Favourite Imported Beer

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Obviously there are a few expat bars in BKK that carry it. The 2 I have frequented so far being the Robin Hood and The Dubliner (pretty much gives away where my temp accommodation is!!) but I have a question of this esteemed bored......

Has anyone seen cans for sale anywhere?

I think this has been an interesting and informative thread... But re the comment above, this is one of the problems I have about a lot of the posts above... People are mentioning particular beers, but not mentioning where that particular brew can be found.

And more particularly, not mentioning whether it can be bought in the stores anywhere, or only can be had by buying from this or that pub.

I've scoured the various farang oriented stores around BKK, and the pickings of imported beers on store shelves (at least the ones I'm seeing) seem to be pretty limited, and exclude a lot of the brands mentioned above in this thread.

What have I seen on the store shelves: Beer Lao regular (and a few places dark), Corona, Erdinger, Paulaner, Weihenstephaner, Tsing Tao rarely, Coopers several varieties, maybe Stella, and perhaps a few others... I've tried most of those, and none of them do much for me... except for Beer Lao dark.

Meanwhile, I cannot find Malaysian Guinness on the store shelves here anymore.. What the heck happened to that?

So, if you're going to post on any out-of-the-ordinary beer, at least say WHERE you're finding it... and whether it's available from any shop/store, and if so, what ones!

Edited May 3, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[theoldgit]

What have I seen on the store shelves: Beer Lao regular (and a few places dark), Corona, Erdinger, Paulaner, Weihenstephaner, Tsing Tao rarely, Coopers several varieties, maybe Stella, and perhaps a few others... I've tried most of those, and none of them do much for me... except for Beer Lao dark.

I had never seen seen, or even heard of, the Leo dark beer until I went to a restaurant in Thonglor recently, have to say I thought it was very nice.

Cannot find it in supermarkets, I have only looked in Villa an Tops though. Anyone know where I might find it?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Git, you can find Beer LAO (not Leo) Dark at Central Chidlom's basement supermarket and sometimes at the 7th floor market at CentralWorld. I've seen regular lager Beer Lao at Villa and at Foodland, but not seen them stock the dark lately.

I had no expectations of it the first time I tried it...not thinking a dark beer from Laos would be much to get excited about. But I found it quite good, and the regular Beer Lao is OK too, and more widely available in stores by comparison.

When I was shopping at Villa the other day, I brought home a 330 ml bottle of Tsing Tao for 53 baht... Was an OK beer when I used to drink it in the States...awaiting my first try of it in Thailand.

[richard_smith237]

One of the nicest beers I've had in Bangkok: Leffe Blonde on tap. 220 Baht pint at Brew, scene space on Thonglor Soi 13.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think I've seen Leffe bottles on the shelf at Central World supermarket...but they didn't really mean much to me then.

Next time I'm by there, I'll have to confirm on that... and see about bringing some home for a taste test.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Last night, I did some shopping at the Central Chidlom supermarket, and noticed their beer section, which is less well stocked that the sister store on the 7th floor of CentralWorld.

Nonetheless, yesterday, Central Chidlom had in stock and on the shelf:

--Leffe Blonde

--Magniers

--Paulaner

--Weihenstephaner

--VB (quite a lot of bottles)

--several varieties of Cooper's Ale

and possibly a couple of others (I'm doing this from memory)

I also noticed they had a shelf tag/label for Chimay, but no bottles on the shelf that I could see/find.

[lovelaos]

I visit Bkk every month on business and would like to find a bar that serves Beerlao dark around Sukhumvit Soi 11 area, are there any?

[soundman]

As far as bottled beer goes, my personal tastes tend to go towards Japanese beers, I do love Sapporo, Kirin, and Asahi.

Bloody great beers I reckon, to each their own.

Asahi (Super Dry) from Japan is a great beer.

Unfortunately the stuff made under license in Thailand is on a par with Heineken, and Singh - Very close to undrinkable.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I always wonder, how a major company can sell/market a unique singular product under its own name brand that is vastly different from one country to another.

The analogy would be kind of like Coca Cola selling one soft drink under that name in the U.S. and an entirely different soft drink under the exact same name in Thailand.

But then again, the Burger King Whoppers here, whatever one may think of them, bear little resemblance to the same item in the U.S. -- much to my chagrin. Perhaps the same for Big Macs at MD's.

I can understand that a COMPANY might sell/market different products in different markets, befitting the local tastes. But singular, unique PRODUCTS are just that, and ought to be consistent.

