Why Is Beer Lao So Good(and Thai Beer So Awful)?

[DP25]

I feel bad for you guys. I haven't had a headache since jr. high and I don't get hangovers.

I was like that up until my early 20s. It didn't last.

[brightonbull]

As per the Beerlao website ....it is indeed from Rice ...

About the beer ...the best i had is PHOENIX ...in mauritius

/ BB

[Ulysses G.]

I do wonder how they can justify the price of that over-rated Heineken.

Many people - including me - do not enjoy any other beer made in Thailand except Heineken. 10 or 15 baht more for a beer that actually tastes good is no big deal.

[gpdjohn]

angkor beer from cambodia is also great.

as for thai beers, apart from Leo, they are really pretty bad. obviously its just an opinion, but seeing as i do drink a lot of beer, and have done all over the world, i feel i can say it with personal authority.has anyone here been to vietnam? Bia Hoi! now thats the way to do it!

I love a cold Ba Ba Ba..great brew!

[gpdjohn]

I love some Thai beer, so don't know what's wrong with you guys? And I come from the land of Heineken, so I know what's good beer.

Most of my Dutch family in Limburg thinks Heineken is shit.

My favorite;

[rinpoche]

I quite like Thai beer. Drank Archer, Chang, Leo, Tiger. Never a hangover. Nor felt ill the next day except for a little over consumption the night before.

Not tried Lao beer but comparing Thai beer to Heineken, I do wonder how they can justify the price of that over-rated Heineken.

Tiger Beer is a Singaporean beer.

[simon43]

I read somewhere (can't recall where), that the reason why Thai beers give you a hangover/headache is because they add formaline (formaldahyde?) to the beer to make the shelf-life longer. Bit like injecting a dead body to stop it going bad....

Simon

[glegolo]

I know this might not be too popular with most members here, but I love Leo. I think its one of my favourite beers. Its way to cheap to taste as good as it does. In my opinion ofcourse

--------------------

Yeahh, me too... I love LEO, soft in taste.

Glegolo

[G54]

I do wonder how they can justify the price of that over-rated Heineken.

Many people - including me - do not enjoy any other beer made in Thailand except Heineken. 10 or 15 baht more for a beer that actually tastes good is no big deal.

I see it often at premium rates. Such as 40 Baht more per bottle.

Still, everyone to their own tastes. It is good we do not all like the same

[bikerman]

angkor beer from cambodia is also great.

as for thai beers, apart from Leo, they are really pretty bad. obviously its just an opinion, but seeing as i do drink a lot of beer, and have done all over the world, i feel i can say it with personal authority.has anyone here been to vietnam? Bia Hoi! now thats the way to do it!

I love a cold Ba Ba Ba..great brew!

Saigon beer, now thats good also I think rice beer.

[meadish_sweetball]

For locally available brews, this is my order of preference:

Beer Lao, Asahi, Tiger, Leo, Heineken/Singha, Chang, Archa, Cheers.

The shortage of beer Lao and the price of Asahi and Tiger means I mostly end up having Leo when I drink, which is not very often these days.

Cheers I found truly vile.

[plushly]

As per the Beerlao website ....it is indeed from Rice ...

About the beer ...the best i had is PHOENIX ...in mauritius

/ BB

Just had a look at the beerlao website too.

Looks like a quality production unit. Imported barley, yeast and hops from Germany. Quality water (softened to emulate the true lager styles of Europe). Naturally brewed and importantly "lagered" (cold stored for a period of time). This last step makes the beer smoother and breaks down some of the volatile compounds (like hydrogen sulphide and higher alcohols) that are a short term side effect of using a true lager yeast. Cold storage also makes a beer taste crisper and cleaner - true to the lager style.

[thaicbr]

Ok everyday beer Leo. To get drunk Singha. if the other 2 are not available Tiger or maybe Heineken.

Archa tastes like the beer dregs. And as for Cheers, fuc_k me. How anybody can call that <deleted> beer. i really do not know. last but not least Chang never ever. it ALWAYS gives me a hangover.

[Datsun240Z]

I love some Thai beer, so don't know what's wrong with you guys? And I come from the land of Heineken, so I know what's good beer.

Most of my Dutch family in Limburg thinks Heineken is shit.

My favorite;

Yes, I know. People from Limburg province have their own beers mostly. Gelderland and eastern region drinks alot of Grolsh, the western part loves Heineken.

[bkkc1976]

I am from germany and i would think i know what a good beer has to taste like........LEO!!this is the best beer in thailand.....Chang beer shouldnt be called beer....waaaaaaa!!

