Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 4.5

Egypt's 'national' lager, founded in 1897 in Alexandria by Crown Brewery, ironically by Belgian businessmen - but three decades before Belgium's famous Stella Artois was born; even more ironically, perhaps, this brand fell into the hands of Dutch Heineken in 1937... 'Stella' of course is Latin for 'star', nothing more, nothing less, but it does remain a bit confusing to this day that Egypt's leading beer brand bears the same name as Belgium's most exported lager without sharing a common descent. Big cheers to Ama Deke for the can, this is a country tick I have long been yearning for! Medium thick, consistently shred-lacing, snow white, fine-bubbled, stable head on a clear yellow-golden robe with disparate but active sparkling. Aroma of canned corn, cold pasta, withering grass, sweaty socks, pond water, margarine, a sweet note of industrial pastry, rubber, honey faraway. Thinly sweetish onset, no fruitiness and none expected, so a sweetishness from dull cereals (the label mentions malted barley plus "other grains"), with a vague sourish-grainy edge, moderately carbonated with stingy, minerally effect; metallic notes round the edge of a continuously dull sweetish middle, thin but not as watery as many other 'tropical' lagers I had before and even unveiling a powdery, slightly white-peppery bitterish touch in the end (hop extract) which tries to bring balance - and 'kind of' succeeds, as the finish is notably drier than the onset. The hop extract feel, a bit spicy in this case, even lasts for a while, more so than in any other lager I had that was brewed on the continent of Africa. It is what it is, of course, a bland, mass-marketed, industrial standard pale lager without any serious flavour ambitions, but that said, it is not 'worse' than most of the European standard lagers - and that includes Belgium's Stella Artois for all I care. Simple, effective and completely 'macro tasting', but less... well, bad, than I was expecting.

Harsh, bitter, over-carbonated. That one is not great, but a fun tick. Thanks Patrick S.

My first true Egyptian beer, thanks Patrick S.! We miss you already!

Egypt 🇪🇬

Thanks Patrick S.

Thanks Richard P.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 2

27/4/2024. Bottle shared at fonefan Ulfborg tasting. Pours clear bright dark gold with a small frothy white head. Good pour. Aroma is boozy, alcohol stewed, malts. Medium sweetness, heavy harsh alcohol boozy bitterness. Medium body, oily/sticky, average carbonation. Bitter alcohol finish. Looked good, but quite undrinkable.

Thanks Richard P.