Nenad Krstic Was Arrested For Throwing That Chair

Nenad Krstic Was Arrested For Throwing That ChairNenad Krstic Was Arrested For Throwing That Chair Following yesterday's basketbrawl at the Acropolis Tournament, Athens police arrested Nenad Krstic for his role in the fight since his chair hit Yannis Bouroussis, leaving Bouroussis with a "bloody wound on the side of his head." Plate-breakingly bizarre updates inside.The brawl couldn't have come

Third round of matches - It's Le Crunch time...

Half-time for WC2010 and Cup of Good Hop

So we're halfway. Thirty-matches and 32 COGH taste-offs down, and we've seen a lot of drama and shocks in both competitions. Argentina and Holland may be churning out victories on the pitch, but its a different story in the pitcher. Nigeria may have suffered at the hands of their group opponents in South Africa, but their beer has managed to capture hearts, minds and tastebuds. It's now time to blow the whistle for the second half - let's hope there's as many thrills, but no spills - as we try to find the world's best beer. Let's kick off now and see how the group stage concludes...

Kim Jong-Il yesterday - not pleased... Apparently ordered the shark tank to be restocked

Funniest WC banner so far...

Match 33:
Mexico 1
Jalapeno 16

Uruguay 1

Monty-Video 43 (pen)

'This is the Andy Dawson of international beers cos it was a late replacement,' says Deaks of Corona, probably wishing we were sampling Pacifico. 'Unlike Dawson there's no substance here.'
Dan has had enough of it too. 'One I’d only turn to after I’d reached my beer capacity for the night.' Stu says sniffily, 'It's training beer - like a training bra,' and James rounds off the critique with 'Not quite right - Smells wrong if left alone for five minutes.' However, we the wheels were also coming off the Uruguayan bandwagon. We generally liked the bottle and label better than the inoffensive yet slightly thin taste of Harvey's Blue Label. Essentially two beers we've kinda want to see the back of.

World Cup snippets

Great story here about the 1966 World Cup... And another from the same source - Newsarse...

RIP Frank Sidebottom

Chris Sievey, Aka Frank Sidebottom died yesterday after a short battle with cancer. The COGH team would like to extend their gratitude for all the football related laughs he brought us during his lifetime. His final song, Three Shirts On My Line is here. There's plenty more out there to investigate.

Match 34:
France 4
Merci-Beaucoup 31, 88, Cissy 36 (pen), Kronenbourg 71

South Africa 1
Botha 62

The revolving door of fate no longer turns for the hosts. They were simply outclassed by the French, and the result was never in doubt after persistent early pressure lead to a clear then increasing lead. 'I couldn't imagine doing a session on these,' says Deaks, looking like he never wants to drink Durban Pale Ale ever again. Every judge continued to take to the French. 'I shall say these only once, this is delicious,' says Peter in an 'Allo 'Allo accent. And so it was sedimentary that the host without the most beer would depart the stage early.

Final Group A Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	France	3	3	0	0	11	4	+7	9
2	Uruguay	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4
3	Mexico	3	1	1	1	4	5	-1	4
4	South Africa	2	0	0	2	2	8	-6	0

COGH Analysis: Mexico missed out on a place in the group of sixteen by a single goal and can count themselves incredibly unlucky. Uruguay are through instead - and join the Mighty France, who may have had a dreadful WC2010 but have shone like a glint in that gorgeous barmaid's eye in COGH. They will be feared by whoever finishes second in Group B. It looks incredibly likely that Uruguay will face Nigeria in the next round. South Africa have surrendered with barely a whimper - an exceedingly poor show for the host nation. So it's goodbye to Durban Pale Ale and Corona - and on reflection we have to say good riddance.

Match 35:
Nigeria 4
Yobbo 31, Ohdear, 34, 85, Amataxi 50

South Korea 1
Pak Choi 38

'Full of flavour but could cause misbehaviour.' We should approach Guinness with this genius ad strapline coined by Deaks. In terms of flavour and depth there's very little in COGH to rival it. South Korea's OB is simply no match, and three visitations of it to our tastebuds is quite enough. 'Would be quite sickly after a few,' says Stu, pulling a dissatisfied face. 'The bubbles fade very quickly,' observes James, and Dan responds in song '...and like my dreams, they fade and die.' With that OB's chances of further progression in COGH.

Match 36:
Greece 1
Taramasalata (pen) 42

Argentina 1
Labia 4

Dan considers Quilmes to be 'clean, crisp but lacking in depth. Ideal in Buenos Aires but not so desirable in BN1,' and Deaks more or less echoes these thoughts - 'nice label colours, watery - not much punch. Fresh but dull.' James is no more complimentary: 'It's more Notts County than Ruddles County, an afternoon of these would not hurt, but wouldn't inspire either.' Drinking Mythos is like sampling Quilmes' identical twin... 'drinkable, harmless, forgettable.' And with that we wave goodbye - without much regret - to the Greek entry.

