Efes Beverage Group
Turkey, 5% ABV

If you’ve ever been to Turkey, then you’re certainly aware of Efes. The brand holds an 80 percent market share in its home country, so if you order a beer in Turkey there’s an 80 percent chance you’ll be served Efes. But there is no longer a need to travel to Turkey (and begrudgingly hand over your highly suspect £10 sterling ‘entry fee’ at the airport) to drink from the Efes fountain. It’s now distributed around the world, and widely available in UK supermarkets. The Turks began brewing Efes Pilsner in 1969, and the Efes Beverage Group now owns 14 breweries. The secret to Efes’ success? Bottom fermentation. Tee – and indeed – hee. That’s actually the name of part of the brewing process, using malt, barley, and Hallertau hops. The result is a pleasant pilsner, easy to drink on holiday, soothes the pain of sunburn and mosquito bites, makes you forget which apartment you’re staying in, helps you survive a bruising encounter with a moped on an unlit dirt track, perfectly accompanies the watching of a dodgy copy of a blockbuster movie on a sun-blanched bar telly… you get the idea. But should you be seeking it out back in Blighty? Would a Turkish tourist seek out Carling back in Istanbul? One thinks not. So what next for the mighty Efes corporation? That’ll be ‘Efes Dark Brown’ in which, and I quote: ‘the famous beer maker has successfully blended the flavours of the world’s favourite cold and hot beverages – beer and coffee.’ Roll up, roll up. Or, indeed, don’t. PB