Country #1: Belgium

Beer: Mort Subite Kriek (draught)
Location: De Hems, London

I admit that I did not start with a little-known beer-producing country, but I was in the mood for some bitterballen and so I headed to a fairly frequent haunt of mine: The Lowlander Grand Cafe, planning to probably have a bottle of De Koninck.

However, the Lowlander was shut. On a Sunday Night at 8pm in Covent Garden. But my bitterballen-lust could not be shut up, and I had heard that they also have bittberballen at De Hems, a dutch pub nearby that I had never attended.

So I turned up, ordered some bitterballen, another random bar snack and got a pint from a tap that I hadn't heard of.

I have to admit that I was slightly worried when I saw my beer was pink; I have drunk very few Lambics, and have usually found them to be quite unpleasant.

This beer was different - pleasantly refreshing. While it certainly was very sweet, it also had a nice sour end-note. I can't imagine myself ordering two of these in a night and if I do order one, it will probably be the first beer of the evening - might be quite a surprising taste after a bitter. While it was maybe a bit too sweet for the bitterballen, it went very well with the other starter I ordered - a surprising taste sensation called Patatje Oorlog.

Patatje Oorlog is chips and red onion, combined in a satay sauce with some mayonnaise. To my uncultured mind, this seems like a pretty random combination, but it was exceptionally moorish and the cherry beer was delicious in combination with it.


http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=t&chs=440x220&chd=s:A&chco=423d28,d92952,33ccaa&chld=BE&chtm=world&chf=bg,s,0000FF

I prefer the bitterballen at the Lowlander, as they are gooier and served with way spicier mustard, but I can imagine myself returning to De Hems for a Mort Subite Kriek and Patatje Oorlog - probably followed by a few beers that don't taste of cherry.

Current Tally: 1 beer, from 1 country.

New Year's Resolution - Drink a hundred beers

It's not the best resolution anyone's ever made, but this year I have decided to try and broaden my knowledge of the world. There are many ways that this goal could be achieved. Two of the most obvious of these ways are travelling and reading. While both of these are fantastic ways of discovering more about the world, I have decided a different path.

My method will be: BEER.


My new year's resolution is to drink beers made in more than half of the member states of the United Nations. This works out to being more than 96, so I am going to aim for a nice round 100.

I haven't done a back of the envelope calculation or anything, to decide if this is vaguely plausible. I'm just going for it. Each new beer I drink this year will be photographed and described.

Current tally: 0 beers, from 0 countries