Final Group B Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Nigeria	3	3	0	0	11	3	8	9
2	Argentina	3	1	1	1	3	5	-2	4
3	South Korea	3	1	1	1	4	8	-5	4
4	Greece	3	0	1	0	2	6	-4	1

COGH Analysis: In a remarkable reversal of fortune, the South Koreans have been turned over at the death by Argentina who squeak into the next round with a humble point. They owe the Nigerians a great debt, who put a fatal dent in OB's (Korea's) goal difference. Argentina v France would be a mouth-watering tie on the pitch, but will the beer equivalent match up?

Guinness is Back, Guinness is Back - Hello, hello

Here at COGH it isn't all drink, drink, drink - we've got some lovely food on the go - here's the fish stew that's going to line the sides for the rest of the tournament.

Over in South Africa Henry Winter, Chief Football Correspondant for the Daily Telegraph, has been our most high-profile advocate. Today on our siblog European Football Weekends, Henry talks to our Executive Beer Taster Danny Last about elephants, Capello and why watching a dire goalless draw is good for the soul.

Anyhow, back to more important matters...

Match 19:

Argentina 1

Militant 64

South Korea 0

Quilmes may fare well in times of increasing climate change, for Peter thought that the Argentinian entry was 'nice if you're hot and bothered'. James took a dim view of OB - 'it's not as distinctive as it claims to be,' he said with some distain. Bottle and cap design then took centre stage, and the South Koreans were blown away by some lovely blue-and-white dtp action. It was also thought you could do more Quilmes than OB on a long session, thus giving it a narrow victory with a scrappy goal.

Peter gives OB the red card

Twitter Titter #3

COGH Executive Beer Taster Stu @theballisround posted this:- After the first round of games, the Cup of Good Hop correctly predicted the results in 6 out of the 16 games - the power of beer!

He says he's going to set up a spreadsheet to track the results, and see if beer is a more reliable predictor of the future than astrology or any other form of mumbo jumbo - I bet it is... Also, I'd recommend some good World Cup comedy courtesy of The Onion.

Match 20:

Greece 1

Tzaziki 30 (pen)

Nigeria 4

Amataxi 13, 67 (pen), Yobbo 23, Oddbinnsa 75

Dan puts his cards immediately on the table in favour of Nigeria: 'This is a dark horse I'd like to get my leg over,' he says with a wry smile. 'It has so much going on,' adds Peter... 'It's like they've got Rooney, Essien, Messi...' - at which point James retorts with 'It'd certainly get messy if you had more than a couple. By now the Guinness label is a little squ-whiff, but battles on with total resolve. James is still convinced that Mythos is part of the Global Lagerland conspiracy, whilst Stu gives it the thumbs down compared to the most warmly received beer of the tournament so far...

Group B Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Nigeria	2	2	0	0	7	2	5	6
2	South Korea	2	1	0	0	3	4	-1	3
3	Argentina	2	1	0	0	2	4	-1	3
4	Greece	2	0	0	0	2	6	-4	0

COGH Analysis: Well, you've got to think that Nigeria are through with flying colours, Greece are out and it just remains for the middle two to battle it out. However, it is the Koreans who face the Super Eagles in the final game in the group.

First Group B Games

The Group B contestants stand for the national anthems. L to r Quilmes (Argentina), Mythos (Greece), OB (S. Korea), Guiness Foreign (Nigeria)

So with the competition well underway, we set our sights on the next four contenders:-

South Korea
OB, 4.4%
'The light crisp hop character combines with the effervescent mouthfeel on the tongue before the flavor finishes on the dry side. This clean dry finish might also be attributable to the use of some rice in the grain bill.'
Realbeer.com

Greece
Mythos, 4.7% "This light golden-coloured lager has a pleasantly citrus note on the nose, and a little hint of honey, as well as a nice hoppy freshness. On the palate it is quite creamy textured, and is enjoyable, if a touch unexciting."
Beernotes.com

Argentina
Quilmes, 4.9% 'There's a lightly malty, slightly honeyed note on the nose of this golden-coloured beer, followed by a nice sense of mellow nuttiness. On the palate it has a broad, expansive character with a fruity, dry flavour and rich texture. Not particularly distinctive, but enjoyable.'
Beernotes.com

Nigeria
Guiness Foreign Export, 7.5% 'The aroma is complex, with bitter roasted grain, a woody and vinous note and spicy hop resins. The palate is bitter from roasted grain and hops, balanced by dark fruit, with a long, dry and bitter finish with hints of liquorice and dark mysterious fruits, including something akin to sour bananas.' Beernotes.com

International caps...

