Thailand Mentioned In New Book About Beer

[Puccini]

The new book "The Oxford Companion to Beer" (http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Beer-Garrett-Oliver/dp/0195367138) has a chapter on Thailand on pages 746-747, according to the index. I don't think I will buy it but if anybody has it I would be interested in hearing what it says about Thai beers.

[Darrel]

"Mostly harmless"

© HHGTTG

[zzaa09]

If Chang domestic was have the beer that Chang Import is.....we'd be in clover!!

[smokie36]

If Chang domestic was have the beer that Chang Import is.....we'd be in clover!!

Ok I understand ...you mean half the beer....sure that's a given.

If Thailand allowed even local Asian fair beer competition things would be much improved...if they had a beer loving PM then most farang would gladly vote for him etc etc....

Edit: Non use of the word "expat" was deliberate.

Edited September 28, 2011 by smokie36

[ringo77]

Heineken is the best Thai beer.

[smokie36]

Heineken is the best Thai beer.

There is no such thing as the "best" Thai beer currently. They are all of appalling quality....their only redeeming qualities are containing alcohol and being served ice cold.

[rgs2001uk]

Heineken is the best Thai beer.

There is no such thing as the "best" Thai beer currently. They are all of appalling quality....their only redeeming qualities are containing alcohol and being served ice cold.

Agreed.

Two words apply when it comes to Thai beer, best avoided.

[zzaa09]

Hope springs eternal......

I understand that there is an alternative and slowly growing micro-brew entrepreneurs that could easily break the syndrome of the domestic beer homogeny.

Remember, the commercially viable mainstream domestic [and import] beers are highly protected and controlled [as to the variety that can be produced/available], therefore the suppressed regulations and mandates.

Edited September 29, 2011 by zzaa09

[janverbeem]

I once read in an encyclopedia about Singha gold .......Not suitable for human consumption

[who]

.

---- According to the moaning/complaining legion no Thai beer is any good. Of course to them nothing Thai is any good.

Give me a case of Chang, it's as good as Red Barrel any day ----

.

[smokie36]

.

---- According to the moaning/complaining legion no Thai beer is any good. Of course to them nothing Thai is any good.

Give me a case of Chang, it's as good as Red Barrel any day ----

.

We are talking about Thai beer. It sucks. Get over your obsession with "knocking everything Thai" and listen to the conversation.

I assume Red Barrel is an awful beer by your comparison.

[StreetCowboy]

.

---- According to the moaning/complaining legion no Thai beer is any good. Of course to them nothing Thai is any good.

Give me a case of Chang, it's as good as Red Barrel any day ----

.

We are talking about Thai beer. It sucks. Get over your obsession with "knocking everything Thai" and listen to the conversation.

I assume Red Barrel is an awful beer by your comparison.

To be fair, Watney's Red Barrel is an appalling beer that makes Tartan Special look drinkable. Personally, I don't know why anyone would drink it, unless their bladder was completely empty

SC

[jamora]

.

---- According to the moaning/complaining legion no Thai beer is any good. Of course to them nothing Thai is any good.

Give me a case of Chang, it's as good as Red Barrel any day ----

.

Most Thai stuff is pretty good, but in the category alcoholic beverages, you have to dig pretty deep, and you probably still won't find anything good!

[zzaa09]

.

---- According to the moaning/complaining legion no Thai beer is any good. Of course to them nothing Thai is any good.

Give me a case of Chang, it's as good as Red Barrel any day ----

.

Most Thai stuff is pretty good, but in the category alcoholic beverages, you have to dig pretty deep, and you probably still won't find anything good!

Have you had the pleasure of trying the Thai-Chinese rice wines/whiskeys?

Even more pleasant are the rare import varieties from China.

Or....real home-brew old-school lau khao - not the commercial s_hit that passes for rice whiskey.

[smokie36]

.

---- According to the moaning/complaining legion no Thai beer is any good. Of course to them nothing Thai is any good.

Give me a case of Chang, it's as good as Red Barrel any day ----

.

Most Thai stuff is pretty good, but in the category alcoholic beverages, you have to dig pretty deep, and you probably still won't find anything good!

Have you had the pleasure of trying the Thai-Chinese rice wines/whiskeys?

Even more pleasant are the rare import varieties from China.

Or....real home-brew old-school lau khao - not the commercial s_hit that passes for rice whiskey.

There's always one....

[dantilley]

Most Thai beers are perfectly drinkable and, on a global scale, I'd say probably about average.

