5.1

Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5.5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5

The Groupe Castel, founded in 1949 as a wine distribution company with a strong affinity for the African market, has also developed a beer branch in its history, with Castel and Flag being the most prominent brands, represented in some twenty African countries. The bottle I have here in front of me, a generous gift from Ruben and his African wife Kaidatou, comes from the only brewery in Mali (founded in 1986), producing the beer for the Groupe Castel - owner of this brewery. Considering the civil war still going on in Mali, I imagine it was not easy to obtain this bottle so I am sincerely grateful for such a 'difficult' country tick... Thick and small-bubbled, bit irregular, tightly and thickly plaster-like lacing 'blanket' of snow white foam on a crystal clear, warm 'old gold' coloured beer with somewhat ochre-ish tinge and lively visible sparkling. Aroma of dusty old chicken food, soggy corn bread, wet cardboard, unsugared bubblegum, withering grass, straw, old and spoiled dough, rusty iron, vague hint of sweaty socks somewhere. Spritzy onset, lots of minerality from (artificial) carbonation, neutral to vaguely sweetish, with a corn-slick, bit 'glueish' mouthfeel, arguably feeling a tad thicker than the average African standard lager; grainy middle, with this corn aspect adding further 'glueishness' and slickness as well as a soggy chicken food flavour - including a dim sourish undertone, a bit more outspokenly so than I am used to from this segment of beers. A light powdery breadiness lingers at the back, not unpleasantly so I must admit, but so does a metallic 'zing' - followed by empty graininess, as there are not nearly enough hops in here to convey any meaningful bitterness. Typical industrial standard lager, the one 'genre' of beer that can be found all over the world since the previous century, with a weird sourish aspect to it (as in spoiled soup), a strong metallic side and a rather 'dusty' and stale aroma, but also a lingering doughiness or breadiness at the back which I would consider a redeeming factor, the only one perhaps... Crappy, as expected, but I had even worse.

2

Many thanks to Grumbo!! A clear yellow beer with a small white lacing. Aroma of sweet grainy malt, cardboard. Taste of sweet grainy pale malt, straw, cardboard.

1.8

Appearance - 2 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 1 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 2

Country tick #187. Thanks Grumbo. Pours yellow gold - slightly dirty - nose/taste of grain, apple and varnish - med body

4

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

Bottle 330ml.[ As Castel Beer (Mali) ].[ Courtesy of Grumbo ]. [ As my country rating # 181 on ratebeer ].Clear medium yellow colour with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, white to off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, straw, pale malt, sweet malt, corn, light grass - green apple. Flavor is moderate sweet with a average duration, pale malt, sweet malt, corn, grass, light fruity hops - green apple. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20190529] 4-2-4-2-7

4

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

Sample courtesy of Grumbo, cheers Graham! Pale gold colour, thin white head and aroma of malt, grain, corn, grass. Taste is malt, grainy, cardboard, papery, with some straw and grassy bitterness. Light bodied, medum carbonation, cardboardy finish. Quite standard pale lager.

3.3

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3

Bottle. Pours golden with whiteish head. The head doesn’t stay. Aroma is sweet, grainy, malty. Flavor follows the nose. Finish has some dry bitterness. Overall: rather bad.

1.5

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 1 | Flavor - 1 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 1

Bottle courtesy of Angela, thanks! Clear golden yellow color, flat. Aroma of moldy cardboard. Taste is worse. Profoundly disgusting.

3

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3

[Bottled] Clear golden, minimal head. Aroma of corm amd/or other adjuncts. Sweet and fruity with notes of vegetables and mellow mouthfeel. Harsh resiny finish.