One of my favorite things to do in every country I visit is to try their local beer. Almost every country in the world has at least one national brew and I always try to give it a taste when I visit a country. Beer is something I relate to certain countries and if I happen to see that particular beer in the US or elsewhere in the world, it reminds me of being in that country. Some countries have dozens or hundreds of great beers, some have one and some none but for the purposes of this list I limited myself to choosing one from each country. Like any of my 30 best lists, it’s not easy picking the 30 best beers in the world especially as some have certainly slipped my mind over time but some have endured as well from as far back as 1998-when I started traveling.
That said, here are the 30 best beers in the world! Do you agree? I’m sure you don’t (and yes I stayed away from Microbrews etc), so let’s hear your favorites!
30 Solera Venezuela
29 San Miguel Philippines
28 Castle South Africa
27 Lion Sri Lanka
26 Beer Burkina Burkina Faso
25 Kilimanjaro Tanzania
24 Bintang Indonesia
23 Baltika Russia
22 Cusqueña Peru
21 Samuel Smith England
20 Windhoek Namibia
19 Singha Thailand
18 Star Ghana
17 Duvel Belgium
16 Molson Canada
15 Belikin Belize
14 Kingfisher India
13 Yuengling USA
12 Beer Lao Laos
11 Carta Blanca Mexico
10 Kronenbourg France
9 Quilmes Argentina
8 Imperial Costa Rica
7 Tusker Kenya
6 Tooheys New Australia
5 Paulaner Germany
4 Tiger Singapore
3 Carlsberg Denmark
2 Guinness Ireland
1 Kozel Czech Republic
The 30 Best Beers in the World
March 16, 2015 by 65 Comments
BOOM!!!! Three of my favorites made the list. Singha, Tiger, and Bintag.
All 3 are excellent! Erick, what was the beer in Chile?
Notable omissions from China, Japan and Brazil. Was that intentional?
Pamela, I couldn’t decide on Japanese favorite and don’t really like Tsingtao or any of the Brazilian beers to be honest
Not even Xingu Black Beer from Brazil? I’ve only had it in the States but it’s worthy. Come to San Diego sometime and get lost at all out breweries.
Tooheys is absolute shit beer!
That seems a little harsh…I think it’s the best Aussie national beer…are you a VB guy? BC that’s absolute shit!
I’m just happy you didn’t include Heineken!
Never been a Heineken fan…I like Amstel light in the US but not so much Amstel in Holland
Gallo from Guatemala!
Good beer, almost had it included Eduardo! Will be in Guatemala next week actually!
a few missing in my mind. Brahma from Brazil -and a bunch of US. You really think Yuengling is best we have? Fat Tire, Shiner, Sweetwater?
Baumer, I’m pretty blah on Brahma and Yuengling is certainly one of my favorites.
wow! San Miguel Ph made it to the list 🙂
Sarah, yes it did!
I agree with the other guy Tooheys is an ordinary beer. As most of these are commercial beers I would say Crown is the best in Australia. I was surprised to see no Japanese beer on your list.
Crown is good I agree but Toohey’s I like…everyone has an opinion!
I think that HEINEKEN is a leading Beer all over the world. I love Carlton Crown Lager as well.
Thanks
Abhi
Yes but it’s terrible!
I was wondering, have you ever tasted Lithuanian beer, cuz that stuff is good bruh.
Yes but back in 2004 so not fresh in my mind and nothing stood out
South Africa’s best beer is actually Carling Black Label and not Castle
Not sure if I’ve had that one and I’ve spent a lot of time in RSA
I must agree with this gent, Black Label FTW! (Castle is just the ‘face’ of SA beer world wide, and has done a lot of sponsoring)
I deff think that you are missing “stella artois” such a good beer, I like Imperial from costa rica and cusqueña from my country Peru, amstel light is one of my favorite beer, and I like Balashi from Aruba and Amstel bright!!
Balashi is excellent!
Stella Artois misses out in place of Duvel! Really ?
Not a huge fan of Stella
I am about to say it..coz I love Stella.I am a fan of it.
howgarden
Steller
Miller
Carona
All missing..no german beer..!!
Paulaner is one the list and Miller cannot be considered!
The best is Samuel Adams!!!!
It’s good I agree, especially Boston Lager
imperial from Costa Rica is the best beer!!!
It’s fantastic!
my most favourite is budviser but it’s not in the list
The Czech or American one?!
Try out GORKHA beer from Nepal. ????????
I’ve had it, it’s pretty good…Everest too!
Only one German, one Czech and no Dutch beer. You must be joking…
I limited choices to one beer from each country so one is the max per country.
Jelen Pivo is missing!
Not familiar with that one Dani.
Why the hell is carpsberg on there! Tastes like watered down piss!!
Shame….
haha everyone’s got an opinion
Yup, I could go for a Kozel and schnitzel right now….. Two things though, how is Kili not higher on the list? That beer at camp on the way down the mountain might have been the best beer I have ever had. And, where is Natty Boh???
