian beers are like hen's teeth over here, and I've been in enough Eastern European shops lately to be a chicken dentist. Fortunately many UK beers are made with Slovenian hops and Adnams is one such brewer. Broadside is a lovely example of the breed, so I decided to bring it into our kennel of beer. I think that's enough metaphors for now. Could well do better than the actual Slovenian team considering the weak competition in Group C - and no we haven't fixed it. This is scientific don't you know.

Ooh - look at the reflection on that bottle...

BEER#21 - Honduras - £2.40

According to the experts, Honduran beer isn't going on. The man in Trafalgar Wines sadly shook his head and said there hasn't been a World Cup like it - maybe there's a PhD in looking at the best World Cup for COGHing. Maybe not - they'd never get that through the budget cuts. Still, that said, bananas are the top export of Honduras, and I really like Banana Bread Beer. That completes Group G, the second quartet we no longer have to worry about.

BEER#22 - Ivory Coast (again) - £1.79

Bought another bottle of Tusker after Saturday's debacle to represent the highly fancied Ivorians. Yes, my ipod is still dead, and yes - am still fuming about the conduct of the Metropolitan Police on Saturday. Nuff said before I go off on a diatribe...

On a brighter note, we have a new recruit for the latter and most important stages of COGH - the tasting. In a deal reported to be worth approximately ten beers we have enticed top international blogger Danny Last of European Football Weekends. For the uninitiated here he is in multilingual mode:-

Danny will help us record the momentous events and be our illustrious guest taster when the action kicks off in the next couple of weeks. Welcome aboard mate.

Before that happens, we have ten more beers to acquire. Five of these are easy... France, England, Germany, Italy and Denmark (again).

And five fiendish ones... Ghana, Serbia, Cameroon, Slovakia and the dreaded North Korea. Any help / suggestions in rounding up these would be fantastic... In the meantime signing off for now - more than 600 views so far and counting. Thanks for your interest in our noble yet slightly silly quest...

PS

Have I Got Booze for You...

2010-05-21T23:14:00.000-07:00

7.15am, just about to set off for a WHOLE DAY beer hunting in London. Watch this space for a full report later...

Right... what a day. EVERY detail of what I have to report is true. This is just as much a political report as a beer blog today, but will try to keep it short and to the point and not a rant...

Got early lift with mate Jason as far as Greenwich, and looked at my dog-eared list of beer specialists, with only the south and west of the capital left to be combed. Got tube to London Bridge and went to Otobeer in Borough Market (v highly recommend). What a find. Lovely guys, couldn't be more help - and there I found:-

1) BEER#11 Greece - Mythos - £2.00
They may be having problems at the moment but it didn't take Archimedes to get a new angle on searching down this lager.

2) BEER#12 - Denmark - Mikkelle Stateside IPA £2.00

More about this one later, when our tale washes over you like the North Sea over the Little Mermaid - or something like that.

3) BEER#13 - Paraguay - £6.00 (yes, six of your English pounds!)

This is American, but stored in Paraguayan wood, which is enough of a link in this magical pystery tour...

4) BEER #14 - South Africa - £2.00

Durban Pale Ale - this is one of those ones that needs to be decanted from the bottle as its got yeast and bits of kids at the bottom of the bottle - intriguing.

5) I also found lovely chaps and a great chat about our quest, with the basic message being that COGH was impossible and that we needed to make some compromises in order to get 32 representatives together. This confirmed our need to find logical, or not so logical replacements for the following because they don't export their beers to the UK:- N Korea, Chile, Ivory Coast, Slovenia, Uruguay and Honduras.

On I went to Elephant and Castle to a South American shop - not a beer in sight. Undettered I went to Brick Lane to check out its exotic wares. Surely this melting pot would hold many glories? Well, it held two.

BEER #15 - Ivory Coast £1.79

Tusker is from Kenya - ok, that's cheating a bit but I've never had it and we've got to have some ringers.