Coke is Coke is Coke... There isn't (I'm presuming) a Thailand version of Coke that's different from the U.S. version. That's why people presumably buy a brand name, instead of some local generic version.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I visit Bkk every month on business and would like to find a bar that serves Beerlao dark around Sukhumvit Soi 11 area, are there any?

I'm sure there are any number of bars/pubs that do... One that does for sure in the Big Mango Bar off of Soi Nana (4).

It's much easier to find in the bars (though certainly many don't stock it) compared to finding it on the store shelves.

Edited May 14, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[lovelaos]

I visit Bkk every month on business and would like to find a bar that serves Beerlao dark around Sukhumvit Soi 11 area, are there any?

I'm sure there are any number of bars/pubs that do... One that does for sure in the Big Mango Bar off of Soi Nana (4).

It's much easier to find in the bars (though certainly many don't stock it) compared to finding it on the store shelves.

Cheers, I've been to many bars that sell regular Beerlao, but not dark. I will head over to Nana next week then, it's been a long time since I've been down that way.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Some time back, they were having a special night for Beer Lao Dark every week... But I'm not sure if they're still doing that.

Likewise, they were in the recent past having a happy hour special until 8 pm daily of 75 baht per bottle for Beer Lao dark. But I'm not really a customer there, so I'm not sure if that's still in effect either.

Best to call or email them ahead of time to confirm.

Ahh, and now that you tickle my memory, the very nice Beer Vault Pub at the Four Points Sheraton in Suk Soi 15 definitely has BLD on its regular drinks menu, 120 baht per bottle. No happy hour deal for that beer, though they have BL regular on 2 for 1 Happy Hour special there (120 baht for 2 bottles).

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Was shopping at Tesco OnNut yesterday and, after having a really empty liquor section for long after the flooding had ceased, I found that their limited imported beers selection seemed to have much improved over what I'd seen in the past.

Tesco's prices aren't the best... Foodland seems to have better prices generally on the same items, though not stocking all of the items I saw at Tesco.

To my surprise, took home a Leffe Blonde and tried my first one last night, finding it quite pleasant, clean and good taste, enjoyable for drinking -- but not inexpensive.

Here's a look at what they had on offer, with the shelve prices shown:

(The ones in the first photo alongside the Leffe I didn't recognize at all, and don't recall ever having seen here before. If anyone can chime in on those brands, it would be interesting to know).

Blackthorn, Natch & Keppler

Several of the Paulaner bottles appear to be the dark beer variety.

Cooper's Ale and Stout

Stella Artois

Edited May 19, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[smokie36]

I visit Bkk every month on business and would like to find a bar that serves Beerlao dark around Sukhumvit Soi 11 area, are there any?

Think I had some in Bully's by Soi 4 a while back. Maybe the German Brewhouse stocks it?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Do you mean the German restaurant on Suk Soi 11?

They might...but I don't recall seeing it offered there.

[Plucky]

Not hoegarden. Warstein would be good.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Much to my surprise and pleasure, my local Foodland Market now is stocking bottles of Beer Lao Dark, in addition to the Beer Lao Lager that they previously had supplied. I haven't seen Beer Lao Dark in Foodland for seemingly a long time, and it's been hard to find elsewhere on retail.

I noticed there's also a separate TV thread now running out of Chiang Mai that says the Carlsberg beer folks are or will be the local distributor for Beer Lao. FWIW, I did also notice that my local Foodland also now is stocking cans of Carlsberg, which I don't recall seeing there before.

[Kilgore Trout]

I've been having Leffe at Bourbon st.; quite good on tap. Unfortunately quite expensive.

Wine connection has some good belgian beers on tap as well; I've been enjoying the Barbar. Again, not cheap.

Would love to see more US microbrews; My favorite Goose Island, Sierra Nevada, Dogfishhead, Big Sky etc. etc.

[brotherother]

I've been having Leffe at Bourbon st.; quite good on tap. Unfortunately quite expensive.

Wine connection has some good belgian beers on tap as well; I've been enjoying the Barbar. Again, not cheap.

Would love to see more US microbrews; My favorite Goose Island, Sierra Nevada, Dogfishhead, Big Sky etc. etc.

Good news, a friend was at a recent event and got talking to a company who claim in the next few months to start importing microbrews from the US.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

What beer did they end up serving at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 4th of July event in BKK this year?

