08 Jul 2010, Posted by James Allen

Ivory Coast Beer Hunt

A few weeks ago I put myself forward to take part in the World Cup Beer Sweepstake. The rules were simple enough: draw a team, find a beer from that country, drink it and write about it, and, if that country wins the World Cup then you win free beer for a year from myBrewerytap – I didn’t need much convincing to sign up.

I drew Ivory Coast, so I started searching the web for Didier Drogba’s favourite tipple. Google revealed that Ivory Coast’s Solibra brewery produces the 5.2% Flag Spéciale and 4.6% Bock.

Something called Mamba also came up. Brewpalace describes Mamba as ‘pretty thick & creamy for a lager. Strong hops, but no bite. Goes down pretty easy. Fairly smooth. Faintly Duvelish. pretty good. Fairly strong alcohol’.

So – where to buy some? I won’t bore you with the details, but I searched everywhere and couldn’t find any to buy. I Googled and Googled, but nothing. I’m sure it was possible, but I failed.

It wasn’t just me though – the writers of this article from Chow couldn’t find any either – they didn’t even manage to mention any beer from Ivory Coast. Beer Genie was another website to write a ‘Beers of the World Cup’ article, writing: ‘Ivorian ales are a bit thin on the ground in the UK. But, as the Ivory Coast football team are nicknamed the elephants, we’ve gone for Tusker from Kenya. It’s got an elephant on the label and, er, tusks are made from ivory and the brewery’s founder was killed by a rogue elephant.’ Pathetic!

I decided that in the unlikely event that I was to find some, it would be the Bock that I would want. Just watch this advert, which looks like it was made in the 1970’s:

It’s just brilliant. That guy really wanted a beer! The slogan is ‘The Strong Man’s Beer’, and while I doubt that it makes you cycle that fast, I’m sure it’s a tonic.

There’s more on the ‘Strong Man’ theme in a children’s book called Aya – where family and friends gather at Aya’s house every evening to watch the country’s first TV ad campaign promote the fortifying effects of Solibra Bock, the strong man’s beer. It’s a golden time, and the nation, too – at the time an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa – seems fueled by something wondrous.

I found a review of Bock online from a chap called Vaasa, from Finland. He describes it as ‘Golden colour, small white head. Aroma rubber, chemicals, cardboard and some grains. Flavour is quite much the same. Rather harsh and not too pleasant‘. What does he know – what nonsense. I’ll bet that Bock tastes wonderful. And it is Drogba’s favourite tipple it seems – this blog confirms it!

Then, just the other day, I found this post from another entrant to the sweepstake. The writer, Craig Austin, drew Nigeria, but decided to show off a bit, frankly, by going on a virtual round-the-world beer drinking trip, taking in beers from Peru, Argentina, New Zealand and South Korea as well as Nigeria. He also found a bottle of Eburni from Ivory Coast.

Now, I consider myself to be pretty good on Google, but for some reason Eburni had never come up. So I failed. By the time I found Craig’s post, and followed his link to a beer shop in Hamburg, it was too late. The beer wouldn’t arrive in time for me to write the post. In any case, it probably wouldn’t qualify anyway, being brewed in Belgium for the Ivorian market. Craig rated it 5/10, ‘Very pale and a bland, inoffensive sweetness’.

I think I prefer the mythical, fortifying taste of Solibra Bock, the Strong Man’s Beer. Maybe it’s best that I didn’t find it. I think it tastes just fine in my imagination, thanks.