For a country with 11 million people, you might find surprising the number of beer brands and types you might find here. Not only do we have some national brands, we also sell international beers at the supermarket or in bars.
National Beer
There are two major beer brands in Portugal, Sagres and Super Bock. If you go everywhere it’s 100% certain that you will find one of these two.
Sagres
Sagres produces 5 different types of beer. The normal one is Pilsner type and has an alcoholic content of 5%. This type comes in sizes of 1L, 0,5L, 0,33L, 0,25L and 0,2L, being the most ordered sizes the 3 most small ones.
Other types of beer are Black beer (alcoholic content of 4,1%), three different flavors of Bohemia (alcoholic content of 6,5%), three different flavors of Radler (alcoholic content of 2%) and Non alcoholic beer.
Super Bock
Super Bock has 6 types of beers. The most famous one is the Pilsner and it has an alcoholic content of 5,2%. It comes in 20cl, 25cl, 33cl and 1L.
There are other types like Stout (Black beer, 5,0%), 1927 Selection, Green (beer with lemon juice, 2,0%), Abadia (Craft recipe with 6,4%) and finally the non-alcoholic beer.
Imperial, Marina, Cergal, Cristal
We also have these national beer brands, however…. They don’t taste very good. Normally you see Portuguese students buy these bottles because they want to be drunk but without spending a lot of money. Please only buy one at a time and taste before you regret buying a whole case of these.
Craft Beers
In the last two years Craft Beers appeared on the mainstream market. With customers tired of normal beers, the Craft brands are getting more and more market share. However, the price for a Craft Beer is way more than for a normal type beer, so buy one in the supermarket before buying an expensive beer in a bar and not liking it.
International Beer
Strongbow
There are three flavors currently on sale in Portugal, they are Gold (5%), Red Berries (4,5%) and Elderflower (4,5%).
It’s considered to be very refreshing and it’s served only in 33cl bottles.
Desperados
Desperados is a French beer that has a Tequila taste. It an alcoholic content of 5,9% and it conquered the Portuguese market. Nowadays it’s hard to find these bottles because there are only a few people who still drink this beer.
Black Beers
Of course we also have Guinness. It’s not very common to find Guinness in the bars or cafes, but you have tons of them at the supermarket.
Lager
Of course we also have Carlsberg and Heineken! Not every bar has them, but you will know in a few days what bars should you go to get the beers you want.
Economical Beers
Lidl and Aldi have a lot of economical beer brands. They are very cheap and, about the taste…. I don’t really know. It’s better to gather a group of friends and taste all of them.
Types of Servings
It’s very hard to find 0,5L serving in a bar or disco. The Portuguese only like to drink 0,2L and 0,33L bottles, because our beer looses the gas very fast. If you buy a 1L bottle please serve it right away to you and your friends when you open it or you will feel the taste of a beer who doesn’t have any gas.
Final Notes
You will see that it’s common to start a fight when a person in a group of friends say that Sagres or Super Bock it’s better than the other brand. Some argue that the best beer is Super Bock and others argue that it’s Sagres. It’s up to you to see what’s the best beer brand to you.
If you want to buy cheap Sagres and Super Bock go to Pingo Doce or Continente and you will find big cases on sale for 50% of the regular price.
A Country to Discover 