They can't compete with the truly great beers that are produced by countries like Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic; but Singha and Chang are much better than some of the weak, fizzy crap that passes for lager in the UK, such as Carling, Carlsberg (the nasty, 3% cheap stuff, not the decent Carlsberg Export), Fosters, XXXX, etc.

There are also some truly awful local beers in other Asian countries like Cambodia and Vietnam (as well as some decent stuff, though, such as Angkor Beer). Thailand does also produce some terrible beers, e.g. Cheers - but the main, leading brands are perfectly acceptable.

Edited October 9, 2011 by dantilley

[smokie36]

Most Thai beers are perfectly drinkable and, on a global scale, I'd say probably about average.

They can't compete with the truly great beers that are produced by countries like Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic; but Singha and Chang are much better than some of the weak, fizzy crap that passes for lager in the UK, such as Carling, Carlsberg (the nasty, 3% cheap stuff, not the decent Carlsberg Export), Fosters, XXXX, etc.

There are also some truly awful local beers in other Asian countries like Cambodia and Vietnam (as well as some decent stuff, though, such as Angkor Beer). Thailand does also produce some terrible beers such as Cheers - but the main, leading brands are perfectly acceptable.

I disagree Dan and mainly because you describe them as leading brands. The only reason they are is because Thailand allows no competition from outside its own borders by taxing them out of the market.

Thai beer is without exception poorer than its equivalent in surrounding Asian countries and on a par with crap beer like Carling as you mentioned. Only the alcohol content matches the better European beers but nowhere near the crisp flavours.

Angkor Beer would take a massive chunk of the market if given a level playing field....same with beer from Singapore etc...

What should also be said here is that beer here is not cheap...far from it and there is no excuse for the "premium" suppliers delivering such a shoddy profit.....apart from the TIT label on every bottle.

Edited October 9, 2011 by smokie36

[dantilley]

I disagree Dan and mainly because you describe them as leading brands. The only reason they are is because Thailand allows no competition from outside its own borders by taxing them out of the market.

When I said leading brands I did of course mean the most well known brands, but in my opinion Chang and Singha do also happen to be the best of the home-grown Thai beers anyway, they're better than Leo, Archa, Cheers, etc. Imported beers from neighbouring countries don't seem that much more expensive: Asahi is around the same price as Heineken, for example, (5-10 Baht more I think) and Beer Lao isn't too over the top at 43 Baht a bottle.

Thai beer is without exception poorer than its equivalent in surrounding Asian countries and on a par with crap beer like Carling as you mentioned. Only the alcohol content matches the better European beers but nowhere near the crisp flavours.

This I disagree with - Chang and Singha, and Leo and Archa for that matter, are head and shoulders above Carling and the other dross that's marketed in the UK (but, of course the UK does have some decent beers on offer too). At the end of the day it's all a matter of personal taste of course, but for me the good Thai beers are on a par with other good Asian beers like Asahi, Tiger, etc. but a notch below the very good Asian beers like Beer Lao and Angkor. Yes they're not in the same league as good Belgian beers, but then few beers are.

Angkor Beer would take a massive chunk of the market if given a level playing field....same with beer from Singapore etc...

I would also love to See Angkor Beer here, but I think as only some farangs would be likely to buy it, there probably isn't enough of a marketplace to warrant importing it. Beer Lao has been available in pubs here for years, and is now finally in the shops; plus it's been exported to other countries (e.g. the UK) for a while. I don't think I've seen Angkor Beer for sale anywhere outside of Cambodia.

What should also be said here is that beer here is not cheap...far from it and there is no excuse for the "premium" suppliers delivering such a shoddy profit.....apart from the TIT label on every bottle.

Beer's cheap enough in my opinion - it's expensive compared to some other comodities, but on a worldwide scale reasonably affordable. It's getting less so, admittedly.

[smokie36]

I would also love to See Angkor Beer here, but I think as only some farangs would be likely to buy it, there probably isn't enough of a marketplace to warrant importing it.

How many Thais do you see drinking Heineken or San Mig Light?

Draught Angkor would walk it easily.

Anyway I take your points...all I can say is most of us will agree there is plenty of room for improvement yet little willingness from those making pot loads of money for change.

[dantilley]

How many Thais do you see drinking Heineken or San Mig Light?

I've known quite a few Thais drink Heineken and I often see Thais buying it in supermarkets. Not sure I've seen too many drinking San Miguel though... anyway I take your point that these are more farang-friendly beers. I think Angkor Beer would be even more of a niche market, though, in that only farangs who know the product, i.e. those who've been to Cambodia and drank it, would be the likely to buy Angkor. If Angkor thought it could work here, we'd at least see it tentativelty sold in a few pubs and so-on by now - even that though has yet to happen unfortunately.