Bier in Israel

In Israel, for the thirty years I have been travelling there, the Bier of choice has been Goldstar!

On Kibbutz Ashdot Ya’akov (Me’uchad), where I ran the Volunteers Bar in 1980 (& 1986) this is what was served, not Nesher. By the middle of the decade various cans of rubbish (Budweiser, Bavaria) made an appearance. Tiberias was a refuge, here at Avi’s Restaurant, draught Goldstar was available. Avi (pictured) reconfirmed this when we spoke to him this holiday. And what a superb eatery his restaurant remains! Big Ben has also been open in Tiberias for some 25 years, now it sells an array of Bier a major trend throughout the nation.




The Kibbutz is basically no more. There is now a commercially run bar: ‘Glory’ which sells draught Goldstar, Heineken and wait for it: Paulaner Hefe Weizen vom Fass! Who would ever have been up for work in Bananas at 04.00 if these had been available back in the 1980’s?

This year’s vacation was run as the 1980 trip back to front. Entering Israel from Egypt at Eilat was the opposite of 1980 where I crossed the Sinai border at El Arish. The Three Monkeys on the waterfront became our local, if one can establish a ‘local’ in two nights.


Goldstar, Heineken and Paulaner are clearly all in the same multinational conglomerate as they were to found side by side everywhere. The first Bier of the Israeli part of the vacation had to be Goldstar. It tasted very familiar. A dark-ish keg Bier, it dawned on Hector what the taste was. Tartan Special!

What has happened to Maccabee Lager?
It is available in shops but nowhere else it appears. Wrong alliance?Leffe Blond was too much of a distraction; it could not be everywhere surely?







The Israeli Microbewery

Marg and I drove up to Jerusalem past the Dead Sea and Masada to spend five nights in the capital. Within minutes of our first sojourn on to the streets of Jerusalem, Marg had spotted the outlet for the Golan Brewhouse Express (Hillel Street, opposite the Jerusalem Tower Hotel).


They had only been open six weeks. In the end this is where we watched the World Cup Final. As well as great food they serve the four Biers brewed at the Source in Katzrin up in the Golan Heights. The Helles style ‘Emek’ and the superb Weizen ‘Galilee’ were for me, the two stand outs. The darker ‘Golan’ and the Bock style ‘Baselet’ were not to my taste.


The Source







Inevitably, well we did have a hire-car, we drove up to the Golan Heights via the Source of the River Jordan at Banias. Having been given a short letter of introduction to the staff by the manager of the Jerusalem outlet, we enjoyed some hospitality at the Brewery Tap.













Our final night in Israel was spent at the Hotel Eilat in Tel Aviv, where I spent my first night in January 1980. I think it was the same carpet. Priority number one was actually to get a Curry-Heute! This was achieved but by virtue of having walked to the closed curyry house we passed some intersiting Bier places. Allenby is the street for Bier, not Dizengoff where the night life of Tel Aviv used to be focused.

Three great pubs on Allenby


Little Prague had a choice of Pivo on draught, Hector had the Krusovice. Had the Curry-Heute not been calling we would have stayed longer. After the Curry it was back to ‘The Bier House’ where Bischoff (Regensburg, Bayern) was to the fore. The Weizen was excellent, a change from the ubiquitous Paulaner. It was then time for the Doppelbock Dunkles. Marg thougth it would then be time for bed, alas not…

My last Bier in Tel Aviv

The English Pub at the start of Allenby is on the same site as where I had my first, and I thought my last, Bier in Israel in 1980. Well the Israeli’s do not drink Bier do they? It was back to bottles as it had been thirty years ago. Sam Adams Boston Lager, not something I see very often. We had an excellent last couple of hours in this venue chatting to the owner and listening to our requested music: Porcupine Tree's – ‘Even Less’.