Bira, Efes Pilsen

Ever since the first beer brewery was opened by Swiss Bomonti brothers in Şişli in 1893, Efes Pilsen is on top of the beer chart in Turkey although there are many imported brands served at the bars and restaurants.

Efes Pilsen named after the ancient city Efes, Ephesus in İzmir is a very popular beer brand produced by Efes Beverage Group. Their products are Efes Pilsen, Efes Dark, Efes Light, Efes Extra (a high-alcohol version) Efes Ice (ice-brewed) Marmara (strong beer, Marmara Kırmızı and Marmara Gold) Ritmix (malt-beer in various tastes) Mariachi (lime or agave flavoured beer as Mariachi or Mariachi Black) Efes Dark Brown (a delicious beer with hints of coffee and chocolate) Efes Beverage Group is the primary sponsor of its namesake Turkish Basketball-team, Efes Pilsen S.K. www.efespilsen.com.tr Efes Pilsen SK www.efesbasket.org

Beer Glasses

30’luk (Otuzluk) 30 cl. Beer glass, also called küçük bira (small beer) or balon (balon).

50’lik (Ellilik) 50 cl. Beer glass. It is also called Arjantin (Agentine).

70’lik (Yetmişlik) 70 cl. Beer glasses, büyük bira (big glass of beer). It is also used for 70 cl. Rakı bottle, büyük rakı (big rakı bottle).

Arjantin A beer glass for 50 cl, a pint.

Biraver A beer pot with a tap that functions like a samovar, tea urn. It is derived from bira and semaver.

Did you know?

A foreign beer company put an ad in the bars in 1934 to advertise their product saying “Half a litre of beer gives you the strength of 385 gram milk, 32 gram butter, 82 gram meat, 325 gram fish, 105 gram bread, 3 eggs. (Signed by) Prof. Dr. Karl Von Nooder ve Dr. Hugo Salomon Efendi.