I was surprised to learn last year it was Samuel Adams. But I didn't hear anything about this year's event.

Are there any retail or pub sources at present for any U.S. microbrews?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Much to my surprise and pleasure, my local Foodland Market now is stocking bottles of Beer Lao Dark, in addition to the Beer Lao Lager that they previously had supplied. I haven't seen Beer Lao Dark in Foodland for seemingly a long time, and it's been hard to find elsewhere on retail.

I noticed there's also a separate TV thread now running out of Chiang Mai that says the Carlsberg beer folks are or will be the local distributor for Beer Lao. FWIW, I did also notice that my local Foodland also now is stocking cans of Carlsberg, which I don't recall seeing there before.

Returned from shopping tonight at Big C Ratchajamri store across from Central World.

Noticed they had bottles of Beer Lao Dark for 48b apiece... no Beer Lao Lager... but an expanded selection of Carlsberg. Never seen them stock Beer Lao Dark before.

The price at Foodland for the BLD bottles was 47b.

Edited July 15, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

As far as bottled beer goes, my personal tastes tend to go towards Japanese beers, I do love Sapporo, Kirin, and Asahi.

Bloody great beers I reckon, to each their own.

Asahi (Super Dry) from Japan is a great beer.

Unfortunately the stuff made under license in Thailand is on a par with Heineken, and Singh - Very close to undrinkable.

Unlike Asahi, AFAIK, Sapporo has no local brewery license here... But it is possible to find imported Sapporo both at some Japanese bars/restaurants around town, and also at some retail outlets.

To my surprise, I lately came across 330 ml cans of imported Sapporo at the small Max Value shop on the ground floor of Rain Hill Mall on Suk Road at about Soi 47... A bit pricey at 85 baht per can, but that's less than you'd typically pay for any number of pedestrian beers in various bars and restaurants around town.

That mini mall kind of caters to a Japanese clientele, or at least that was the original marketing plan, so it kind of makes sense they'd carry something like that. From the display in the front of the store, it very much looks like it's an ongoing thing -- not some temporary special.

Edited January 13, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Terry Newman]

What is an expat bar?

A meeting place for secret millionaires, ex-SAS, olympic gold medallists, retired muay-thai champions, etc.

yes, so true, it really is.

Hey, what about American Beers on Tap in Bangkok, Does anywhere have a good selection?

[smokie36]

BeerLao dark. Bring me some now.....

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

yes, so true, it really is.Hey, what about American Beers on Tap in Bangkok, Does anywhere have a good selection?

Speaking of American microbrews here in BKK, I came across what seems like a rare opportunity and special that will be going on at the BeerVault pub at the Four Points Sheraton on Sukhumvit Soi 15 all through January.

A broad selection of Rogue and Anderson Valley brand bottled beers available and on special two-for-one, which works out at 175 per bottle via the 350 baht price. Tonight when I asked, the wait staff said they had available all the varieties they had listed on their menu...though in the past in such specials, the BeerVault has seemed to run out of stock during the period of their various (and often quite good) specials.

These were the two I tried tonight on a first run at their special.

[jamora]

On tap or bottle, I would go for Mikkeller. They make some of the best and most interesting beers in the world.

Found BrewDog the other day... also pretty good stuff!

[williewolf]

Had some Fullers "London Pride" the other day at The Crossbar Suk soi 23. Also stocks IPA, ESB and Porter.

Missing my "BATHAMS" though!!!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On tap or bottle, I would go for Mikkeller. They make some of the best and most interesting beers in the world.

Found BrewDog the other day... also pretty good stuff!

Where in BKK???

[Newguy70]

Guinness, Hoegarrden

[tb86]

yes, so true, it really is.Hey, what about American Beers on Tap in Bangkok, Does anywhere have a good selection?

Speaking of American microbrews here in BKK, I came across what seems like a rare opportunity and special that will be going on at the BeerVault pub at the Four Points Sheraton on Sukhumvit Soi 15 all through January.

A broad selection of Rogue and Anderson Valley brand bottled beers available and on special two-for-one, which works out at 175 per bottle via the 350 baht price. Tonight when I asked, the wait staff said they had available all the varieties they had listed on their menu...though in the past in such specials, the BeerVault has seemed to run out of stock during the period of their various (and often quite good) specials.

These were the two I tried tonight on a first run at their special.

Tons of us micros available here now Anderson and rouge, maybey 10 types.. The company is beervana the also do home delivery check it out seekbeervana.com