Haha, Natty Boh should be on there for sure! That’s true about the beer on Kili!
What about tuborg ?
WOW Am glad to see my favourite Beer Kingfisher India on the list. 🙂
Dreadful list. Outside Duvel and Sam Smith you don’t have a single top end beer there. Ironically, your image features several excellent beers that then didn’t make your list. Staying away from microbreweries, you should just change the name of this to 30 large beer companies from 30 countries.
It is good to know such information on what’s the best beers in the world as I only settle for Heineken. We got to try this beers and know how good they are.
Another informative stuff about this blog, it’s kind of funny but very interesting topic 🙂 i wish more topic like this to this blog.. LMAO Thumbs UP!
Some great beers in that list just a shame theres no snow beer from china or Angkor beer from cambodia as i find they are two of the best beers around
As a Jamaican, i’m curious if you have ever had Red Stripe and what you think of it
I’ve actually had Red Stripe and really do enjoy it…I thought of including it here Machel.
Lol!
Kronenbourg is a cheap supermarket beer, mostly used for cooking.
Duvel isn’t considered in belgium as a good beer. It is industrial and tasteless.
Honnestly, this list is really american: uniformized and insustrial tasteless beers, when so much countries produce so many good beers!
All these beers are domestic “lawn-mower Beers” , but you have the Number One country correct, but it should read Pilsen Urquell, not Kozel, which is a dumbed down version of Urquell, there are many better Stouts than Guiness, check out a Mackelsons Milk Sout for an example & for Christ’s sake, Tooheys New ???? No Ashi, Negro Modello, Chimay, Slavator, Ayinger, Sierra Nevada, Deshut’s, Lefe, London Pride, Hobgobblin, Timothy Taylors Landlord Bitter, Bulle View Kriek, Frambroisen, Hoegaarte Wit, Schneider Weisse, Kostritzer, to mention a few,, even Australia’s Tooheys Old could make a mention at a push……..
Can´t take a list seriously which includes Kronenburg as a highlight beer…This is one of the worst European beers existing….
Also Carlsberg is shit.
Havent you been to any of the small breweries in Bavaria, Czech or Belgium? Also the US small breweries are great….I know it is difficult to argue about taste, but this list is a shame for everyone who likes beer.
No No No!!!
The best beer in the world is Kolsch from the city of Cologne in Germany!!! How can you have missed that?
You make some great lists, but the most important is still missing, its about the 30 best countries for Girls.
Czech, German, Belgium and Irish beer are probably the best in quantity and quality, there are hundred brands although the countries are all very small, except for Germany. I once lived in China and the local people often asked me what beer was better Chinese or German I was like ” are you serious to ask me this question”, but you know, not everybody is so fortunate to have to opportunity to live in beer paradise called Europe. South East Asian beers are not bad too, I was quite surprised of their quality, but they dont have the variety, just three or four brands in each country, Europe takes home the trophy, oh yeah
Me again, this topic makes me pumped up, just gonna drop another comment
about beers in Asia, not a ranking just some info
Thailand – has a good variety of beers Singha, Chang, Leo also Tiger and Beerlao are available in many places, of course all the international brands plus German beers, Thailand for me is number one country in Asia for beers- just because of the variety, Singha is supposed to be the best one, Chang the cheapest
Cambodia – Man I was really suprised by the quality of this beer, especially the draught one, Cambodia, one of them is called Angkor the other I am not sure, but generally a positive surprise
Laos – Before coming to Laos I heard good stuff about Beerlao. Sure for such a small country it is quite a respectable beer, they have both blonde and dark. I wasnt overwelhmed, but it is a very solid beer
China- Now in China I drank much beer, it is very light and after pouring it into the glass it looks very very light almost like yellow water, not like beer, thats for all brands. China has a very extreme drinking culture, so you are often annimated by the locals to ex a small glas of beer or they even ex whole bottles, which is funny because the alocohol in the beers is very low. My advice when in China, skip the beer really, drink some heavy alcohol like Baijiu or the local whiskies, in general the local heavy liquors are much better then the beer
this is the first list you have made that I disagreed with and I am an Arsenal fan as well.
next time you are in Argentina try one of Antares Beers from Mal de Plata and you will never touch Quilmes again.
From Australia Little Creatures from Freemantle, Coopers Ale from Adelaide and both Boag’s and Cascade from Tasmania will all beet Toohey’s.
Brazil check out Cerpa from Belem in Para State or Bavaria Premium if you have been disappointed by the Brews on offer from Brazil.
Nothing from Japan ? look out for Hitachino and if that is too small although they sell it in the UK the commercial brands of Kirin is good and finally God lager from Sweden.
Perhaps you should do the 30 worst beers
i think you missed the Heinken .please drink and think over and over again
OMG! Can’t believe you missed little Lithuania who is mighty in beers. Their top commercial sellers are Švyturys ekstra and baltas, and Utenos. Give ’em a try when you get a chance.
I agree tusker is amongst the best beers world wide