Tiger World Acclaimed Lager Beer

Brewed by Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd in Singapore, Tiger Lager is a golden lager in the European tradition. It poured a crystal clear gold color with a rapidly-diminishing white head. It follows in the tradition of most of the European lagers - pale, smooth, and lightly hopped. It's inoffensive but not interesting. It's got a touch of sweetness to it, but there's not much else to say about it. Fortunately it was in a brown bottle, so at least it wasn't skunked.

Forza Azzurri Italian Export Lager

I haven't had a lot of Italian beers, but the last one I had was very good - Moretti La Rossa. I found this beer hiding in the back of the fridge, so I decided to try it tonight. I'm always a little suspicious of European Lagers in green bottles, but I needed to drink it at some point. This is Forza Azzurri from CASTELLO di UDINE Spa, in San Giorgio, Italy. It poured a deep gold color with a small white head. It looked pretty good - better than I expected. The first taste was a surprise - hey, this actually has some malt in it! It was sweeter than most lagers, and hop presence was pretty low, but it was pretty good! It went well with my chicken, and I enjoyed it just fine. A pleasant surprise - not your run-of-the-mill European lager.

Margaritaville Brewing Co.'s Landshark Lager

Tacos were on the menu tonight, so I looked thru my beer fridge to see what I had that was Mexican. I came up blank, except for a bottle of Margaritaville Brewing's Landshark Lager. I know it's not Mexican, but it was the closest thing to it. I don't know how much input Jimmy Buffett actually had in the production of this beer, but I do know that it's brewed by Anheuser-Busch. It's bottled in a nice sharkfin-embossed bottle with a painted label, and it poured a light golden color with a 1-1/2 inch tall white head. If Jimmy was going after a Corona clone, I think he nailed it - based on my memory of Corona. This was a refreshing light beer, and went perfectly with my tacos. I'm sure that a lime would feel at home in the neck of the bottle, if you're into that sort of thing.

Tennent's of Scotland - Scotland's Finest Lager

I was pleasantly surprised by this lager from Tennent's of Scotland. I've been a bit shy about trying yet another European Pale Lager. Maybe it's because the UK isn't part of the EU, but this lager was different from my other recent samplings. This beer has much more body than the Estrella I recently tried, and was sweeter and maltier as well. It had enough hop flavor to offset the malt, without being too obvious. I'm really learning to appreciate Scottish beers. This is the first time I've used my Florida State beer mug, a gift from my daughter. It's her Alma Mater, not mine.

Estrella Galicia Premium Lager

Here's another selection from World Market's "Beers of the World" assortment. This one's from Spain from a brewery called Hijos de Rivera and is called Estrella Galicia. This is the first beer I have ever tasted from Spain. It's a pale lager, and it poured a light golden color, with a big fluffy white head. The head had pretty good staying power, and nice lacing. This beer could easily get lost amongst all the other European pale lagers. It doesn't have any specific feature that can set it apart. As with so many beers of this type, it is non-offensive, but ultimately forgettable. I'm becoming more and more prejudiced about these pale lagers.

Foster's Lager at Outback

My family and I decided to do Sunday lunch at Outback, to try out some new menu items they were advertising. Since it also involved a $5.00 coupon, it made my decision to eat out easier. As luck would have it, they were in the middle of a 2 for 1 draft beer special too. Their beer choices went from mundane Coors, Bud Light and Miller all the way to the truly exotic - Foster's Lager (said with tongue firmly implanted in cheek). I've never been a huge fan of Foster's, but I felt like a beer, and I prefer draft when it's available. Well, I don't know if it was the food, or eating out, but the Foster's was a lot better than I remembered it. It was ice cold, which helped. It was very refreshing, and had a hoppier edge than I remembered. And their Bloomin' Burger was good too!

Marathon - The Greek Lager Beer

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked this beer up. It's the first Greek beer I've had, but it is a very typical European lager - not much different from Heineken, Peroni, or Beck's. It's made by the Athenian Brewery, which is owned by Heineken. It has a slightly spicy flavor, almost minty, then finishes with a typical noble hop character. It poured a golden yellow color with a short-lived white head. Nothing exciting here.

Cintra Brazilian Beer

I decided to try this beer because we were eating Cuban style grilled chicken, and since I didn't have any Cuban beer, I thought Brazilian would be similar. I have to say that Cintra is very similar to any of the Mexican lagers that are out there, such as Corona or Sol. Very pale, very light, very carbonated. It's a good example of a pale lager, and went fine with my chicken. I just won't brag about it to anyone. This was another one of the varieties I found in World Market's Beers of the World assortment.

Tona Cerveza - Nicaraguan Lager

Frequently, I try to match my beer selection with my dinner choice, and tonight was Mexican. Other than a Corona Light, I had no Mexican beers, so I decided that this Nicaraguan Lager was the closest thing. It's called Tona Cerveza and I got it in a "Beers of the World" assortment at World Market. This is a very good imitation of a Mexican beer, and it went fine with my fajitas. As with most beers of this type, it was nothing exciting. It's your basic light lager. It had little hop flavor, and almost no head. The color was a nice golden yellow. No better, no worse than the typical Mexican lager.