[timinchina]

I love some Thai beer, so don't know what's wrong with you guys? And I come from the land of Heineken, so I know what's good beer.

Please may you stop to call heineken a beer.

I agree,very bad taste and far too much gas!

Heineken is a 5% abv pale lager, made by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.3% alcohol by volume, in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H. Elion finished the development of the Heineken A-yeast. This is the yeast that is still used for the beer.^[1] The beer is force carbonated. It is the worlds most popular lager, and is particularly successful in Europe.

Do I may add that Heineken original in Netherlands, taste for more different than the one you buy in Thailand.

Grolsch with the flip-top is a far superior beer to Heineken.

[Datsun240Z]

Grolsch is nice to, but I don't like it, it's to bitter ( herb kind of taste ), although i'm more used to it now. I love the fresher tasting Heineken.

Edited June 23, 2009 by Datsun240Z

[Samuian]

I love some Thai beer, so don't know what's wrong with you guys? And I come from the land of Heineken, so I know what's good beer.

Most of my Dutch family in Limburg thinks Heineken is shit.

My favorite;

And they aren't alone!

[jfchandler]

I'm really surprised, and heartened, here by the majority sentiment of the comments.

For years, of all the somewhat dubious quality Thai beers, I've always liked Leo beer the best. And it's strange, because it tends to be the cheapest of the Thai-brewed beers routinely available in BKK -- compared to Singha, Chang, Tiger and Heineken..

I've had and enjoyed beers from all over the world, and tend to like beers for day-to-day drinking with a fresh, clean taste... Like Asahi, San Miguel, Ching Dao, etc etc... (when I'm not falling off the wagon and drinking darkie Guinness )

And now this thread comes along, and I see so many other farangs opining that they like Leo pretty much the best among the Thai beer choices... And I thought I was alone about that... (As an aside, when I walk around the streets these days in BKK, I also overwhelmingly see working-class Thais drinking Leo as well, though I suspect that's more a choice driven by price).

But it leaves me wondering: What are the Thais doing in the brewing of Leo that seems to give it a different taste and make it somewhat less injurious to one's body the next day???

[meadish_sweetball]

I don't really know anything about brewing beer, but I am guessing one of the main factors with Leo tasting better to many of us might be that they don't overdo the alcohol content.

There seems to be a sweet spot between alcohol and other flavours in the beer and I think for example Chang and Singha taste a little too much of alcohol.

A beer that actually tastes better with ice in it is not very well balanced. Chang is kind of a case in point.

[Ulysses G.]

I do wonder how they can justify the price of that over-rated Heineken.

Many people - including me - do not enjoy any other beer made in Thailand except Heineken. 10 or 15 baht more for a beer that actually tastes good is no big deal.

I see it often at premium rates. Such as 40 Baht more per bottle.

Still, everyone to their own tastes. It is good we do not all like the same

Would that be Heineken imported from the Netherlands? I would like to try it as some people say that it is much better.

[dttk0009]

I actually prefer Leo beer over most other beers in Thailand, but to each his own I suppose. That's why they've got tens of thousands of brands around the globe. I'm not too fond of Singha, just because I find the aftertaste very strong gross, like taking a swig of mouthwash.

[toret]

Why should your OPINION on whether a beer is good or bad be the standard ? I quite like Thai beer since going to a Thai BBQ and drinking nothing but Archa beer. You either like something or you don't. If it was as bad as you say it would not last very long as nobody would buy it!

The facts, not my OPINION, is that if I'm on the piss and accidentally drink two-three bottles of Singha, the chances are well above 75% in favour of me conducting a very swift refusal of whatever my stomach has been introduced to for the last hours.

My OPINION on the other hand, is that the only drinkable beer made in Thailand is Chang Light. Probably just a coincidence the beer, bottle and label reminds me a bit of the much missed Carlsberg, although Chang originated from Carlsberg Company somehow. Copys and lookalikes are frowned upon in Southeast Asia, contrary to the urban legends one hears from time to time.

[G54]

I do wonder how they can justify the price of that over-rated Heineken.

Many people - including me - do not enjoy any other beer made in Thailand except Heineken. 10 or 15 baht more for a beer that actually tastes good is no big deal.

I see it often at premium rates. Such as 40 Baht more per bottle.

Still, everyone to their own tastes. It is good we do not all like the same

Would that be Heineken imported from the Netherlands? I would like to try it as some people say that it is much better.

Thai as far as I am aware. So not the better quality Heineken

[henryalleman]

I love some Thai beer, so don't know what's wrong with you guys? And I come from the land of Heineken, so I know what's good beer.

