Bohemia beer – not so much edgy but more of the samey

If you have already read my Beerexit blog complaining about the choice of beer in Portugal that is Superbock, Superbock or Superbock then I have an update for you as I truly believed salvation had arrived this September, in the form of Bohemia IPA that I came across for the first time in the big supermarket in Tavira on the Eastern Algarve. The beer is produced by Portuguese brewery Sagres who I consequently noticed had blitzed the town and therefore possibly the whole Algarve with one serious advertising campaign promoting the Bohemia range. With craft beers seriously eating into the profits of corporate giants Budweiser over in the United States, this looked very much like a preemptive strike by Sagres before the growing worldwide popularity of craft beer laps up against the Portuguese shore.
 
Bohemia is an interesting choice of name for the brand, a Bohemian traditionally being someone who lives an unconventional lifestyle often involved in the arts and crafts – craft being the operative word here. The last known Bohemians were probably the handful of 1960s hippies who were still hanging around in the 1970s, one such example would be Sir Richard Branson who still likes to portray himself as living the Bohemian lifestyle on his desert Island but is in fact no different from all the other tax exiles based out in the Caribbean. I am afraid this same illusion applies to Bohemia beer so not wishing to waste your time I will describe the 5 choices that I sampled in the range in very few words and as diplomatically as possible.
Bohemia IPA – Carbonated
Bohemia Pure Malt – Best out of a bad bunch
Bohemia Bock – Dark in colour
Bohemia Original – It looks like a Blonde
Bohemia Trigo – Reminder of Kaliber – best poured straight down the sink.
So there you have it, back to my default San Miguel next time as my quest to find good beer in Portugal continues – I still love the Portuguese and their country though!

DaveSteveGezGreat PaulMattMogiRich

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