Alastair Hooley checks out Moroccan beer on a beer holiday!
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Moroccan beer review
Submitted
by Alastair
Hooley
For my second submission as Beer
Delegate for London I
thought I would continue the theme of a non-London beer review
– don’t worry,
there will be London reviews in the very near future – by
discussing a couple
of beers I sampled on my recent holiday to Marrakech.
Now I’m sure that most of you know Morocco is a largely Muslim nation and so I wasn’t expecting a beer haven and in this respect I wasn’t disappointed.
Despite this, the beer drinking commenced quite early on in the holiday as I tried a Moroccan beer on the flight over from London.
Moroccan beer
Flag Speciale came in a rather unassuming (or perhaps boring would be more appropriate) 25cl can – the kind of quantity that would be classed as a free taster in most pubs.
The beer is a 5.2% abv lager, which I was expecting to be bland fizz. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The fairly strong alcohol content provided a little flavour as expected, but it was the pleasant hops bite that really surprised me.
There is very little information about the beer on the can, but a quick scout around the interweb seems to indicate that it’s brewed by Societe des Brasseries du Maroc, which is an offshoot of Heineken brewing various Moroccan beer brands.
The other beer I sampled was Casablanca Beer, calling itself "The original beer from Casablanca." In contrast to the Speciale, this beer came in a rather more interesting and attractive bottle depicting wavy palm trees.
All that was missing was a picture of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman embracing above the fancy Casablanca logo.
The beer is a 5% abv lager and I have to say I was rather disappointed with it. The 5% provided a bit of flavour, but there was nothing to underpin it in the way of a hops or malt taste.
Equally disappointing was the lack of any discernible aroma. There was nothing to distinguish this beer from the bland Budweiser or one of the stronger mass-produced UK lagers. This beer is also brewed by Societe des Brasseries du Maroc.
I bought Casablanca in the
guest house (or riad, as they're
called) in which my wife and I were staying.
I probably had three or four bottles of Moroccan beer during my stay and on each occasion I ordered the waitress gave me a knowing look that gave the impression we were engaging in some sort of illicit transaction.
Alcohol isn't widely available in Marrakech – I suspect this is equally true across the rest of Morocco – and consumption is always performed behind closed doors.
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