Bekya Restaurant Brings Egyptian Beer to Australia

Bekya Middle-Eastern Restaurant has introduced Egyptian beer to the Australian market.

Bekya is the first importer of Egyptian beers in Australia. The Middle Eastern restaurant opened at Tramsheds in September 2016 with the vision of bringing cuisine that reflects some of the best family recipes with an Egyptian influence. Adding Egyptian beer, and later wine, is another step in achieving their vision.

According to Bekya Co-founder, Wally Mostafa, Egypt only has one brewery, Al Ahram Beverages in Giza, (a division of Heineken), which originally opened in the late 1800s. But the presence of beer can be traced back to around 3100 BC. “The idea with Bekya from the outset, was to provide our customers with a holistic middle eastern experience and the beers complete that.”

The imported range consist of Sakara Gold, Stella Export Lager and Mesiter Max. Below are the tasting notes along with our comments:

Sakara Gold (4.0% ABV)

Sakara is the newest brand of beer in the Egyptian market, produced using the best technologies from around the world. Although Sakara is a relatively new brand, it already has a good share of the Egyptian market.

Sakara Gold is slightly golden in colour. The white head fades almost instantly into a ring around the edge of the glass. The nose is a little spicy with an interesting twist on the typical lager yeast aroma. Fairly mild and refreshing in taste.

Lightly carbonated, Sakara Gold a sessionable light beer that can be enjoyed on hot days and as accompaniment to mezze.

Stella Export Lager (4.5% ABV)

Stella is the most famous brand of beer in Egypt, and has been manufactured there since the 19th century (1897). Egyptians, along with many experienced travellers, prefer it to any other kind of beer. One will not find a single bar in Egypt that doesn’t sell Stella or have its easily identifiable logo somewhere in the bar.

Stella Pours as a golden colour with an average white head that soon settles down to a ring around the edge. There is a hoppy aroma of average strength.

With a little more body and flavour than Sakara, Stella makes a good accompaniment to food.

Meister Max (8.0% ABV)

Meister is a European brand, but licensed and produced in Egypt. Meister Max is the strongest beer in Egypt, even though it has a very smooth flavour and pours as a lemon-yellow colour, with a coarse bubbled head which falls to a filmy ring. Slightly sweet husky nose, a light touch of citric lemon. The taste is refreshing with some fullness and genuine character.

Meister Max can be challenging with its funky aromas, caramel malts flavour coupled with high alcohol and a slightly bitter finish.

Sakara Gold, Stella Lager and Meister Max are currently only available at Bekya Restaurant.

Bekya Middle Eastern Kitchen

If you’re unfamiliar with the food menu at Bekya, here’s a selection of tantalising dishes to tempt. The photos don’t reflect the true size of the dishes as this was a tasting menu for the purpose of showcasing the beer. The portions are far more generous than shown here.