Cheers Beer

[Guest Bellini]

... more like an English bitter...

I've been trying to find a beer in Thailand that tastes like an English bitter. Let's hear it from the English: what beer in Thailand comes closest in taste to a bitter?

[LennyW]

... more like an English bitter...

I've been trying to find a beer in Thailand that tastes like an English bitter. Let's hear it from the English: what beer in Thailand comes closest in taste to a bitter?

Tetleys Smooth Flow, available in a lot of bars in Pattaya anyway!

[Briggsy]

... more like an English bitter...

I've been trying to find a beer in Thailand that tastes like an English bitter. Let's hear it from the English: what beer in Thailand comes closest in taste to a bitter?

Tetleys Smooth Flow, available in a lot of bars in Pattaya anyway!

Beat me to it.

Also the supermarkets have been doing Boddingtions imported for a long time.

Where IS this Cheers Extra?? Somebody's hiding it. Looks like the CP (mafia/cartel) are keeping it out of 7-11 for the meantime.

[Dave the Dude]

... more like an English bitter...

I've been trying to find a beer in Thailand that tastes like an English bitter. Let's hear it from the English: what beer in Thailand comes closest in taste to a bitter?

Tins of Fullers London Pride here do it for me.

Worth the extra baht

Mmmmm

[OriginalPoster]

Anyone can pour grain alcohol into a brewing vat

That's not beer.

More sugar in the brew will combine with yeast to make more alcohol.

Seemed to work when I tried it (decades ago).

No, it's not, and of course that's not literally how they are getting the high alchohol levels. It's just that's the way that poorly brewed high alchohol beers tend to taste.

The point I was trying to make is that alcohol content in a beer is not an accomplishment in and of itself, any brewer can do that if they aren't concerned about masking the taste of the alcohol. There are some things about alcohol levels that can be are a bit contraintuitive too, For instance, the Tetley's that is mentioned favorably above is only 3.6% alcohol, Budweiser is 5%, and yet it's Budweiser that has the reputation for being as thin as water.

[David006]

I bought a bottle of Cheers Extra last week at the supermarket,never heard of it before.

To me,it was by far the best beer I have had here....not the normal 'lager'taste,but more like an English bitter,a medium brown colour,7.3% alcohol.....most enjoyable.

Will have to stock up on it next time.

must taste like cats piss then and I bet you drank it warm. give me an ice cold aussie beer anyday

Hear hear!! BUT NOOOOT Fosters . However TIT.

Last year I found Red Horse beer on special as an intro ..tried it ,loved it and now its disappeared..any clues?

[dbrenn]

I haven't tried the Cheers Xtra, probably neither have most in the thread either, so maybe you're right about the Cheers Xtra. But are you sure that it's a ale and not a strong lager or a malt liquor?

But certainly you exaggerate about beer outside of England. Pale and weak tasting pale lagers dominate the market, but there must be 100 different styles of beer around the world and the sin of most of them is not they are weak tasting. Becks, Heineken, Carlsberg, and Stella are not what Eurpoean beer is about, it's merely what it's possible to sell to the masses cheaply and still with a good profit margin. And, believe it or not, in this day & age neither are Bud and VB are what American and Australian beer are are about. Remember, when in Britain you have access it a wide varietry of beers that are brewed only in England and available only in England, as someone in Germany has acess to regional beers that aren't exported, as does an American with American beers. Those are better beers to judge a country's brewers on than upon the ones that show up at a Villa supermarket in Thailand.

Agreed you have to be in a country to sample its best beers. The stuff that goes out to export is pisswater by comparison - bud, VB, John Smiths et al.

[dbrenn]

Now here is a real strong beer...

Skullsplitter, Orkney Ale....8.5% ABV !!!!!!!!

Beers that strong aren't anything unsual, what's usual is beiung able to blend the alcohol together with the beer well enough that anyone would want to drink it. For instance. most Imperial Stouts are that strong (some >10% ABV), some Belgian beers (including Chimay Blue and almost anything classified as a Tripel). Anyone can pour grain alcohol into a brewing vat, that Red Horse, Colt 45, or Carlsberg Special have a lot of alcohol means nothing.

