Stale beer

[McTavish]

During the pandemic I noticed many food products on shelves were past their best-by-date (BBD), although none were as bad as bottled beer.  After all, most dry packaged products, even cheeses, are perfectly ok beyond the BBD.  Especially cheese, which was often discounted by up to 50%, win win! ☺️

 

Bottled beer however, goes off, becomes tainted, in about 6 to 8 weeks especially if it's transported and stored in high temperatures.  Ever since Covid I've checked beer freshness prior to purchase at various stores and the results are alarming.  Whilst my observations relate to Chiang Mai stores the same applies across the country to most stockists.

 

BigC, Makro, Tops, GoWholesale and Rimping all have beer in stock which is well past 6 weeks old.  I've bought Beer Laos by the bottle only to discard it before noticing each bottle is marked with a production date. 

 

The worst offenders are the major stockists holding many pallets of brew.  Singha has either the highest turnover or freshest supply and with a local brewery perhaps the latter.  I don't buy any beer unless it's within 4 weeks of production date as marked on the case.

 

GoWholesale takes 1st prize for the oldest beer stocks I've seen since the pandemic with Archa beer at 6 months old!  Some of the Chang stock was also 1923 vintage.   Hops and alcohol are natural preservatives but AFAIK, Archa has a low hops to rice ratio which would make it susceptible to spoiling much faster.

 

[transam]

5 minutes ago, McTavish said:

During the pandemic I noticed many food products on shelves were past their best-by-date (BBD), although none were as bad as bottled beer.  After all, most dry packaged products, even cheeses, are perfectly ok beyond the BBD.  Especially cheese, which was often discounted by up to 50%, win win! ☺️

 

Bottled beer however, goes off, becomes tainted, in about 6 to 8 weeks especially if it's transported and stored in high temperatures.  Ever since Covid I've checked beer freshness prior to purchase at various stores and the results are alarming.  Whilst my observations relate to Chiang Mai stores the same applies across the country to most stockists.

 

BigC, Makro, Tops, GoWholesale and Rimping all have beer in stock which is well past 6 weeks old.  I've bought Beer Laos by the bottle only to discard it before noticing each bottle is marked with a production date. 

 

The worst offenders are the major stockists holding many pallets of brew.  Singha has either the highest turnover or freshest supply and with a local brewery perhaps the latter.  I don't buy any beer unless it's within 4 weeks of production date as marked on the case.

 

GoWholesale takes 1st prize for the oldest beer stocks I've seen since the pandemic with Archa beer at 6 months old!  Some of the Chang stock was also 1923 vintage.   Hops and alcohol are natural preservatives but AFAIK, Archa has a low hops to rice ratio which would make it susceptible to spoiling much faster.

 

I buy Archa by the case, just checked it, 10/24........

[proton]

5 minutes ago, transam said:

I buy Archa by the case, just checked it, 10/24........

 

Not a beer drinker then😃

[transam]

Just now, proton said:

 

Not a beer drinker then😃

Archa is a lager beer, it says so on the box, so yes, I am a lager beer drinker.........🤗

[proton]

1 minute ago, transam said:

Archa is a lager beer, it says so on the box, so yes, I am a lager beer drinker.........🤗

 Girls drink, what is it 4..5% ?

[transam]

2 minutes ago, proton said:

 Girls drink, what is it 4..5% ?

I am not interested in who drinks it, or its % of alcohol, only piss heads are...😂

I assume you are a piss head then.................😁

[jvs]

Just checked in the fridge,two bottles of beer,1 year over date!

Worst thing is,i have no hair otherwise i could use it as shampoo.

Also found a bottle of wine that was given to us over a year ago,we had one little drink from it,should i toss that?

[proton]

5 minutes ago, transam said:

I am not interested in who drinks it, or its % of alcohol, only piss heads are...😂

I assume you are a piss head then.................😁

 

Nobody drinks beer for the taste and most Thai beers have almost none, Red Horse is best 8% 75 baht a can, Lao dark, cheers extra and Tapper. I'd only drink Chang and Archa if it was free

[transam]

1 minute ago, proton said:

 

Nobody drinks beer for the taste and most Thai beers have almost none, Red Horse is best 8% 75 baht a can, Lao dark, cheers extra and Tapper. I'd only drink Chang and Archa if it was free

So, nobody drinks beer for the taste, oh dear, spoken like a true piss head.....🤨

 

So why isn't there just one beer, to save a lot of hassle....?

