Cerveza De Peru: Franca

During my period of beer collecting I have come across many expressions in different languages for the word beer. There is the word pivo in my native Slovenian language, as well as in its Slavic friends Croatian, Bosnian, Czech and Slovakian.  Similarly in Polish as piwo, and in Russian and Serbian where it is written as пиво. In Scandinavia we have olut in Finnish, öl in Swedish, and øl in Danish. The Greeks drink μπύρα (don’t know how to pronounce it really), the Hungarians drink sör, the Chinese 啤酒 (help with pronunciation) and the Japanese ビール (help again). In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands there is bier, in France biere, and in Italy birra.

But my favourite word for beer, among them all, is cerveza. I just love this word. Una cerveza, por favor. No wonder I brough so many beers back from Spain, because it was fun ordering them. So today, I give you a cerveza from South America. Franca – Cerveza de Peru.

• Name: Franca
• Brewery: Ajeper S.A.
• City: Lima
• Country: Peru

What to say about this Peruvian beer? Well, it pours with a typical clear golden color with a decent white and foamy head that settles down relatively quick. The aroma is nothing special – some malt and quite some grains. That’s it. The taste starts with some sweetness which is followed by grainy body in somewhat watery body. The end is a bit bitter, but only just. It lacks some of the needed bitterness. All in all, this beer is nothing special. Refreshing, easy to drink with a limited amount of taste offered to the drinker. I’m not saying it’s bad, but there’s hardly anything to set it apart from other mainstream lagers – it’s average, which is too bad, because my hopes were much higher. Well, at least the bottle is crafted nicely.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 5%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3,5 / 5
• Smell: 3 / 5
• Taste: 3 / 5
• Overall: 3 / 5

• Bottle: 4,5 / 5

The Gold of the Incas: Cusqueña Malta

Today’s beer is produced high in the Andes, in the country which is also home to the famous Machu Picchu – yes, you guessed it. Here is a fine example of a Peruvian beer.

• Name: Cusqueña Malta
• Brewery: Cervecera del sur del Peru (Backus & Johnston – SABMiller)
• City: Arequipa
• Country: Peru

First thing you notice about this beer is the bottle, decorated with the imagery of the Inca tradition – it is embossed with an image of stones, and there is also the image of the Andes on the label. The beer that pours out of this bottle is deep brown, almost black. It is topped wit ha small and quickly disappearing tan head. The aroma is as expected – a roasted aroma, with the addition of caramel and coffee. The taste is as promised by the smell – sweet and roasted malts are complemented by a small addition of caramel and coffee. It all finishes with a very light bitterness in the aftertaste.

As the dark beers go, it’s a very nice one, although it is nothing extra special. It doesn’t have that bite that will make you remember it. But, still a very nice one.

• Style: Schwarzbier
• ABV: 5,6%
• Ingredients: water, malted barley, caramel malt, hops, yeast

• Slogan: “El oro de los Incas!” (The Gold of the Incas)

RATINGS

• Appearance: 4 / 5
• Smell: 4 / 5
• Taste: 3,5 / 5
• Overall: 3,5 / 5