So today I have decided to post about 10 lagers I very much enjoyed in 2011, that will not be passing my lips during my year without beer. I wasn’t really sure how to rank them as a Top 10 Lagers, so instead have put them in alphabetical order.

Amstel

During 2011 I found myself doing a fair amount of international travel for work, including a number of visits to the Netherlands. The Netherlands has many great beers on offer, but I think the one I enjoyed the most on my visits was Amstel. According to Wikipedia, Amstel lager dates back to 1870 and the brewery produces 36 million litres per year. I will be back in the Netherlands in 2012 but this time without sampling the local beers.

Brahma

Another place I found myself visiting for work in 2011 was Brazil. I found the Brazilian people to be really friendly and hospitable, with most working days ending with a Chope (draft beer). Keen to try the local food (and beer) when travelling my personal preference in Brazil was Brahma Chopp, a 5% pale lager from a brewery founded in 1888. Of course, the other great drink in Brazil is cachaça, a liquor made from fermented sugarcane juice. Cachaça is particularly good in the local cocktail, Caipirinha. Caipirinha is a wonderful drink that I first tried in 2011 and visiting Brazil in 2012 won’t be quite the same without it. Thankfully Brazil also has many local fruits and hence it should be easy to find delicious fresh juices to drink instead of the beer and cachaça.

Chang

Now this was a tough one to decide, Chang or Singha? Ever since going to Thailand with my wife back in 2004 I have been deeply in love with Thai food and Thai beer. I could so easily have put both Chang and Singha in this list, but in order to keep the list to 10 only one Thai beer could be included. I chose Chang (the most popular beer in Thailand) as given the choice of both in a Thai restaurant, Chang is the one I normally opt for. This year I think my Thai food will be accompanied by Jasmine Tea.

Kingfisher

Oh Kingfisher, you are the perfect drink to have with a curry and I know I will miss you when tucking into a lovely Dhansak, Dopiazza or Madras. When I am mopping up the lovely sauce with my keema naan I am sure I will long for you… I hear that the traditional non-alcoholic drinks that work best with a curry are tea (hot or iced) and lassi, a yoghurt based drink. I guess I will find out how well they work versus the wonderful Kingfisher in the not too distant future.

Kirin Ichiban

Kirin Ichiban is one the most popular beers in Japan and definitely my favourite drink to have when visiting a Wagamama noodle bar. I do like visiting Wagamama when I am in a town or city with one of their restaurants and particularly enjoy their chicken and prawn cha han – a stir-fried rice dish with chicken, prawns, egg, mangetout, mushrooms, sweetcorn and spring onion that is served with miso soup and pickles. My main place I enjoyed Kirin Ichiban in 2011 was at the Wagamama at Heathrow Terminal 5 whilst waiting for long haul flights to Brazil. A cheeky Ichiban or 2 and a couple of Wagamama starters like ebi katsu, pork ribs, chilli squid or duck gyoza is a great way to kill time after a 3 hour check in at an airport. This year I will no doubt still be eating in Wagamama only with mineral water or fresh juices instead of the beer.

(Birra) Moretti

This is probably my favourite Italian lager. I did discover another great one in July 2011 (Castello) when Jamie’s Italian opened in Cheltenham (UK) but as this no longer appears to be on their menu and I am yet to find it anywhere else I have decided to stick with Moretti for this list. Moretti is another beer that I discovered while travelling to its native country and as I proposed to my lovely wife on the same trip to Italy it has become a taste with some great memories associated with it.

Red Stripe

Red stripe and reggae music are without doubt my two favourite Jamaican exports. This is another lager that is great with curry, especially goat curry with rice and peas and some fried plantain. Mmmm, I can get the taste of the West Indies in my mouth just thinking about it. Some other West Indian lagers I am a fan of include Carib (from Trinidad) and Piton (from St Lucia). I can just taste the sunshine whenever I drink them… Red Stripe, I will miss you this year.

San Miguel

Another great sunshine beer. This is beer I have enjoyed many times in Spain and always thought this beer was Spanish. However… According to Wikipedia, in 1889, a well-known Manila businessman, Don Enrique de Ycaza applied for a royal grant from Spain to brew beer in the Philippines. He was awarded the grant for a period of twenty years and on 29 September the following year, La Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel was declared open for business. So it would appear San Miguel is actually Philippine beer! Regardless of this it will always remind me of sunny Spanish days. The worst thing about this one is there is still a case of it in my garage from Christmas that I will almost certainly be watching other people enjoy in 2012!

Stella Artois

I couldn’t really have a list of lagers without the lovely Stella or Miss Artois being included in all her 5.2% glory. As you are probably aware, Stella Artois is not only known as “Stella” but is also often referred to “wife beater” due to its perceived connection with aggression and binge-drinking here in the United Kingdom. The word “Stella” has been avoided in recent advertisements for the beer and the Stella Artois Championships, the ATP tournament of Queens’s Club, was renamed in 2007 as the Artois Championships. This month, Labour MP Tom Watson claimed that Stella Artois attempted to downplay the “wife beater” nickname by hiring a public relations agency to edit its Wikipedia entry. A user account apparently belonging to Portland Communications removed a reference to Stella Artois from the Wikipedia entry Wife-beater, and substituted it with a reference to beer or lager. The edits were subsequently reverted.

Sun Lik

If you love Chinese food and happen to be in Cheltenham (UK) then you should visit 288 Bar & Wok. This is without doubt one of my favourite places to eat (and drink) and somewhere you will often find me and my family. The food is delicious and great value and the atmosphere is perfectly relaxed with everyone sitting together at long tables and benches. Much of the produce used is local with the Chinese vegetables being grown on a farm owned by the same family as the restaurant. 288 Bar & Wok is also the place with on tap! Sun Lik Beer great tasting Chinese lager that works so well with the food at 288 Bar & Wok. It turns out (thanks again Wikipedia) that Sun Lik is a brand of San Miguel Brewing International Ltd (Philippines)! If you visit 288 Bar & Wok I highly recommend the mixed meat from the barbecue, the mixed meat noodle soup or the Singapore noodles. You will often find my family and I grabbing lunch in there only in 2012 I will be replacing the Sun Lik with mineral water or jasmine tea.