Saturday, July 3, 2010

Brazil - What the hell?

Just when we thought we had this World Cup figured out, and could count on Brazil at least making it to the semi-finals and as a result playing in either the 3rd place game or the championship game, they go any lose to The Netherlands on the same day we featured the Orange side.  Sorry Nunee, but I think Jay and I cursed your team.  

 
Brazil, it turns out, is the 4th largest market for beer in the world, but like all other countries featured, the market is dominated by a few huge breweries.  Unlike most of the world, though... the beer of choice is a pilsener as opposed to a pale lager, with pilseners accounting for 98% of the market share.  

As for one of Brazil's most famous parties... Carnival, there is definitely a huge spike in the beer consumption.  Wikipedia claims (unsourced) that the Carnival accounts for 4% of the yearly consumption, while another article I read claimed that Brazilians drink more beer during Carnival than the rest of the year combined!  I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle, but either way it's a lot of beer over a short period of time.

Another interesting thing I read was that Brazilians love to drink their beer served below freezing!  Apparently the higher-class bars use beer coolers that display the temperature so their customers can see that their beer is anywhere from -4 to -8 Celsius, often partially frozen.  I don't really get this, as I've had some beer before that had been previously frozen (in an attempt to cool it down quicker) and it was horrible.  But hey, if that's how they like it in Brazil, that's how they like it.



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