Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.
Shandy is beer or cider mixed with a lemon flavoured beverage, often lemonade, usually half lemonade and half beer or cider, resulting in a lower ABV for the finished drink. Shandies are popular in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada.
Koninklijke Grolsch N.V., known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895, the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in Enschede in the early 19th century and held a significant stake until 2007. Today the main brewery is in Enschede.
Nigerian Breweries Plc, is the largest brewing company in Nigeria. It serves the Nigerian market and West Africa.
Castle Lager is a South African pale lager. It is the flagship product of South African Breweries and has been recognised as the National Beer of South Africa, based on the fact that it is 100% grown and produced in the country.
Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayii A.Ş. produces and markets beer and malt and non-alcoholic beverages in Turkey, the United States, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Anadolu Efes is a member of the Anadolu Group. Anadolu Group was founded in 1950 by the Özilhan and Yazıcı families. The Anadolu Group transformed into a holding company in 1969.
The Carib Brewery Limited is headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago. It produces Carib and Stag beers and a range of shandy products. The main brewery is located in Champs Fleurs, Trinidad, while Carib also has breweries in Saint Kitts and Nevis and Grenada, as well as a United States affiliate brewery in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Beer in Africa, especially lager, is produced commercially in most African countries, and indigenous people also make varieties of beer. Beer is served in various locales, from neighbourhood shebeens to upscale bars. Many countries have standardized beer bottle sizes, which are cleaned and re-used, so when buying beer at a store, people often must pay a deposit on the bottle and the price of the beer. An alternative to glass-bottle beers is local beer sold in tetra-pak style paper cartons.
Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) is a brewery founded in 1920 and based in Windhoek, Namibia. On April 26, 2023, Heineken announced that it had completed the purchase of NBL.
Beer is a popular alcoholic beverage in Turkey, mostly lager type beers.
Heineken Asia Pacific, formerly Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) is a Singaporean brewery company. Founded in 1931 as a joint venture between Heineken International and Fraser and Neave, it was renamed Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) in 1989 and given its present name after merging with Heineken Asia Pacific in 2013.
Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (FES) is a stout produced by the Guinness Brewery, an Irish brewing company owned by Diageo, a drinks multinational. First brewed by Guinness in 1801, FES was designed for export, and is more heavily hopped than Guinness Draught and Extra Stout, which gives it a more bitter taste, and typically has a higher alcohol content. The extra hops were intended as a natural preservative for the long journeys the beer would take by ship.
Birra Moretti is an Italian brewing company, founded in Udine in 1859 by Luigi Moretti. In 1996, the company was acquired by Heineken N.V. The brewing plant in Udine was sold to the newly formed Birra Castello S.p.A., and the beer is now also brewed in different locations including in Manchester, United Kingdom. Birra Moretti became the highest-selling draught lager in the United Kingdom in 2024.
Amstel Brewery is a Dutch brewery founded in 1870 on the Mauritskade in Amsterdam. It was taken over by Heineken International in 1968, and the brewing plant closed down in 1982, with production moving to the main Heineken plant at Zoeterwoude.
Beer in Asia began when beer was produced in Sumer, Mesopotamia circa 6000 years ago. It was introduced by Europeans in the 19th century, with modern breweries established in British India, the Dutch East Indies, China, and Japan. Asia's first modern brewery was established in 1830 in India entirely using European brewing technology.
Heineken N.V. is a Dutch brewer which owns a worldwide portfolio of over 170 beer brands, mainly pale lager, though some other beer styles are produced. The two largest brands are Heineken and Tecate; though the portfolio includes Amstel, Fosters, Sagres, Cruzcampo, Skopsko, Affligem, Żywiec, Starobrno, Zagorka, Zlatý Bažant, Laško and Birra Moretti.
Heineken Malaysia Berhad is a major producer of beer, stout, cider and non-alcoholic malt beverages in Malaysia and has been listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia since 1965. Among the brands they produce and market are Heineken, Tiger Beer, Tiger Crystal, Guinness, Strongbow Apple Ciders, Apple Fox Cider, Anchor Smooth, Kilkenny, Anglia, and Malta. The company also imports and distributes Heineken 0.0, Paulaner and Kirin Ichiban.
Alcohol in Indonesia refers to the alcohol industry, alcohol consumption and laws related to alcohol in the South East Asian country of Indonesia. Indonesia is a Muslim majority country, yet it is also a pluralist, democratic and secular nation. These social and demographic conditions led to Islamic parties and pressure groups pushing the government to restrict alcohol consumption and trade, while the government carefully considers the rights of non-Muslims and consenting adults to consume alcohol, and estimates the possible alcohol ban effects on Indonesian tourism and the economy.
The history of beer in Indonesia started in 1929, when the Heineken beer company established its first brewery factory in Surabaya, East Java, during Dutch colonial rule of Indonesia. This was one of the earliest beer enterprise in Southeast Asia. In July 1931 the Archipel Brouwerij Compagnie was formed in Batavia, by German brewer, Beck's, constructing breweries in both Singapore and Batavia. By 1960s, Indonesians developed their own local brands of beer, which includes Bintang Beer and Anker Beer.
