Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! In honor of the occasion we feature Guinness, one of the most world-renowned Irish brews.
StPats2013
Two Hundred and fifty four years ago Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on the brewery at St. James’ Gate in Dublin, Ireland. It cost him about $150 dollars and an annual rent of only $66. It would not be for another 81 years, in 1840, until the first shipment of Guinness made it across the Atlantic ocean to New York City.  From then until now the U.S. (and the world for that matter) has been enjoying this dry stout.
first_guiness

The first “My Goodness My Guinness” Ad ~1930.

 

 

 

Cervesa Cusquena

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500 Years ago members of the Incan Empire were chewing corn in their mouths and spitting out the resultant mash in order to brew Chicha — a fermented low-alcohol drink.  Flash forward half a millennium and in the the seat of the Incan empire you won’t find many willing to drink beer made out of someone else’s spit. You will however find the same pursuits of the Incan’s ancestors in reaching inebriated states.

In Cusco, Peru you will find the original Cusquena (Koos-Ken-Yah) brewery, now one of six breweries affiliated with Cusquena’s parent company brand Backus and Johnston (a part of the International SABMiller). Cusquena comes in two varieties, Cusquena Malta, and  Cusquena Lager.

Cusquena LagerCusquena malta

Cusquena Lager is more easily found outside of Peru as it is becoming more well known, the Malta will be more challenging to procure. The Malta is jet black with a sweet flavor, and is a nice change of pace for the dime-a-dozen lager beers you can find in Peru. the Lager is easy drinking, amber in color and is definitly recommended to try. Both the bottles have a cool design referencing the interlocking stone work of the Incan architects.

Incan Stonework

Cusquena Oktoberfest

Tried Cusquena, have a crazy Peru story? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Cervesa Polar

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From the land of dictators and philandering polar bears the Empresas Polar Corporation gives us our first international brew. The one highlighted here is widely available in it’s native country, but also in the surrounding Carib isles. For example, this beer is widely served across the A-B-C island chains just to the north of Venezula.

While Empresas also brews five other products (Solera, Solera Light, Polar Light, Polar ICE and Polar Zero) the Cervesa Polar is the company’s cash cow. This allows for high production value, (read: awesome) commercials such as this one:

So how does it taste you ask? Like a standard lager, very drinkable, on par with many US domestics. Pours with a light head and is of a golden yellow color.

 

Been abroad and tried Cervesa Polar? Leave a comment to tell us about it.