BEER #16 - Algeria - 79p

The biggest selling beer in Algeria is Skol. Yes, that's right. Yuk. Still, bought a can of it so that North Africa can have representation, an inauspicious way to reach the COGH halfway mark.

I then went to Ealing to have a few beers with a mate. With it being such a lovely day the park was the option of choice and Leffe Blonde was the preferred tipple. Oh Belgium, why did you not qualify?

Arguably the best beer in the world, but not in COGH

To cut a long story short, Andy and I were a few bottles down each, causing no bother whatsoever when two Community Support Officers came to harass us. Quite why they picked on us when lots of people were drinking in the park is quite beyond me. To cut a longer story even shorter, despite attempts to just leave the park they pursued us and called for back-up. Jesus Christ - what kind of country is this!

After arguing the toss with all five - five! ****ing police (well, three real ones and two wannabes) I was given an £80 on-the-spot fine - which I have less than no intention of paying.

All this commotion made me late for my lift back to Brighton from Greenwich, and in my haste to get there I stumbled on an escalator and two of the beers (Tusker and Mikkel) smashed in my bag, all over my iPod, which at the time of writing no longer works. What fascist bastards - they've caused COGH to only have 14 rather than 16 beers so far. Nuff said... onwards and upwards next week...

PS

Very interesting new research...

2010-05-21T05:34:00.001-07:00

Friday - am listening to the wonderful Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo film reviews on Radio 5 after playing cricket this morning. Nothing to do with beer hunting I hear you cry - oh contraire mon frere...

Have been doing a little bit of desktop research for COGH and stumbled across this page:-

http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11205&Itemid=66

It's only a list of beers for every country playing in the World Cup! Stone the lummy crows! I feel this is a significant contribution to human endeavour, and I have to say caught my attention for some time. Key quote: "Apart from North Korea, Honduras and Cameroon, there are very few participating teams whose beers aren’t imported into the UK."

Of the 'difficult' countries we still have to find, the bible of beer says thus:-

Group A

South Africa (ok, SA isn't difficult but this sounds nice).

Castle Milk Stout 6%

Blacker than a coalminer’s pocket with a delicious, creamy mouthfeel, this full-bodied stout from the Johannesburg region is one of the most popular beers in South Africa.

Uruguay

Stinger, 4%

Stinger’s from Dorset not Montevideo but we chose it because Uruguay won the inaugural World Cup in 1930. As everybody knows, this was the same year Maude Grieve of the horticultural society came up with the recipe for her Nettle Beer. This tingle-tastic organic ale is brewed with nettles from the garden of celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Hugh is renowned for his love of meat and so, as it happens, are the Uruguayans.

Group B

Greece

Mythos, 5%

A clean, simple thirst-quenching pilsner-style lager that falls down easier than an unstable economy.

33cl £1.29. www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Group C

England (saw this is a London pub the other day - sounds delicious)

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA, 5.9%

A quintessentially English beer style revived by one of the most progressive and adventurous micros in the UK. A fruity, honey-tinged and delightfully hoppy India Pale Ale that can go toe-to-toe with strong, spicy food.

12x33cl £24. www.mybrewerytap.com

Algeria

Skol, 4%

The biggest beer in Algeria is Skol. The one synonymous with the chanting Viking adverts of the 80s.

4 x 33cl cans. £2.85. www.bargainbooze.co.uk

Slovenia

Adnams Innovation, 6.7%,

No Slovenian beers are readily available in the UK, but Slovenian hops are used widely in British brewing. This American-style IPA brewed beside the seaside in Suffolk is a marvellous mouthful.

12 x 50cl £21.50 http://cellarandkitchen.adnams.co.uk

Group D

Serbia

Jelen Pivo, 5%

A basic bottom-fermented brew is one of the best from the Balkans.

50cl £1.59. www.vardar.co.uk

Ghana

Star, 5%

When it gets hot in Ghana, which it does quite a lot, this crisp and slightly sweet pale lager hits the spot.

www.thegoldcoastbar.com

Group E

Cameroon

Pelforth Brune, 6.5%

A liquid legacy of French rule, this deep russet-coloured ale is full of figs, prunes and warming alcohol with a Port-like finish.