 

Why in the UK do they have a vast range of beer pumps along the bar.....?

Don't answer that, you think they are all the same, but some get you pissed quicker than others.

You can't make this sh_t up..........

[Korat Kiwi]

I tried a Tawandang IPA a few weeks ago.  Different is how I'd explain it, but not in a bad way. 

 

More like a craft type beer with a strong hop flavour. 5.5%

 

Archa I haven't had for ages and haven't seen it where I live. 

 

Carabou Dunkel is a nice drop. 

 

But getting back to the OP, I shall be checking dates on my next bulk buy... good point to watch out for. 

 

 

[Korat Kiwi]

11 minutes ago, proton said:

 

Nobody drinks beer for the taste and most Thai beers have almost none, Red Horse is best 8% 75 baht a can, Lao dark, cheers extra and Tapper. I'd only drink Chang and Archa if it was free

Red Horse, tried that in The Philippines and did drink a bit of it. 

 

Had Lao Dark in Vientiane and was slightly disappointed with it. The previous time I really liked it. 

 

Cheers Xtra, was that with the red label or in a red can?  When in Chiang Mai, it was my go to cheap beer at 7 11.   Not a bad taste and quite drinkable. 

 

I've had a couple of Tapper this week but find them a bit tasteless. And for the extra cost not really worth it. 

 

I definitely drink beer for the taste and once even found a theoretically 0% beer that tasted good in NZ. 

 

However, each to their own.  We all have different tastes in many things in our lives and that's not to any one is right or wrong.  It's life. 

[KannikaP]

36 minutes ago, proton said:

 

Nobody drinks beer for the taste and most Thai beers have almost none, Red Horse is best 8% 75 baht a can, Lao dark, cheers extra and Tapper. I'd only drink Chang and Archa if it was free

Carabau lager is OK, @ Bht 54 for 620 ml bottle by the case.

[transam]

5 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Carabau lager is OK, @ Bht 54 for 620 ml bottle by the case.

I thought it awful..........😬

[McTavish]

Kiwis are spoiled for choice of some great craft beers and Vietnam also.  It's sad that the good craft brews of Thailand are taxed so heavily and not widely available.  I nearly bought some a few weeks back until I checked the date stamp (bottom of can).

 

At least Aussies know how to store beer - in giant coolrooms.  Thai's put potatoes and onions in cold stores which spoils them very fast, no such treatment for high yield beer stocks!

[McTavish]

3 minutes ago, transam said:

I thought it awful..........😬

Me too.

[Korat Kiwi]

5 minutes ago, transam said:

I thought it awful..........😬

Agree... preferred the dark version Dunkel. 

[transam]

5 minutes ago, Korat Kiwi said:

Agree... preferred the dark version Dunkel. 

Not tried that, yet...But, to be honest, box of 12 Archa at 580 bht a case, does me...😉

Plus, round the corner they give me 10 bht for the empties in a box....So no build up of empties at home, so, 570 bht a box...

Edited April 8 by transam

[Korat Kiwi]

1 minute ago, transam said:

Not tried that, yet...But, to be honest, box of 12 Archa at 580 bht a case, does me...😉

Can't complain at that.  Dunkel is about 640 a case at Lotus'sss. Slightly more than Leo but a nicer product. 

 

A local Brit guy said it reminded him of a British bitter beer, Tetleys and another but I've forgotten it's name... Newcastle maybe? 

[McTavish]

1 hour ago, proton said:

 Girls drink, what is it 4..5% ?

Does it really matter what different people enjoy?  The World would be a miserable place if we all married blondes and drank raspberry cordial.

 

This thread was to enlighten, or advise BM's to take care when purchasing beer.  Example in point: I've come across many who would never buy Archa, or Beer Lao again - chances are they've been put off by inadvertently drinking tainted stock.  And tainted beer is NOT pleasant.  When I come across it, rarely with Singha, a squeeze of lime masks the taint.

