Gazza's favourite beers 

est beers in the world, eh?  Who does he think he is, Michael bloody Jackson or someone?  Well, I thought that I'd create this page to list all the beers that have received four or five scoops-glasses (out of five) during my travels which indicate the best beers I had whilst scooping wherever I was at the time!  I'm not setting myself out to be a tasting expert, just to share with my dear readers which beers I'd recommend they try if they happen to be visiting the same places I did!

Think of them of "tick lists" of beers to try when you visit the countries named if only to say I'm spouting complete dross.  Remember these aren't the "best beers" in a country, only the best of what I've sampled there - which may be a miniscule amount of the amount of beers which are actually there.

My scores given to each beer whilst on a trip are purely subjective, although I do try to take every beer as I find it and not be biased for - or against - certain breweries; my scoop-glass system is therefore basically as below;

The Scoopergen Scoring System !

• ()  "Nil points" - This stuff is utter shite, IMO, and I'd not recommend you consume it under any circumstances even such as during a raging drought or whilst adrift at sea in an open boat.

• () - A very poor beer with either serious technical flaws, a rancid taste, or just so bland it's not worth drinking!  Obviously the condition of the beer may have been poor so I will always try to re-try such low scoring beers, although this usually just re-enforces the reason they achieved such a crap score in the first place.

• () - Distinctly average beer which, whilst not being offensive or rubbish, doesn't have the necessary flavours or character to be judged anything better than "average" - although there's a lot worse!

• () - Getting better now!  This beer is solidly brewed, if without some or many of the characteristics which make good beer great.  It's very drinkable and should reward tasting although it won't set the world alight.

• () - Getting serious.  A quality beer, bordering on excellent, with most of the flavours and attributes a beer needs to be on any list of greatness.  It may not have that final elusive something which makes an excellent beer world-class, but it's a very enjoyable and characterful brew and highly recommended for scooping - or indeed just drinking lots of!

• () - The ultimate (almost) accolade, these beers are superb brews which all beer drinkers should have on their "must try" lists; they will exhibit strong regional or type characteristics and be consistently brewed to a very high standard.  Oh, and they'll taste bloody superb too.

• () - Very rarely given, this score is for solid gold beers which are just the ultimate expression of their style or so unique and special that they deserve worldwide praise and lavish tasting notes!

Half-marks () may be awarded if I'm feeling too unsure whether to award a beer, for example, three or four stars; this gives me more legroom for showing appreciation of a really good beer but is a touch confusing so I'll try not to do it very often - sorry!

The page will be arranged in three tables; the first are the "gold-rated" beers, which in my opinion are the best I have found during my travels.  The second table will contain the five-star beers of which many were excellent and only just missed out on the top score as I dislike giving top marks too often, just in case anyone thinks I'm some sort of "cheery beery" type taster who lavishes praise on any old crud just because the brewery is giving me a backhander... ooooh, that could never happen, could it?  Surely not!  Table three is the largest and contains the 4-point brews which should give you solid drinking pleasure!

So hey-ho here we go, and please let me know what you think of my choices!  All are listed in country order, so all beers in the same table are, in my opinion, equally good!  Also, be aware that I've only been giving beers scores for the past 4 years and so some whoppers may not be featured in here...

Absolutely Hellfire brews (5+ points!)

Superb beers (5 points)

Rest of the World

 Excellent beers (4 to 4.5 points)

(As I have so many UK beers, only those with 4 points get on the list - for other countries, some 3.5 scoring brews will get on too if I feel the list is under-representative!)