Friday Beer Blogging: Palestinian Edition

teh
I had no idea. Apparently there is a Palestinian beer brewed in the West Bank (aka Palestine). It’s called Taybeh. It’s the ONLY Palestinian made beer.

The Taybeh Brewing Company web site has this description:

Taybeh Beer
The Finest in the middle east.
The only Palestinian beer.
Brewed with the only finest selection of ingredents.
Art and Science make a good beer.
What's inside makes Taybeh Beer so special.

Taybeh beer is brewed in the town of Taybeh. I found it fascinating to read the directions to get to the brewery.

Follow signs to Jerusalem, follow signs to Ramallah
After seeing the Jerusalem Airport on your left
Take your first right
The sign should say Mishor Adummim 437
Or follow signs for Maale Mikhmas

Stay on the main road; travel straight (approximately 10 minutes)
After seeing the sign for the Ramallah Bypass
Take a right at the junction
The sign should say Maale Mikhmas 457

Stay on the main road; travel straight follow curvy mountain road (approximately 10 minutes)
At the Israeli checkpoint at the intersection
Take a left to Taybeh, no sign
Taybeh is opposite to the road to Jericho
Ask the soldiers to pass towards Taybeh.

When you enter Taybeh, pass up the Village center
Take your first left at the rotary,
Go straight, the brewery will be one block down on the right

Here’s an interesting aspect to Taybeh Beer. They are rolling out a non-alcoholic version of the beer and calling it Hamas. Marketing genius given the results of the latest Palestinian election.

TAYBEH (AFP) - Like any good entrepreneur, Palestinian beermaker Nadim Khoury knew that adaptation would be key to his brewery's survival under a government led by the Islamists of Hamas

So anticipating the hardliners' rise to power in January's general election, Khoury decided to develop a new product -- a non-alcoholic microbrew brandished with a label that coordinates perfectly with Hamas's trademark color.

"I figured why not have a green label so it will match?" said Khoury, who runs the Taybeh Brewing Company, the only brewery in the Palestinian territories. "All customers will notice the green for the Hamas flag."

The alcohol-free version of Taybeh beer, with a label inscribed only in Arabic and whose name means "delicious," is to be released this summer and will target the "local market," he said.

Non-alcoholic beer is already popular in a number of conservative Gulf Arab countries which officially ban booze sales.

Photo courtesy of Middle East Online.

Yeah, good luck with that. You know, near-beer is not totally devoid of alcohol. Well, I guess you don't have to tell the hardliners.

I hope Taybeh lives long and prospers. I'll be looking for it here.