Right - I was in Basel a while back and was given a bottle of 'beer' that was 13% alcohol. It was a cottage brand French beer. Can't remember what it was called, but it tasted like beer flavoured wine. Awful.

[coconutmonkey]

I bought a bottle of Cheers Extra last week at the supermarket,never heard of it before.

To me,it was by far the best beer I have had here....not the normal 'lager'taste,but more like an English bitter,a medium brown colour,7.3% alcohol.....most enjoyable.

Will have to stock up on it next time.

must taste like cats piss then and I bet you drank it warm. give me an ice cold aussie beer anyday

I think Aussie beers taste like piss (not that I know what piss tastes like, right?)......

The only good ones are the Tasmanian ones.......... but for the price difference Leo goes just as far!

[T_Dog]

Anyone want to comment on Beer Lao Dark? I've had a few bottles and liked it as it was more like a UK pub draw or a US Northwest microbrew. Not as good, but getting closer......

[daoyai]

British style beer has hops, hops are expensive, bitter and delicious. Germans don't like hops as much, more malty. Cheers X-tra reminded me of spatenbrau beer from Germany, more malty and strong alcohol taste. Hops blend with the alcohol flavor. Best hops (IMO) come from N. Oregon, as does the best beer on the planet. Portland city has about 50 microbreweries. Beer Lao dark is a good balance of flavour, bit of hop, bit more malt not too much alcohol, wish I had one or two right now!

Edited May 13, 2009 by daoyai

[OriginalPoster]

Now here is a real strong beer...

Skullsplitter, Orkney Ale....8.5% ABV !!!!!!!!

Beers that strong aren't anything unsual, what's usual is beiung able to blend the alcohol together with the beer well enough that anyone would want to drink it. For instance. most Imperial Stouts are that strong (some >10% ABV), some Belgian beers (including Chimay Blue and almost anything classified as a Tripel). Anyone can pour grain alcohol into a brewing vat, that Red Horse, Colt 45, or Carlsberg Special have a lot of alcohol means nothing.

Right - I was in Basel a while back and was given a bottle of 'beer' that was 13% alcohol. It was a cottage brand French beer. Can't remember what it was called, but it tasted like beer flavoured wine. Awful.

The Careffour in Singapore stocks high alcohol French beers like that occasionally. One of them, called "3 Monts" is quite good but actually that's "only" 8.5%. It's a style of ber called Biere de Garde and it comes in a corked bottle that's about the size of a wine bottle. Carrefour also had some other French brands in a similar vein but the packaging of them was so suspicious that I opted not to try them. Even the 3 Monts is sort of wierd beer I suppose, but at least it serves as a reminder that not all French beer is Kronenbourg.

Edited May 13, 2009 by OriginalPoster

[T_Dog]

British style beer has hops, hops are expensive, bitter and delicious. Germans don't like hops as much, more malty. Cheers X-tra reminded me of spatenbrau beer from Germany, more malty and strong alcohol taste. Hops blend with the alcohol flavor. Best hops (IMO) come from N. Oregon, as does the best beer on the planet. Portland city has about 50 microbreweries. Beer Lao dark is a good balance of flavour, bit of hop, bit more malt not too much alcohol, wish I had one or two right now!

Daoyai... sounds like you know your beers! Thanks for the comment on Beer Lao... and I am going to buy some again tomorrow too! I used to make a nitro-pushed crystal bitter with grains from Washington, hops from N. Oregon and North Idaho, but what really made the beer was the yeast that (from what I understood at the time) was harvested from a century old bottle of beer found in the Thames River. Not sure if that story is true, but it was good yeast which most commercial brewers in Thailand or SE Asia don't usually use. Will give the Cheers a try too, but it sounds like it might be a fortified beer rather than a naturally brewed ale.

[Hawkup2000]

Anyone want to comment on Beer Lao Dark? I've had a few bottles and liked it as it was more like a UK pub draw or a US Northwest microbrew. Not as good, but getting closer......

Of all Asia produced beer Lao dark is my absolute favorite.

