Hail the Ale! Beer Blog

Sorry, we're running a bit late today at the Hail the Ale! global publishing empire. Without further ado…

Matches for Saturday, June 12

Australia vs Japan

Two island nations in this matchup. A friend of mine just got back from Australia and recommended Fosters. No, I'm kidding. I'd never have friends like that. He recommended Feral Swan Valley Stout. OK, I actually don't recall what he recommended since I had a couple beers at the time and didn't have my beer blogging cap on. But with a name like Feral Swan how bad could it be?

If you haven't had Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale do yourself a favor and grab one. Not only is the beer good, but the bottle containing the beer is nice and has a picture of an owl on it. If you are going up against a feral swan, an owl is a good thing.

Winner: Japan. Don't mess with the owl or you'll get the…uh…beak?

United States vs Czech Republic

There are so many choices for good US beers that I'm going to cheat and go with the last good, American beer I had: Anchor Porter.

Pilsner Urquell is easy to find on this side of the globe and not at all a bad beer. Plus, say it like Urkell and you'll have a good time.

Winner: United States. A united States beats a Republic.

Italy vs Ghana

Italy's Birra Moretti La Rossa gets my vote. Not to strong, not too weak. Just good.

I know what you are thinking about Ghana: Isn't that the country that is in West Africa that borders the Ivory Coast on the west, Burkina Faso in the north and Togo to the east? If you were, you'd be right. You're second though probably went something like: Ghana, they have beer? Yes, they do and Star Lager seems like a good bet.

Winner: Italy. Just because.

As part of our ongoing feature of beers from World Cup teams playing the next day (confused yet?), we bring you…

Matches for Saturday, June 11

Serbia-Montenegro vs Netherlands

This is a tough match since their flags look so similar. Serbia has a surprising number of beers. We're picking Jagodinska Black Beer since it was highly rated and we love dark beers.

Netherlands, eh? How about La Trappe Quadrupel? Should be somewhat easy to find here in the states and you have to love a beer described as: “Highly gaseous and smooth alcohol warmth.”

Winner: Serbia-Montenegro. The hyphen gave them the advantage early in the first period and they were able to capitalize on it later in the game to edge out the Netherlands.

Mexico vs Iran

For Mexico, we have to go with Negra Modelo. Just look at that cool bottle and the gold foil. It has World Cup written all over it (not literally since that would mean paying many billions of pesos to FIFA).

In the five seconds we spent researching Iranian beer, we only came across Golden Delster and it's non-alcoholic sibling. Easy choice on that one.

Winner: Iran. Underdogs rule.

Angola vs Portugal

Looks like Angola has Nova Cuca. That's all we have to say about that.

Portugal is like Spain except they speak funny Spanish and hate when you think they are Spanish. I just made this up. I have no idea if it is true but I love international controversy so I'm sticking with it. Luckily, they know how to name a beer and Cerveja Super Bock Tango is no exception. That's a power name. Like Max Power but for beer.

Winner: Portugal. Super.

I missed 2.0. Looks like the folks behind Vores Øl now have a new version with guarana, beer labels, a Flickr group and who knows what else. Keep up to date on the FREE BEER blog.

As part of our ongoing feature of beers from World Cup teams playing the next day (confused yet?), we bring you…

Matches for Saturday June, 10

England vs Paraguay

For a small island-nation, England has a plethora of beers. We're going to pick Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout for its great flavor, being named after the seventh President of the College of New Jersey (later fancied up to be called Princeton), and for containing a breakfast grain. What's that? A red flag? After further review, we've determined that Samuel Smith's is not named after the seventh prez. of Princeton but named after the founder of the brewery. Please, no rioting.

Obviously, we have to choose Pilsen Cerveza Blanca.

Winner: England. We're not exactly sure that Paraguay is a legitimate country and have a sneaking suspicion this is just a cheap attempt at publicity for Golden Palace.

Trinidad and Tobago vs Sweden

We're pretty sure that Tobago isn't real and they are just trying to look big. This is a tough call. We really want to pick Carib Lager since it is popular and has pretty wide distribution. Just for the name, we want to choose Stud Stout. But, alas, we're going with Carib Shandy (Ginger) since it tastes like crap. Well, ginger and crap.

For Sweden,  Närke Kulturbryggeri Anders Göranssons Snörök gets our vote. We love those funny little dots they put over their letters. They remind us of boobs.

Winner: Sweden. Boobs win every time.

Argentina vs Ivory Coast

Don't cry for me, Argentina. Here, the choice is easy: Buller India Pale Ale. An IPA from Argentina? Pure genius.

Proving that every country has a beer, Mamba seems to be your (only?) choice in (on?) the Ivory Coast.

Winner: Argentina

The title is an homage to our Asimov geeks out there (Isaac in hizzouse!). Beer-pouring robot. Combine this with a Real Doll and you have a solid product.

Link via: Engadget