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Stick to the red wine and cigars so.

i hear they snort sugar over there too. its a huge industry. fields and fields of it. they say you can smell sugar cane everywhere...then again it could just be your nose is full of it.
on a serious note though they have shed loads of sugar and little else so loading up the beer probably cuts down on grain use and means the grains will go into food production.

im still holding out for the snorting though!

Was there two years ago. A very enjoyable experienc.e A country with lots of contradictions. great warm friendly people and lots of double standards. Lots of pluses and some minuses.

As for beer - not much of a choice really. Most beer available is either Cristal or Bucanero, both lagers about 5%. I preferred Bucanero, more dark in colour. Many bars would just have small cans of same. All breweries and hotels/most bars are nationalised so that speaka lto for things re choice. Did not see any draught in my travels. Some European mainline beers but nothing very exciitng. I did not try any wine but they impoft some from Spain and their own is supposed to be o.k. Try the 5 or 7 annos Havana Club rum, and the mojitos, mojitos made with fresh mint there are really good and thjey take great pride in making them. . Food si so so except for superb lobster, Other than that chicken or pork, some fish and that't it! Not sure where you are going but have a great time. Give me a pm if I can offer you anyother info. Also reocmmend Lonely planet or rough guides of course too!

Overall a great experience. I did not stay in a tourist resort as man do - went with a trekking-type company, . Less comforts but more of a a real experience!!!

beer wise Cuba sounds like it might not be great, but i've heard from others (no money, no personal experience) that it is excellent and overall concensus is that it is well worth a trip, hope you have fun and bring back some [b:ba560ey9]BIG[/b:ba560ey9] motherf***in Cigars <!-- s8) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="" title="Cool" /><!-- s8) -->

Was there in 97 and only remember cans of lager.
But as Ger said,

Ohh the Mohitos!!!
and
Ohh the aged Rum
and
although I don't even like cigars, when you're there, there's nothing like sipping a 7 Year Old Cuban Rum (Ron) and puffing on a fat (probably counterfeit) Cuban cigar while taking refuge in your hotel room.

Bring back a 3 YO rum for making Mohitos and a 7 YO for drinking like brandy.

You lucky ****

Rum is my tipple after beer. Maybe I'd enjoy a trip to Cuba after all...