[Longbow212]

The only place I can find decent English beer here is the Londoner brew pub on sukhumvit, although rather pricey its good stuff.

Wednesday nights and happy hour every day until 7 offer buy one get one free which makes it 90bht a pint (1.80 GBP) as opposed to 180bht (3.60GBP) a pint.

Dark beer lao is also decent as are the german erdinger beers here although again rather pricey. Holland beer on Rama 4 also do good beer at not so expensive prices.

I do wish you could buy the likes of old specled hen, Abbott, bishops finger, spitfire, fursty ferret over here. When I return to the UK once a year for 2 weeks I feel it is only my duty to make up for a years worth on not drinking and take what i can back with me.

I would be interested to know if anyone else knows of anywhere you can buy real ale and beers as opposed to cat piss lager.

Thanks

[OriginalPoster]

The only place I can find decent English beer here is the Londoner brew pub on sukhumvit, although rather pricey its good stuff.

Wednesday nights and happy hour every day until 7 offer buy one get one free which makes it 90bht a pint (1.80 GBP) as opposed to 180bht (3.60GBP) a pint.

Dark beer lao is also decent as are the german erdinger beers here although again rather pricey. Holland beer on Rama 4 also do good beer at not so expensive prices.

I do wish you could buy the likes of old specled hen, Abbott, bishops finger, spitfire, fursty ferret over here. When I return to the UK once a year for 2 weeks I feel it is only my duty to make up for a years worth on not drinking and take what i can back with me.

I would be interested to know if anyone else knows of anywhere you can buy real ale and beers as opposed to cat piss lager.

Thanks

Probably the main barrier to those beers becoming regularly available in Thailand would be price. Although people say they want them, just extrapolating from what similar beers cost in Singapore I'd guess that they'd have to retail for at least 125 baht per 500 ml bottle. Taxes on beer are much higher in Singapore, but I just bought a case of 12 500 ml bottles of Oakleaf Hole Hearted (brewed in Gosport, Hampshire) for S$100 in Singapore. That works out to closer to 200 baht per bottle but probably half of that goes to taxes. FWIW, here's an interesting website that shows what some of those other beers you mentioned cost in Singapore: http://www.pdtent.com/index.php/cPath/40?o...4e1c94a599a2e62 . From what I'm told, retail sales of these beers in bottled form are rather slow in Singapore despite the high concentration of well-paid British expats, but Hen and London Pride sell pretty well on tap at the pubs that sell it. Surprisingly though, a lot of Brits here seem to choose Kilkenny over Old Specked Hen if given the choice, can't quite figure that one out.

Edited May 13, 2009 by OriginalPoster

[Samuian]

"The best drink known to man is called Einbecker Beer ."

with regards from Germany

since April 28, 1378

Vetter 33“ aus Vetter’s Alt Heidelberger Brauhaus - Germany!

37.91 Vol.%

and the strongest known Juice made from hops 'n barley is

Barley Johns Rosies Ale

[OriginalPoster]

"The best drink known to man is called Einbecker Beer ."

with regards from Germany

since April 28, 1378

Vetter 33" aus Vetter's Alt Heidelberger Brauhaus - Germany!

37.91 Vol.%

and the strongest known Juice made from hops 'n barley is

Barley Johns Rosies Ale

Your percent alcohol figures are incorrect:

Vetter 33" is 13.4% ABV. See http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5562/14170

(the 33 in the beer's name refers to it being 33" Original Gravity, not 33% alcohol by volume)

Barley Johns Rosies Ale is 14% ABV. See http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1168/16214

Sam Adams Utopias is 25% ABV. See http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/25759

However I don't know if Sam Adams Utopias holds the record, there might be something out there even stronger.

Edited May 13, 2009 by OriginalPoster

[daoyai]

Somewhere in the N. Thai mountains there must be a valley with the right microclimate to produce good hops that could be used in a locally brewed bitter, or I.P.A. (India pale ale). ....ice cold on a hot night.

[Briggsy]

Still no Cheers Extra in Foodland or 7-11. It could be the production run is currently miniscule.

