New Beer in Town

[stud858]

 

Was available at times in Thailand.

[Farang99]

14 hours ago, Krabi King said:

Nice, I'll give it a try...

I also think Singha did quite a good job on the Snowy Weizen... pretty good taste and something different then all the regular beers. And of course at 55 THB for a big can (also 12 packs available at Makro now) not as crazy priced as Hoegaarden or any of the German imported Weizen beers.

Best VFM around. 49 baht for 490ml in my local minimart

[madmitch]

Snowy is OK; it's not Erdinger but I've drunk wheat beer, including Snowy's local competitor, Huntsman, which goes down as the worst wheat beer I have ever tasted.

[Kwasaki]

17 hours ago, bubba said:

Chang classic is also brewed with rice.

Thanks didn't know that, thought it was only brewed with rice when it was 6.4% because in Thailand it is now only 5% alcohol-by-volume and was now only a 100% malt beer.

[toofarnorth]

I guess I must be the only bloke on here that drinks Bud. And I am a Brit.

[Justin Side]

27 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

I guess I must be the only bloke on here that drinks Bud. And I am a Brit.

I sometimes drink it now it is brewed in Vietnam and so has a reasonable price.

Better than any of the Thai crap.

[moontang]

2 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

I guess I must be the only bloke on here that drinks Bud. And I am a Brit.

It is interesting how it is now very competitive....cheaper than Heiny for 49 cl can.  And I noticed few of the 50 cl singha bottles at about 52 thb...good for dieters...and is easier to avoid warmness.

Edited March 12, 2019 by moontang

[hugocnx]

18 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

If you like that, this isn't a bad alternative. I tried one the other day, and thought the taste was pretty good, not overly bitter or sweet, clean mouth feel and a pleasant taste. And quite a kick.  I think I originally bought it at the Central Food Hall in CentralWorld. Somewhere in the 120-130b range, if memory serves.

 

   

 

Thanks for that. German beer has it's benefits (Reinheitsgebot)

The Bavaria (Dutch) 8.6 is 129 baht at Rimping Chiang Mai.

[hugocnx]

18 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

I've never really enjoyed those very strong beers, but I do like to try one from time to time. If I see the 8.6 version in the shops I'll give it a go.

 

Based on malted barley. Sounds promising.

Probably a bit too strong for me, but at 120-130 baht a can I'll try it.

 

For a daily drink I like to keep within the 45-75 baht a can range - and available at the 7/11, Family Mart, Mom & Pop shops.

You best have just one for the taste and than gear back to regular lager. A couple of those 8.6 cans might knock you out.

[chickenslegs]

8 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

I guess I must be the only bloke on here that drinks Bud. And I am a Brit.

 

7 hours ago, Justin Side said:

I sometimes drink it now it is brewed in Vietnam and so has a reasonable price.

Better than any of the Thai crap.

 

I haven't tried Bud for very many years. It did have a very bad reputation in the UK. Might give it another try. As Justin Side suggests - it may be a better drink when brewed in Vietnam.

 

It's in the 7/11's at a reasonable price (50 baht for a large can IIRC).

[Cheops]

14 hours ago, madmitch said:

Snowy is OK; it's not Erdinger but I've drunk wheat beer, including Snowy's local competitor, Huntsman, which goes down as the worst wheat beer I have ever tasted.

IMO Huntsman is tasting much better than Snowy. Snowy doesn't come close to Hoegaarden and tastes very sour. Huntsman comes much closer to Hoegaarden.

 

But then again, everybody has its own taste. Actually I like Grolsch and sometimes it's for sale in Thailand, but way too expensive.

[CLW]

It's actually been around for about 2 years or so, originally branded as Est 33 (I think). Singha's attempt at capturing the craft market.... which failed (as did Chang's). By coincidence, shortly afterwards, fines and jail time both went up for those illegally making the decent Thai craft beers. You can't get legal unless you are brewing 10k litres per month if I remember correctly.
Singha are now launching another lager named "My", after they coolly received "U" beer. Their marketing department needs to be fired if you ask me.... mind you, so do their brewers.

What was Chang's attempt?

[madmitch]

19 minutes ago, Cheops said:

IMO Huntsman is tasting much better than Snowy. Snowy doesn't come close to Hoegaarden and tastes very sour. Huntsman comes much closer to Hoegaarden.

 

But then again, everybody has its own taste. Actually I like Grolsch and sometimes it's for sale in Thailand, but way too expensive.

I was comparing it to a Bavarian rather than a Belgian wheat beer. Very different flavours. But, as you rightly said, we all have different tastes. Some people even like Bud!

[CLW]

Tried the Kopper today. Looked and smelled promising but then the taste was quite bland and flat. Same as most other major Thai beers.

I'll stick with Asahi now since it is brewed under license here for a few months it's no longer expensive and has the most crisp and hop intensive taste coming close to a German pilsner.

[edwardandtubs]

I first tried EST 33 copper about 7 years ago when they just released it in their own microbrewery bars.

 

The copper colour comes from brown rice! If you're expecting something like an ale or bitter, you'll be bitterly disappointed.

[Cheops]

2 hours ago, madmitch said:

Some people even like Bud!

Bud has to be one of the worst beers I've ever drank. Of course Bavarian beers are nice. 