33cl £2.41. www.onlyfinebeer.co.uk

This is going to be one tough mother to get hold of...

Group F

Paraguay

Palo Santo Marron, 12%

OK, so this beer isn’t from Paraguay, it’s from America. Yet Dogfish Head, one of the most impressive and adventurous craft ale creators in the States, ages this awesome after-dinner brown ale in 10,000 gallon brewing vessels made of Paraguayan Palo Santo wood.

35.5cl £4.99.www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Slovakia

Zlaty Bazant, 5%

Meaning Golden Pheasant, the biggest beer in Slovakia is a pale European lager brewed in a Czech style.

£1.99. 50cl www.beersofeurope.co.uk

Group G

North Korea

Mann’s Brown Ale, 2.8%

In 2000, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il announced he wanted a brewery. At the same time, the Ushers Brewery in Trowbridge, Dorset, was put up for sale. A deal was done and within 18 months, the North Korean government had dismantled the brewery, shipped it home to Pyongyang, put it back together again and begun brewing “Taedong River Beer”. As you can’t get Taedong River Beer in the UK, we’ve opted for Mann’s Brown ale, the terrific traditional beer that was once brewed on the same brewing kit. A slightly sweet, malt driven creamy ale with a nutty finish.

50cl £2.77. www.onlyfinebeer.co.uk

Are you North Korea in disguise? (repeat)

Ivory Coast

Tusker Lager, 4.2%

Ivorian ales are a bit thin on the ground in the UK. But, as the Ivory Coast football team are nicknamed the elephants, we’ve gone for Tusker from Kenya. It’s got an elephant on the label and, er, tusks are made from ivory and the brewery’s founder was killed by a rogue elephant. Surely that’s enough isn’t it? Eh? Oh.

Group H

Honduras

Banana Bread Beer, 5.2%

If you want a Honduran beer, you’ll have to go to Honduras. Given that it’s quite far away and very dangerous, it’s better to make do with this British ale brewed with bananas, Honduras’ main export.

12x50cl £25.49. www.drinksdirect.co.uk

Chile

Fallen Angel’s Fire in the Hole Chilli Beer, 4%

As Chileans export their wine but not their beer, why not give Sussex’s Fallen Angel Brewery a call. It’s not from Chile but it’s brewed using chillis. Do you see what we’ve done there? Clever eh?

What they eat pastel de choclo (meat stew topped with corn)

And another thing.... Chile is only one of two countries in South America that does not border Brazil.

***

Now, some of these seem like a cop-out, but if that's what the industry experts are suggesting, who are we to argue? Going to London tomorrow to try and outdo these suggestions, but otherwise we could have found some reasonable fall-back positions so we are ready to stage COGH when the WC2010 begins...

So, it's time to enjoy the rest of the film reviews, pull the top off a can of Red Stripe and enjoy the sunshine. ;)

PS

Brahma-rama - three more down... or was it two?

2010-05-20T05:49:00.000-07:00

The full extent of our quest... sobering isn't it?

Wednesday - job interview in London. Suited and booted - check. Laptop and PR strategy presentation - check. List of speciality beer shops across the capital - goes without saying.
Interview finishes around 3.30pm and consult mini A-Z for nearest source of sauce at the most northerly reaches of the Piccadilly Line.

A foray into the mean streets of Holloway Road carrying an impossibly heavy bag took me to Kris Wines, which stocks 350 global beers but only one that matched COGH requirements - Max Gold (New Zealand)... the eighth find marking one quarter of the task done. Woo hoo!

Next stop was Drinker's Paradise in Camden - where Brazil (Brahma) and Mexico (Pacifico) were obtained. When questioning the shopkeep I discover they used to stock Slovenian, Slovakian and other rare breeds, but I suppose out of World Cup time there's not much call (or I dare say during the build-up to World Cup - excepting two guys with a particular mission).