Match 3:
Argentina 1
Messy 72

Nigeria 4
Shittu 2, Yobbo 35, 84, Kainu 56

La Albiceleste were blown away by the dark side as Nigeria got universal acclaim. Tasting like chocolate, Dan said Guinness Foreign Extra was 'a party in my mouth and everyone's invited'. Weighing in at 7.5%, it was thought that if we had too many of these we may be subject to an ASBO, but that seemed like a price worth paying compared to Quilmes, which seemed to be a run-of-the-mill lager that although it was smooth and crisp failed to inspire.

Guinness Foreign Extra: A party in the mouth and best so far...

Match 4:
South Korea 2
Sung-Me Hi 24, Eee-Woo Way 55

Greece 1
Stellaos 30

'Greece is not the word,' says Deaks - who nonetheless describes Mythos as 'harmless holiday fun'. James is starting to come to the conclusion that beers like Quilmes, Mythos and Corona come from a non-descript global lager plant. Stu echoes this by comparing it to 'bog-standard Amstel'. There is more controversy with OB from South Korea - Peter identifies a distinctive aftertaste which he thinks is agricultural. He is then informed that this is due to the rice that is added to the process, then muses as to whether he actually enjoys it or not. A gimmick such as this, however, is enough to win a poor game.

Mythos: Deaks was not a fan

Four games down, only sixty to go. More COGH match reports coming to you soon...

Have I Got Booze for You...

7.15am, just about to set off for a WHOLE DAY beer hunting in London. Watch this space for a full report later...

Right... what a day. EVERY detail of what I have to report is true. This is just as much a political report as a beer blog today, but will try to keep it short and to the point and not a rant...

Got early lift with mate Jason as far as Greenwich, and looked at my dog-eared list of beer specialists, with only the south and west of the capital left to be combed. Got tube to London Bridge and went to Otobeer in Borough Market (v highly recommend). What a find. Lovely guys, couldn't be more help - and there I found:-

1) BEER#11 Greece - Mythos - £2.00
They may be having problems at the moment but it didn't take Archimedes to get a new angle on searching down this lager.




2) BEER#12 - Denmark - Mikkelle Stateside IPA £2.00



More about this one later, when our tale washes over you like the North Sea over the Little Mermaid - or something like that.

3) BEER#13 - Paraguay - £6.00 (yes, six of your English pounds!)



This is American, but stored in Paraguayan wood, which is enough of a link in this magical pystery tour...

4) BEER #14 - South Africa - £2.00



Durban Pale Ale - this is one of those ones that needs to be decanted from the bottle as its got yeast and bits of kids at the bottom of the bottle - intriguing.

5) I also found lovely chaps and a great chat about our quest, with the basic message being that COGH was impossible and that we needed to make some compromises in order to get 32 representatives together. This confirmed our need to find logical, or not so logical replacements for the following because they don't export their beers to the UK:- N Korea, Chile, Ivory Coast, Slovenia, Uruguay and Honduras.

On I went to Elephant and Castle to a South American shop - not a beer in sight. Undettered I went to Brick Lane to check out its exotic wares. Surely this melting pot would hold many glories? Well, it held two.

BEER #15 - Ivory Coast £1.79

Tusker is from Kenya - ok, that's cheating a bit but I've never had it and we've got to have some ringers.

BEER #16 - Algeria - 79p

The biggest selling beer in Algeria is Skol. Yes, that's right. Yuk. Still, bought a can of it so that North Africa can have representation, an inauspicious way to reach the COGH halfway mark.

I then went to Ealing to have a few beers with a mate. With it being such a lovely day the park was the option of choice and Leffe Blonde was the preferred tipple. Oh Belgium, why did you not qualify?


Arguably the best beer in the world, but not in COGH

To cut a long story short, Andy and I were a few bottles down each, causing no bother whatsoever when two Community Support Officers came to harass us. Quite why they picked on us when lots of people were drinking in the park is quite beyond me. To cut a longer story even shorter, despite attempts to just leave the park they pursued us and called for back-up. Jesus Christ - what kind of country is this!

After arguing the toss with all five - five! ****ing police (well, three real ones and two wannabes) I was given an £80 on-the-spot fine - which I have less than no intention of paying.

All this commotion made me late for my lift back to Brighton from Greenwich, and in my haste to get there I stumbled on an escalator and two of the beers (Tusker and Mikkel) smashed in my bag, all over my iPod, which at the time of writing no longer works. What fascist bastards - they've caused COGH to only have 14 rather than 16 beers so far. Nuff said... onwards and upwards next week...

PS