Last updated on 08.11.1999

Yossi Barad

and my " Probably the best beer links in the World "

I was born in the beautiful city of L'vov (today L'viv, of the Ukraine) 45 years ago. The city was rich in Austro-Hungarian, Polish and Soviet tradition of beer drinking. L'vovskiy Pivzavod (L'vov Brewery) was an Austro-Hungarian derelict that produced a very nice beer - one of the best in the ex-Soviet Union. As you might know, the all-managing state has made a regulation of brewing the "Zhiguliovskoye pivo" (the most abundant one in the USSR) in such a way that there was neither a single recipe , nor the unity of brewing through the whole USSR. One could drink the best "Zhiguli" (a pet name of this beer) in L'vov or Riga (today in Latvia) and then be deeply disappointed by drinking the same kind of beer elsewhere. But there was more to it - if you loved a beer and had the proper connections,- you could "acquire" some other beers - "Martovskoye' (Marzenbier), "Youbileinoye" (Jubilee beer, a heavy 10% alcohol, lot of caramalt), "Porter" , "Rizhskoye" (nice lager) etc. L'vov was a good place to get attached to the beer, thanks to the Austrian tradition of beer brewing (L'vov was under Austro-Hungary till the end of W.W.I  - as Lemberg - and since then and till September 1939 under the Rzeczpospolita Polska ). (Oooops..I'm in the Ukraine now.No L'vov's beer - even in L'viv ! They missed some 8 years of the Ukrainian independence and while other breweries Obolon', Slavutych, Chernihiv etc. have built empires - these people have played some games while pushing the brewery, the L'viv's beer good name and the marketing abylities and links down the drain. The rumors are they sold out recently some portion of the brewery. Well, lets hope to see the good L'viv beer back)The same went with Riga - the strong German influence in brewing propelled Riga's beers (together with the L'vov ones) during the Soviet period to the top of the pops. They were much thought after, almost like the Czech Budvar or Prazdroj.

OK, anyhow, when I came to Israel in 1974 , locally available beers were not the ones I dreamt about. The variety was small and the prices high. The most popular was "Nesher", the dull one, "Maccabee" , the Bud look alike and without any body to it , and then "Goldstar", the darker lager, the only possible to drink. These were the products of the Israeli Beer Breweries, today under the ownership of the Tempo Corporation, that is loosing the ground to the bottler of Coca Cola , who brought to Israel a production of Carlsberg and Tuborg and is importing the draught and bottled Guinness. Although today the import is better then before, and even though some Belgian beer is been imported , nevertheless, due to the high taxes (40% excise) , stupid administrative regulations
(7 circles of Hell till you are permitted to import beer) and a poor and undeveloped palate of the population, the local beer scene still lacks the best examples of the product. Today's regulations and taxation make impossible small batch imports , beer clubs, tasting societies etc. I was thinking about starting the micro brewery myself , but high investment, income tax of 50%, excise tax of 40% on produced beer (and that from the high end price) - and the whole country in the crisis economy , soaring unemployment, stupid government, etc. - sorry, my balls are not from steel.

The one who has steel balls is Mr.Khouri, a Palestinian educated in the States, who opened some years ago a micro, brewing the best local (sorry, his town is still under Israeli rule) brew. His Taybeh beer is the only one I buy in full boxes (24 x 0.33l each) and drink happy, when and if my wife permits me...

So, prostrated and thirsty for a good beer, I decided to make a page of links, that will be known as Probably the best beer links in the World...
Go there - you'll find the whole World ! ! !

Hold on !!! Hold on !!! Hold on !!! There are some news and positive developments !!! For more than a year there is a new TEL-AVIV BREWHOUSE !!! Hourray !!! Although not the popular prices and neither any explanations for the lay-persons, nor the very best beers and the very pretentious service - hey,guys, up yours !,- but nevertheless - A BREWHOUSE !!! They've got balls even larger then Mr.Houry's ... Yeah, but you know, the life expectancy for Tel-Aviv restaurant is very, very short. Therefore ,probably, the prices and the attitude toward the clients...Guys , build for years ! Don't get satisfied with the this minute crowd! They will not come steady! You'll need the steady pour of the faithful clientele. Brew better beer at lower prices, sell cheaper food, get rid of all these types that instead of serving us , your clients, think that they are The Worlds Belly Button... We'll come for the beer, I promise...

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