[Katipo]

9 hours ago, CLW said:

On 3/11/2019 at 3:19 PM, Katipo said:

It's actually been around for about 2 years or so, originally branded as Est 33 (I think). Singha's attempt at capturing the craft market.... which failed (as did Chang's). By coincidence, shortly afterwards, fines and jail time both went up for those illegally making the decent Thai craft beers. You can't get legal unless you are brewing 10k litres per month if I remember correctly.
Singha are now launching another lager named "My", after they coolly received "U" beer. Their marketing department needs to be fired if you ask me.... mind you, so do their brewers.

What was Chang's attempt?

There was the Rice Berry beer, plus several which didn't seem to be sold outside of the annual beer gardens. Must have been 3 years ago now.

[elgenon]

On 3/11/2019 at 5:31 AM, chickenslegs said:

Oops! Well spotted.

490ml of course.

You mean not true? Dang! I was on my way to 7/11.

[NanLaew]

On 3/11/2019 at 8:19 AM, Katipo said:

Their marketing department needs to be fired if you ask me.... mind you, so do their brewers.

When they have the state monopoly and all imports are taxed up the ying yang, either department doesn't even need to get out of bed.

[NanLaew]

On 3/11/2019 at 12:44 PM, chickenslegs said:

Correct, as confirmed by Damrongsak ...

It would be great if the smaller brewers would be allowed to compete.

In the meantime, at least we do see the occasional "new" beer in the 7/11.

I even tried the orange flavoured Cheers a couple of times. But once was one too many of the strawberry flavour they brought out for Valentine's.

There's a foreign-owned brewery up in Loei that's been producing some decent brews for a wee while now. I was told he was well-funded and was quite happy to make regular donations to the local authorities to carry on. More recently, I heard he has moved his production to Cambodia since the local pressure has increased in the shape of more frequent requests for larger donations.

[chickenslegs]

9 hours ago, elgenon said:

You mean not true? Dang! I was on my way to 7/11.

 

Remember these?

7 pints (4 litres) for around 15 shillings (75p / 30 THB) - does not include the cost of building the time machine to get back to the early 1970's..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

 
Remember these?
7 pints (4 litres) for around 15 shillings (75p / 30 THB) - does not include the cost of building the time machine to get back to the early 1970's..
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yup, remember buying those , pretty nasty stuff in em though.

Mind you it was an improvement from the Spar shop cider !!

[vogie]

27 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

 

Remember these?

7 pints (4 litres) for around 15 shillings (75p / 30 THB) - does not include the cost of building the time machine to get back to the early 1970's..

 

 

 

 

 

 

My father would open them with a little tin opener, the type that opens condensed milk, there would beer on every wall of the living room.

[chickenslegs]

On 3/12/2019 at 11:56 AM, toofarnorth said:

I guess I must be the only bloke on here that drinks Bud. And I am a Brit.

 

On 3/12/2019 at 12:24 PM, Justin Side said:

I sometimes drink it now it is brewed in Vietnam and so has a reasonable price.

Better than any of the Thai crap.

 

On 3/12/2019 at 8:37 PM, chickenslegs said:

 

 

I haven't tried Bud for very many years. It did have a very bad reputation in the UK. Might give it another try. As Justin Side suggests - it may be a better drink when brewed in Vietnam.

 

It's in the 7/11's at a reasonable price (50 baht for a large can IIRC).

 

I bought 4 cans at the 7/11 this evening @ 62 baht each, just opened the third.

Positives: No unpleasant tastes or odours. Definitely better than the last time I tried it. Price not too bad for an import (from Vietnam).

Negatives: I just can't find any real flavour/body in it - it's a bit watery.

I won't be pouring it down the sink, but I won't be trying it again in a hurry.

Everyone has their own idea of what is good/bad beer. For me, Bud is mediocre at best.

No offence to anyone who loves the stuff.

[tlandtday]

CENSORED

Edited March 13, 2019 by tlandtday

[roo860]

My father would open them with a little tin opener, the type that opens condensed milk, there would beer on every wall of the living room.

Used to hit them on a metal spiked gate on the way to the party.

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[chickenslegs]

7 minutes ago, tlandtday said:

They actually misspelled it the brew is from the Bates brewery and the label should read "Master Bates thick and creamy"

 

Never tried it.

 

Is it hand-pulled?

 

Edited March 13, 2019 by chickenslegs

[chickenslegs]

5 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Used to hit them on a metal spiked gate on the way to the party.

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

Happy days!

 

The beer was terrible but it didn't matter. If you were 16 and bringing beer to a party you were cool.

 

[Krabi King]

On 3/12/2019 at 11:01 PM, Cheops said:

IMO Huntsman is tasting much better than Snowy. Snowy doesn't come close to Hoegaarden and tastes very sour. Huntsman comes much closer to Hoegaarden.

 

But then again, everybody has its own taste. Actually I like Grolsch and sometimes it's for sale in Thailand, but way too expensive.

I have to strongly disagree... Huntsman tastes like its watered down. Very little flavour. Of course Hoegaarden is a different league, but so is the price.

[mrbeerguy]

Hi! If you go to 7/11 in Bang Saray. Next door there is a Rice shop with a shop next to it. They have all those beers for 55 Baht They have a seat outside to relax and people watch. Hope to see you there.