Meta Beer

Firstly, sorry for the lack of blogs recently. A couple will be posted this week. Managed to fall behind again!

This afternoon, Margot and I visited the Meta Beer brewery. It's about 30 kilometres outside of Addis. It is best to describe it as a compound, with a waterfall at its centre. You pay to get in (20 birr (about 80 pence), which pays for entrance, one beer, and the use of a camera). There is a pleasant green area, and two large swimming pools. From what I could make out, both pools seemed to be filled with drunk Ethiopians. But with the temperature at 29 degrees, who can blame them for going to unwind in the pool. The actual factory is well hidden, and the only sign that it exists is the sweet hops smell which hangs over the compound.

The visit was funny in many ways. There was properly a good 200 people sitting around, drinking Meta beer. A few people had a bit too much to drink, but most people seemed pretty relaxed. At one point, a bride and groom arrived, and walked passed everyone to go and have their photo taken by the waterfall. One of the bride's maids carried the bride's dress to ensure it didn't get dirty, while one of the page boys ran ahead clearing the way. Despite this, neither bride nor groom seemed pretty happy at the prospect that they were about to spend their life together. I felt that this was a shame in many ways, especially as they walked right by the "£1 camel ride" camel. Yes, a real camel was there, ready to carry drunks from the bar to the waterfall and back. I certainly think that I wouldn't stop laughing were I to have a camel at my wedding. And if the camel didn't work, the bride and groom could have had a go on the guns that could be hired. You might think that the combination of beer and firearms isn't up there with Torvel and Dean as an ideal partnership. But it seemed to work here. People wold stroll out of the bar, hand over some money, and have a go at hitting a few targets with an air-gun. The gun owner would politely hold your beer while you shoot.

Meta beer is one of the seven excellent beers Ethiopia produces. It has a malty, slightly bitter taste. It hasn't been one of my favourites, but today, sitting amongst the unhappy bride and groom, the camel, and the guns, it developed a certain charm. Other excellent beers include Harar, made in (wait for it) Harar (interesting given that it is a strongly Muslim town); Dashen (the government owned beer - could you imagine Labour doing that?); St George (previously mentioned on this blog in the context of our world cup lose); and my personal favourite, Bedeley Special, which seems to be the stellar beer - slightly more expensive, only sold in the more refined establishments.