An international flight (of beer): tasting world-wide beers at home

After an entire article on American beers, we figured it was only fair that we gave some love to the rest of the world. To try to even it out, we picked two North American countries, Mexico and Canada, and two European countries, Ireland and the Netherlands, and tried an iconic beer from each country. If you’re over 21 and interested in expanding your beer selection to include some non-American brands, give any of the following four a try.

Corona Extra – Mexican Lager (4.6%)

Our first North American submission, Corona is a classic summer beer brand. It smells quite bready, and that is held up in the flavor. There is a bit of tang in the aftertaste, but it was smooth, light and refreshing. Corona is a good, classic beer, and we don’t have many notes. We will say though, it is definitely better on a beach with a wedge of lime.

Heineken – Dutch Pale Lager (5.0%)

Moving across the pond, we tried the classic European pale beer, Heineken. When Elias and Andrew were in Ireland, Heineken was the go-to beer when it was time for a break from Guinness (those breaks didn’t come often). Heineken has a much more muted and grainy smell, with a bit of malt as well. There was still a little bit of a tang in the aftertaste, and much less flavor on the front end.

The malt adds some complexity, but Heineken is a very tame beer, along the same lines as the American beers we tried two weeks ago. Don’t be tricked though, the malt makes Heineken fairly unique in the American market, and you will be hard pressed to find a direct American comparison.

Moosehead Lager – Canadian Pale Lager (5.0%)

Coming back to the Americas, this time north of the border is the beer with perhaps the coolest box of any we have tried. A big golden moose head on a green field is indisputably Canadian. Moosehead is a staple Canadian beer brand, and it is the largest Canadian-owned brewery in Canada. Of course, we had to try their flagship beer, the Moosehead Lager.

Moosehead had both a bready smell and flavor. It was thicker than Corona and Heineken and carried an aftertaste reminiscent of a craft lager. With lower carbonation, it was much warmer, and the flavor lingered.

It was a great transition from the lighter beers to Guinness. As Elias said, “This is the kind of beer you would drink after a trip in a seaplane.”

Guinness Draught – Irish Stout (4.2%)

Finally, the part of the beer review that we were all excited about. Before getting into our thoughts, we would strongly suggest that your first Guinness is poured from a tap, ideally in an Irish pub, and even better if it is in Ireland.

With that said, Guinness truly lives up to the hype. The famous coffee and chocolate notes are easily discernable in the smell and the flavor, along with a strong smell of roasted grain. That roasted note carries into the coffee flavor.

It is a bitter beer, but if you drink it long enough (like we did in Ireland) you get used to that and it becomes a very refreshing option.

Guinness is lighter than an American craft stout, but definitely the thickest of the four beers in this review. You don’t have to, and shouldn’t, wait for St. Patrick’s Day to drink Guinness.