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The Beer of the World Cup
With the Soccer World Cup just around the corner, South Africa will be receiving loads of football fans from all over the world. And what is the preferred drink of football fans internationally? That’s right, beer. All football enthusiasts enjoy beer, no matter which nationality, culture or country they are from. Despite some of the same names, beer tastes different in every country. There are a plenty of varieties and flavours in the beer menu worldwide and we want to know what beer will the football fans be drinking in South Africa?
South African beer had a lot of influence from Europe during its development. The European settlers who colonized the country brought in the know-how and expertise with them. Dutch and British immigrants both contributed in the 18th and 19th century to the beer culture of South Africa.
Nowadays, SAB Ltd (South African Breweries) is controlling the vast majority of the beer market, with brands such as Black Label, Castle, Hansa and Miller. Furthermore, imported beers such as Heineken, Amstel, Guinness and Windhoek are commonly drunk beers. The vast majority of these beers are industrial lagers of the same type that is brewed all over the world. This finding is a definite indication of the common taste for tourists!
The Germans, for example, are mostly lager beer drinkers. The Dutch enjoy their Heineken, one of the most important export products of that country. Belgium is well known for their special beers that are spontaneously fermented. Football fans from England mostly drink ales and stouts, in a very hoppy bitter flavoring. Guinness is one of Great Britain’s best known beer. Italy has standard lagers, and Peroni as one of the most popular with a crisp refreshing taste. As the sponsor of the Azurri, the Italian national football team, they will possibly sponsor the winner of the world cup.
When it comes to American beers, it is safe to say that most have their roots in European traditions. Many American beers—including pale ale, IPA (India Pale Ale), stout, porter and brown ale descend from beers brewed in Great Britain. Lagers once again dominate the American continent and Heineken is a symbol of status because it is imported. Czech brew are pilsners and are also widely known.
Beers can be divided into two main categories: lagers and ales. This classification is based on the fermentation process. Lagers are fermented at a lower temperature, with bottle fermenting yeast at 7-12 °C. It is then stored in a cold temperature which clears and mellows the lager resulting in a crisper tasting beer. Most of today’s lager is based on the Pilsner style, light in color and high in forced carbonation.
The ales are fermented at a higher temperature between 15-23 °C, using only top fermenting yeast. The temperature allows the yeast to produce significant flavors and aromas. There are a lot of varieties within the ale category: Brown ale, pale ale, Scotch ale, mild and old ale and stout to name a few. Stout is the most common English style of ale with Guinness as the main brand producing it.
The vast differences in beer flavors from all over the world makes one wonder what beer the football fans will be drinking in South Africa. Perhaps they will simply order the very same beer they always drink in their home country? To answer this question, we conducted a taste test that would provide us with some research. We decided to approach a group of 25 foreign visitors that reside in Cape Town to gain some objective insight and knowledge into this matter.
The group comprised of different nationalities, ranging from Dutch, Belgium, German, Brazilian and Canadian. We decided to give them a few blind tests to see if they could differentiate between imported beers and South African beers. We also tested their taste preferences based on the flavor and not the label on the bottle. All participants of the test group usually drink lagers, either in their home country or in South Africa. For this reason we decided to test three local lagers including, Castle, Hansa and Black Label and two imported lagers, Amstel and Heineken.
Prior to the test, all participants stated that they prefer the beer that they usually drank in their home country. They also told us that SA beer does not have a vast difference in taste in comparison to their home beer. We have deducted that our respondents preferred their home country beer because of familiarity and a sense of pride and patriotism towards their country of birth.
The results of our test revealed some interesting facts. A significant observation was that the imported beers smell stronger. According to one of our respondents, the imported lagers give off a pungent smell similar to a bar the morning after a good party. The rest of the team confirmed this without knowing that the beers were imported. The general consensus was that Hansa tastes sweeter in comparison to the other lagers whilst Black Label is more similar in taste to the imported beers with a slightly bitter taste.
The most interesting observation was that none of our respondents could identify the correct beer with the matching label. Everyone made at least one incorrect match. These findings go to show that the differences in flavour are small, but the branding and marketing aspect of the beer advertised will lead to a preference based on status and promises from the brand, not necessarily the way the beer tastes.
Even though our respondents indicated that they prefer imported beers prior to the test, they changed their minds afterward and told us that they won’t mind ordering South African beer because of the similar taste. Most specified that they will order either Castle or Black Label, mainly because of the availability and advertising created around these two beers as opposed to Hansa. The choice for South African beer is a result of the small differences in taste, the competitive price (imported beer is more expensive) and convenience of ordering these beers at almost any bar with stock readily available. The entire group had also indicated that they prefer their beer in a bottle instead of a draft.
So to conclude, what does this mean for the World Cup? The beer produced locally in South Africa should sell well with the overseas foreigners. Local producers and distributors of alcoholic beverages such as SAB Limited will definitely benefit in terms of growth in revenue over the World Cup period. Our beer test also indicates that the preference for beer from the home country of each respondent is not such a huge contributing factor for ordering imported beer. Some of the respondents also revealed to us that they would rather stick to what they know and it would be wise for the bar managers to stock both local and imported beers just in case.
For more information about beer, visit the A-Z guide on our website!
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