Please may you stop to call heineken a beer.

It's not for nothing a world famous beer my friend. Anyhow I like many beers, coming from The Netherlands, Heineken is my favorite. I assume you are from Belgium?

So is Coca Cola.

yes indeed I'm a Fleming, Belgian is well know for having the best beers in the world, more than different 400 brand's. BTW its have the best Chocolate also. Those are the things I mis the most in Thailand, and good beef of course.

[henryalleman]

I love some Thai beer, so don't know what's wrong with you guys? And I come from the land of Heineken, so I know what's good beer.

Please may you stop to call heineken a beer.

It's not for nothing a world famous beer my friend. Anyhow I like many beers, coming from The Netherlands, Heineken is my favorite. I assume you are from Belgium?

I quite like Heineken and I enjoy Beer Lao. I also like a lot of American beers that taste very similar to these, but are the object of ridicule of many so called "experts".

People are full of sh*t!

next time you are in tesco or Tops buy a few belgian beers like Hoegaarden, leffe, Duvel orrodenbach you don't have to be an expert to taste the difference,

I pretend I did not read your last line.

[henryalleman]

My choice would be leo, do not mind the rest of the Thai beers, not a big fan of Heineken at all.

At last a man with good taste

[henryalleman]

Friend of mine claims that :

-Beer Lao was originally brewed by Czechs under Ruskie supervision in Lao with no additives and 30 day natural fermentation.

-Thai beer purportedly contains 30 per cent rice(mandated by government to increase Thai rice sales in country) and many additives to accelerate fermentation to 3 days. He cites Heineken in Malaysia as an example, as the taste and hangover is completely different(ie. better) than the Heineken of Thailand.

Any brew-experts here who know the truth?

All I know is I can drink tons of beer Lao without hangover and a couple bottles of any beer from thailand gives me a nasty headache.

Over to you experts!

Thai beer is like many commercial beers made in countries like Australia and Japan. i.e. skimp on quality ingredients and increase marketing to improve sales and profit margins.

Pure malt is the biggest money saver in making beer, as substituted brewing sugars to get attain the required alcohol levels can be between 50% and 90% cheaper. Many (if not most) European beers are brewed on pure malt. Cheap brewing sugars can produce higher alcohols (ethanol style) that can knock some people around. Cheaper sugars also accelerate the brewing time required.

I believe Beer Lao has a higher malt content than Thai beer and imports most of the barley to make it from Europe to maintain a semblance of quality control. It still contains a component of malt (about 30%) made from Jasmine rice.

The most likely cause of the Thai beer cracking headaches/ hangovers is the preservatives used - specifically sulphites - that many people have varying degrees of senstitivty to. Bloating can also be a side effect.

I don't know if Beer Lao contains preservatives (apart from the inherent alcohol), but I suspect not (at least nothing nasty or in large enough quantity). I expect that Beer Lao conforms more to the European style of brewing.

Most European beers (that are actually brewed in Europe) are naturally brewed, thus the shorter shelf life.

i also noticed that a bottle of has a diferent color Stella in Thailand, this is to protect against too much sunlight. Too much light change the strusture of the beer thus also the taste;

[henryalleman]

I quite like Thai beer. Drank Archer, Chang, Leo, Tiger. Never a hangover. Nor felt ill the next day except for a little over consumption the night before.

Not tried Lao beer but comparing Thai beer to Heineken, I do wonder how they can justify the price of that over-rated Heineken.

Again a sensible man with good taste, I always drink Chang, never have hangover with it, but I can't get drunk also. I think not enough % of alcohol.

[henryalleman]

I love some Thai beer, so don't know what's wrong with you guys? And I come from the land of Heineken, so I know what's good beer.

Please may you stop to call heineken a beer.

I agree,very bad taste and far too much gas!

Heineken is a 5% abv pale lager, made by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.3% alcohol by volume, in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H. Elion finished the development of the Heineken A-yeast. This is the yeast that is still used for the beer.^[1] The beer is force carbonated. It is the worlds most popular lager, and is particularly successful in Europe.

Do I may add that Heineken original in Netherlands, taste for more different than the one you buy in Thailand.

Yep, taste different but its still not not a beer, Heineken owned more than 800 Pubs in Belgium, but they had to close them all, nobody in Belgium drinks it, because they are used to drink beer, not dish water. Only in some pubs at tourist spots its available just for Dutch tourists.

In short heineken has the same quality of Dutch cuisine , just joking between neighbouring people who speak the same language.