[G Rex]

My local shop sells me Singha @ 680 baht/box.  

As it is not a big seller around here, she does not keep a lot in stock , so she doesn't have vast pallets of beer (like Chang) sitting in the sun for weeks on end , slowly stewing... 

As an Aussie I can tell you that heat and sun are the biggest killers of beer.  Beer goes 'foxy' very quickly if not stored properly.

There are several bars in our town that we will not go to, because their beer always tastes off.

[Korat Kiwi]

7 minutes ago, G Rex said:

My local shop sells me Singha @ 680 baht/box.  

As it is not a big seller around here, she does not keep a lot in stock , so she doesn't have vast pallets of beer (like Chang) sitting in the sun for weeks on end , slowly stewing... 

As an Aussie I can tell you that heat and sun are the biggest killers of beer.  Beer goes 'foxy' very quickly if not stored properly.

There are several bars in our town that we will not go to, because their beer always tastes off.

What's your favourite drop in Oz?  I'm looking at heading to WA (Moxy driver) within the next month. 

[McTavish]

12 minutes ago, Korat Kiwi said:

What's your favourite drop in Oz?  I'm looking at heading to WA (Moxy driver) within the next month. 

One of my favourites from WA - https://littlecreatures.com.au/agegate/

[Korat Kiwi]

9 minutes ago, McTavish said:

One of my favourites from WA - https://littlecreatures.com.au/agegate/

Interesting place, cheers for that.  I'll be sure to pop in and 'sample' what's on offer before coming back to the LOS. 

 

Probably defer my return by 24hrs...likely hangover! 

[Rotweiler]

One of the absolute best tastes (available in TH) is LAO IPA.  Very nice blend of ale taste with a slightly hoppy head -  pour gently into a frosted mug.

[JimTripper]

This was probably why I got 'off beers' at small bars in the past, some of which I could not even drink. I just paid and left. I used to think they were pretending to pop the cap behind the counter and giving me a flat draft, but it could have just been a really old stale expired beer.

Edited April 8 by JimTripper

[Korat Kiwi]

1 minute ago, Rotweiler said:

One of the absolute best tastes (available in TH) is LAO IPA.  Very nice blend of ale taste with a slightly hoppy head -  pour gently into a frosted mug.

I have been looking for this but not located it locally. 

 

I've tried the Dark and the Lager. 

 

May have to go into the city methinks.... 

[McTavish]

2 minutes ago, Korat Kiwi said:

I have been looking for this but not located it locally. 

 

I've tried the Dark and the Lager. 

 

May have to go into the city methinks.... 

The IPA is very good.

[Korat Kiwi]

9 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

This was probably why I got 'off beers' at small bars in the past, some of which I could not even drink. I just paid and left. I used to think they were pretending to pop the cap behind the counter and giving me a flat draft, but it could have just been a really old stale expired beer.

I had a beer in Karachi once.... never again.  It gave me the squirts big time for 2 days. 

 

What looked like Lux flakes in the beer should have been ample warning but as I hadn't a beer for a few months, desire overtook common sense. 

 

That was a wake up call.  Now I'm very cautious (initially) when in new countries. 

[Wobblybob]

2 hours ago, proton said:

 

Nobody drinks beer for the taste and most Thai beers have almost none, Red Horse is best 8% 75 baht a can, Lao dark, cheers extra and Tapper. I'd only drink Chang and Archa if it was free

Where do they sell Red Horse, like to give it a try. I normally drink Tapper which is ok, but only just ok. 

Found a craft beer shop near where I live and called in yesterday, they had many continental beers on draft and many bottles and cans of other superb beer, I settled on a bottle of Weihenstephaner Vitus at 7°, quality doesn't come cheap but at 250 Baht it was worth every penny.

[G Rex]

1 hour ago, Korat Kiwi said:

What's your favourite drop in Oz?  I'm looking at heading to WA (Moxy driver) within the next month. 

My favourite drop changed fairly frequently , but I always seemed to return to good old Carlton Draught - from the tinnies, not the stubbies.  Carlton Cold was okay...  I don't know much about WA beers - other than Swan Dry (that was very popular about 40 years ago!! after we won the Americas' Cup).