Somebody brought up Beer Lao Dark. It's fantastic. Unfortunately the Thai government under heavy lobbying from Thailand's very influential big 3 brewers has baulked at implementing the ASEAN free trade agreement on beer on fears that Beer Lao could become popular and hurt the cosy cartel they have going. So for the foreseeable future, only pricey bottles with the excise label are available. Unless you know any smugglers.

[steadfast]

Cheers Beer, along with all the other Godawful locally produced beers here (why they can't brew anything decent here the same as neighbouring Burma/Bali/Cambodia et al, I'll never know), is disgusting, and like all the other locally produced beers gives a very nasty 'buzz' and a horrible hangover. After years, given up on all of them.

[T_Dog]

Somewhere in the N. Thai mountains there must be a valley with the right microclimate to produce good hops that could be used in a locally brewed bitter, or I.P.A. (India pale ale). ....ice cold on a hot night.

That sounds like the beginning of a great commercial..... Has me drooling for an IPA!

[Samuian]

"The best drink known to man is called Einbecker Beer ."

with regards from Germany

since April 28, 1378

Vetter 33" aus Vetter's Alt Heidelberger Brauhaus - Germany!

37.91 Vol.%

and the strongest known Juice made from hops 'n barley is

Barley Johns Rosies Ale

Your percent alcohol figures are incorrect:

Vetter 33" is 13.4% ABV. See http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5562/14170

(the 33 in the beer's name refers to it being 33" Original Gravity, not 33% alcohol by volume)

Barley Johns Rosies Ale is 14% ABV. See http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1168/16214

Sam Adams Utopias is 25% ABV. See http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/25759

However I don't know if Sam Adams Utopias holds the record, there might be something out there even stronger.

Thank's for the correction should have added the source...

well, the www.

however there are differing figures- but then after all I want beer, drinkable beer... quoted this for the sake of it.

Exceptionally strong beers

Accuracy dispute

This article or section appears to contradict itself. Please help fix this problem.

The strength of beers has climbed during the later years of the 20th century. Vetter 33, a 10.5% abv (33 degrees Plato, hence Vetter "33"), doppelbock, was listed in the 1994 Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest beer at that time,[78][79] though Samichlaus, by the Swiss brewer Hürlimann, had also been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest at 14% abv.[80][81][82]

Since then, some brewers have used champagne yeasts to increase the alcohol content of their beers. Samuel Adams reached 20% abv with Millennium[83] and then surpassed that amount to 25.6% abv with Utopias. The strongest beer sold in Britain was Baz's Super Brew by Parish Brewery, a 23% abv beer.[84][85] Delaware's Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout, a 21% abv stout was available from UK Safeways in 2003.[86] The beer that is considered to be the strongest yet made is Hair of the Dog's Dave—a 29% abv barley wine made in 1994. The strength was achieved by using the eisbock method of freeze distilling - the brewery freeze distilled a 10% ale twice

Source:

the particular source was from the german version of the wiki

Mit seinem „Vetter 33“ bot er ein Starkbier als Hausmarke mit einer Stammwürze, die zwischen 33,19 Gewichts- und 37,91 Volumenprozent lag.

Source:

Other sources argue that over a certain percentage of Alcohol content it's not anymore beer really ...but barley wine or such...as typical brewing yeast cannot survive at alcohol concentrations above 12% by volume!

So with wine by average only 13% but way up to 20% - then it's fortified....

but then...

Leo or Chang as long as it is ice cold!

Weihenstefan Weizen - Wheat beer!

Edited May 14, 2009 by Samuian

[Callanbkk]

I bought a bottle of Cheers Extra last week at the supermarket,never heard of it before.

To me,it was by far the best beer I have had here....not the normal 'lager'taste,but more like an English bitter,a medium brown colour,7.3% alcohol.....most enjoyable.

Will have to stock up on it next time.

Hey I agree with you, I think cheers x-tra is great! I prefer it out of the can 500ml, it says "Extra Mega Can" around the top! And quite the bargain at 38 baht for a 500ml can! I'm a fan of beer singh (singha) but I find that not every can or bottle tastes the same! Cheers mate enjoy your err cheers!

