If ever you needed a good example of the negative effect of lack of competition in the beer industry, head for Portugal.

This is a country where all but a tiny percentage of beer production is concentrated in just two hands. The net result is a stranglehold on bars and a distinct lack of character in the country’s beer range, as I found out earlier this year.

Don’t get me wrong. When you’re on holiday and the Iberian sun works up a raging thirst, the beers on offer can do a job. They’ll be cold and wet and, to be fair, not the blandest you’ll ever find on the continent but, for anyone seeking something challenging or complex, it’s not a promising picture.

Two Big Players

The two big players are SCC (Sociedade Central de Cervejas), currently owned by Heineken, following its acquisition of Scottish & Newcastle in 2008, and Unicer, a local company formerly focused on the north of Portugal but now nationwide.

Effectively this means two main brands. From SCC there is Sagres; from Unicer you get Superbock.

The two products go head to head in the Portuguese market place. Sagres is a 5 per cent lager with a bittersweet taste and light, herbal hopping. Superbock is a 5.6 per cent lager with a marginally more bitter taste and light, herbal hopping. There’s not much between them, but my preference – if I have to state it – is just for Superbock.

Microbreweries don’t exist in Portugal, so beer variety is slim. The one or two other businesses that compete with the big two tend to emulate rather than provide a point of difference (you may find mainstream lager brands labelled Cintra and Tagus, for instance).

Brand Extensions

In compensation (if you can call it that), both Sagres and Superbock have a series of, mostly bottled, brand extensions – basically attempts at other beer styles that vary in their success rate. Bars that stock the leading brands on draught often have a range of these more interesting bottles.

Quite common is Sagres Bohemia, a fairly sweet, 6.2 per cent cross between a Vienna lager and a dunkel, amber in colour with a hint of red, and malty to taste with suggestions of liquorice, toffee and banana. Also found is Sagres Preta, a bittersweet schwarzbier-cum-stout of 4.1 per cent, with roasted grain notes in the mouth and coffee in the dry, bitter finish.

On the Superbock side, Abadia is quite easy to find. Its name suggests it is a homage to the abbey style, but, even at 6.4 per cent, it’s not sufficiently complex to do justice to that. It’s pleasant enough though, with smooth, caramel maltiness taking it onto the sweet side, and hints of raisin and light, hoppy spice showing through.

Like Sagres, Superbock also has a stout, although with a bit more of a clout, at 5 per cent. Coffee and caramel notes are obvious but it drinks crisp and easy, like a black lager, which it probably is.

Brew Pubs

The country also has a couple of options down the brew pub route. The trouble is, they don’t actually brew at these establishments. Unicer, it seems, provides the beer.

Nevertheless, if you’re a beer lover and just can’t take any more Sagres or Superbock, then you have to venture to one of these outlets. Try, for example, the República da Cerveja at Parque das Nações, a waterside area for shopping and leisure built in Lisbon for the 1998 world Expo (there’s also a sister outlet at Cais de Gaia in Porto, in the north of Portugal).

After you’ve taken the kids to the splendid aquarium or given them the thrill of a cable car ride, perhaps you can coax them to join you in the pub. They can order from the children’s menu while you sample the beer range that features seasonal offerings alongside regulars.

These include Artisanal, a crisp, sweetish golden beer with a herbal, lightly lemony flavour, and Puro Malte, a golden beer with caramel and whisky notes. The Weiss I found to be too tart, with sour lemons the main feature, but I liked Spring, the reasonable attempt at a kölsch.

República da Cerveja is a more interesting option in this area than most of the other bars (including a Sagres bar, stocking the full range in bottle), but I couldn’t get too exciting by the beer offering – or the food, for that matter.

More successful, I found, was the Lusitana chain. It was established back in 1998 and there are now several branches around the Lisbon area, including one in the shopping centre close to República da Cerveja.

But I headed instead out to the Estoril coast, west of the capital, and the harbour town of Cascais. The old streets here are pleasant enough and stuffed with places to eat, but you can’t walk far without being plagued by hawkers desperate to drag tourists into their restaurants.

Far more civilised and quiet is the new marina complex where Lusitana can be found. The décor is modern and functional, but the food is good here. Even more importantly, the beer range is also more than decent.

The Weiss is crisp and lemony, with a hint of clove. The Dunkelweiss has a similar sharpness but also dark chocolate and coffee notes.

There’s a decent hop character to the Pils, even if, to me, it seems to lack a bit of substance, while the Stout has a bitter caramel finish after some sweetness in the mouth. The last beer available on my visit was Abadia, filled with bubblegum and tropical fruit esters, before a dry, bitter finish.

Plan of Action

Portugal is not – at the moment at least – a country worth making a beer pilgrimage to. But, if you’re heading there for a spot of R&R – perhaps a fortnight with the family or maybe a few rounds of golf with the lads – there is a tiered plan of action for getting the best out of your trip.

Quench your thirst with Superbock; trade up to something a little more interesting by picking up a bottle or two of Sagres Bohemia or Superbock Abadia; and finally, if possible, make for a branch of Lusitana.

Even in the least promising of countries, where there’s a beer will, there’s often a way.