A bottle of Pacifico on holiday

Drinkers Paradise - to die for... but could do with more v rare beers

By this stage time was against me, but pressed onto East London to try Bottles on Commercial Road. As it was the first name on my list I had high hopes, and waddled sweatily through Whitechapel cursing laptop, portfolio et al. Imagine my abject disappointment on arrival at no. 349 to discover it was now a run-of-the-mill convenience store, with the current incumbent completely oblivious to his shop's presumably illustrious past. That said, if Bottles had been that great it would have still been there...

After dinner with girlfriend in Islington (and a well deserved bottle of Sam Adams, (USA)) I met James at Victoria Station for the journey back to Brighton. Have Grolsch for the train, but we run dry around Haywards Heath. James asks to crack open one of our stash - and I offer the Pacifico as the least rare of today's haul. The one that got away... down our necks...
PS.

3 continents in one trip

2010-05-19T05:19:00.001-07:00

Wandered down to Lewes Road in Brighton on friday and amongst the significant choice of Polish beers (memories of Boniek and co flooding back..) discovered three on Questionable/Difficult list:

Nigeria:

Always been a Guiness fan so am looking forward to this Foreign Extra coming in at 7.5%,

Portugal I've always thought to possess flair, style but often lacking a little bit of weight up front.

Sagres is not is best looking label it has to be said. Having never been to Portugal this does look like a campsite staple so with holding judgement..

The highlight of the trip was finding this rather simple and fetching blue and white striped bottle of Quilmes from Argentina:

If only the Poles were in we could have a dozen for them alone..

Successes

2010-05-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

DAY 1 - May 13th

Beer #1 - Switzerland (Day 1 - May 13th) Price: £3.49 (rrp £3.99 but got 50p off as it was on window display)

Even though it was on our tough / impossible list (probably because we didn't think the country was flat enough to grow the necessary crops!) However, a trip to Trafalgar Wines, Brighton produced our first find - and what a find it was. Weighing in at a mighty 14% (yes, one-four per freeking cent) and allegedly 'The Strongest Lager Beer in the World', Samichlaus will be a force to be reckoned with and is the first beverage to qualify for Cup of Good Hop.

DAY 2 - May 14th

Reports into COGH Towers from James of successful sourcing of Portugal, Argentina and Nigeria. Reports #2, 3 and 4 to follow...

DAY 3 - May 15th

As I was walking to the tube this morning every exotic beer shop seemed to be calling out to me, as if they housed the Holy Grail. Will be hunting down beers this afternoon... Hoping for some notable scalps. Watch this space...

Beer #5 - Australia (Price £1.79)

A friend of mine is most insistent - and if you don't believe me read the comments section on the welcome page of this blog - that we don't buy just any old rubbish to represent Australia in COGH. And so, entering Oddbins on Wardour Street, the only contribution they could make to our haul was a bottle of Coopers Sparkling Ale - oooh, and slavering at the thought of it. It will stand far more chance of qualification to the latter stages than Lucas Neill, Harry Kewell, Mark Schwarzer and the other geriatrics that play for the Socceroos these days.

Beer #6 - S. Korea (Price £1.55)

Whilst cycling along Charing Cross Road I happened to remember that there was a Korean shop nearby, and a short, partially understood exchange later I was in the possession of a bottle of OB - a brew of which I know less than nothing. Like the Korean team itself, a dark horse that could prove to be a match for the titans of the beer world.

OB - drink it and shut up...

Beer #7 - Japan (Price £1.55)

Whilst in the same shop me old eyeballs fell upon bottles of Sapporo - and my thoughts immediately turned to birds, stones and killing. Must have drunk it in the past, but if I did that night has faded from memory like every other James Blunt song apart from that incredibly annoying one. Got a mountain to climb, like Mount Fuji or something badass like that.

n.b. successes now moved to day-by-day updates. Will keep this page live for old times' sake ;)