[bob4you]

I'm still searching for it in Pattaya, anyone that can help me find it I would appreciate and invite you over to try 1/2 dozen with me. But make sure you leave your car or motor bike at home because at 7%+ you can't drive after drinking 1/2 dozen. Incidentally I live next to Buffalo Bar.

[wolfmanjack]

British style beer has hops, hops are expensive, bitter and delicious. Germans don't like hops as much, more malty. Cheers X-tra reminded me of spatenbrau beer from Germany, more malty and strong alcohol taste. Hops blend with the alcohol flavor. Best hops (IMO) come from N. Oregon, as does the best beer on the planet. Portland city has about 50 microbreweries. Beer Lao dark is a good balance of flavour, bit of hop, bit more malt not too much alcohol, wish I had one or two right now!

Daoyai... sounds like you know your beers! Thanks for the comment on Beer Lao... and I am going to buy some again tomorrow too! I used to make a nitro-pushed crystal bitter with grains from Washington, hops from N. Oregon and North Idaho, but what really made the beer was the yeast that (from what I understood at the time) was harvested from a century old bottle of beer found in the Thames River. Not sure if that story is true, but it was good yeast which most commercial brewers in Thailand or SE Asia don't usually use. Will give the Cheers a try too, but it sounds like it might be a fortified beer rather than a naturally brewed ale.

i see you are in chiang mai. Where do you buy your beer lao at ?

For the Cheers Extra crowd it has become my favorite thai beer also but I can only find it at one store and they run out frequently. It takes a week or two for them to restock. Any one know where to get it by the box at and how much it cost ?

[Briggsy]

Breaking News

Foodland is now stocking Cheers Extra.

500 ml supercan priced at 37.50 Baht.

[ozzieovaseas]

When first in LOS i swore by singha but after sampling a Leo i could never go back to Singha.

After trying others singha seems (to me) to have a somewhat rank,stale taste. Leo seems more crisp and clean.

Also sampled Archa the other night. Its suprisingly nice if had with spicy food and has to be very cold but as soon as it gets a little warmer..yukk..One bottle and 1 hour later had a fierce pain in the guts! Could'nt believe it when found out the price at counter.. 28baht/bottle!!!

I tend to be able to gulp down the cheaper beers with food but have to revert to leo if getting on it after that.

I notice the Cheers also very well priced and i think the "extra" in the bigger blue can is the one you're talking about?

Will try on your reccomendation.

I suspect free headache and a worse stomach ache if had in abundance tho

PS. After being here this summer I take back the crap i used to put on people for putting ice in their beer.

[Harcourt]

Tried a bottle of "Red Horse beer" this week. 35 baht from tesco, Pak Chong. Made at the San Miguel brewery, Bangkok.

6.9% and very passable as Thai beers go.

A good partner for those "Horse piss" eggs (the pink ones) Anyone tried/like them?

Regards.

I've bought Red Horse here in Auckland (NZ) from a local Filipino shop.....I saw the San Miguel Brewery on the lable....assumed from the Spanish name and the Filipino source that San Miguel was Phillipines.

[daoyai]

When first in LOS i swore by singha but after sampling a Leo i could never go back to Singha.

After trying others singha seems (to me) to have a somewhat rank,stale taste. Leo seems more crisp and clean.

Also sampled Archa the other night. Its suprisingly nice if had with spicy food and has to be very cold but as soon as it gets a little warmer..yukk..One bottle and 1 hour later had a fierce pain in the guts! Could'nt believe it when found out the price at counter.. 28baht/bottle!!!

I tend to be able to gulp down the cheaper beers with food but have to revert to leo if getting on it after that.

I notice the Cheers also very well priced and i think the "extra" in the bigger blue can is the one you're talking about?

Will try on your reccomendation.

I suspect free headache and a worse stomach ache if had in abundance tho

PS. After being here this summer I take back the crap i used to put on people for putting ice in their beer.

Not the blue that is is Cheers reg., X-tra is the brown can. Cheers!