Chang Light Now In Stores...

[greenwanderer108]

On my way home, stopped in Villa to buy a few beers (something other than the standard beer at the convenient store at my apartment i.e. chang, leo, heineken, sing ) And the most beautiful new green bottle catches my eye...a new one that certainly wasn't part of my bottle collection!

What's that?? Chang light??? No way, are they serious? Yeputy deputy, it's chang light alright? The shock wasn't over yet though, I squinted and blinked a few times to make sure I was reading the price tag correctly...

Normal Chang - 38 baht

Chang Light - 49 baht

Wow, that's on par with Tiger and Singha. Well, being the bottle collector and beer sampler that I am, had to get me two bottles. What?? Only 4.2 percent alcohal?? Well, I guess it's the same as drinking American grocery store beer, only stronger

So, far not so bad...smoother than the brown bottle, yet similar brew...almost a lager feel. It's like Chang minus the poisinous fumes that string out when you open it.

Question is, will it survive the Thai market. Chang brown is known all over for having the 'cheap yet strong' quality

This new Chang green is the opposite 'Expensive yet weak'

If you ask me, they could lower it by about 10 baht, and then it might have a hope...but don't think many people are willing to pay 50 baht for 4 percent beer...

What do y'all think?

Edited May 2, 2006 by greenwanderer108

[The Dan Sai Kid]

I think that it looks suspiciously like a bottle of Carlsberg - and doesn't taste too disimilair

[skoperism]

I would bet my hat it will fail like

Clear Cola

Blue Pepsi

You may recall Miller was the most popular in the us decades ago, It dissapeard due to extending its line to much (Light / Premium / Draught) Ect

I dont know what countries have Coke zero, But my guess is that it is also on its way to the graveyard

[Neeranam]

Don't see the point myself. Would anyone drink Special Brew Lite?

I used to drink Chang as it was cheap to get pissed. 3 bottles 100 baht and well on the way.

No one drinks Chang for the taste, do they?

[Gumballl]

I tried a Chang Lite at a bar. It costs the same (80 baht) as would a regular Chang beer. Did I order another?... nope! If I am going to get pissed, might as well do it with a stronger beer.

As for those of you who despise the taste (or lack thereof) of Chang, try pouring it into a glass, and adding a slice of lime. It takes away the bitterness, and sweetens the taste.

[bmanly]

Normal Chang - 38 baht

Chang Light - 49 baht

Question is, will it survive the Thai market. Chang brown is known all over for having the 'cheap yet strong' quality

What do y'all think?

In most Countries around the world the Governments encourage consumption of low alcohol beer for health and saftey reasons and in many cases excise taxes are lowered and you can buy it cheaper. I can't see any Thais paying more for less and I certainly wouldn't do it either.

Just a side issue, a friend of mine bought a Chang Beer in Sydney about 3 Months ago and on the lable it showed it was only 4.9%. Looks like they have 3 alcohol levels for this beer now.

Edited May 2, 2006 by bmanly

[kkf123]

Are there anyother light beers available in Thailand?

[steve w]

singha gold is a light beer me thinks...............chang tastes imho like stale heineken filtered through a ladyboys g-string.

[rishi]

... saw Singha Light (cans) today - Makro, Chiang Mai (in case you can't find them elsewhere).

[Kan Win]

On my way home, stopped in Villa to buy a few beers (something other than the standard beer at the convenient store at my apartment i.e. chang, leo, heineken , sing ) And the most beautiful new green bottle catches my eye...a new one that certainly wasn't part of my bottle collection!

What's that?? Chang light??? No way, are they serious? Yeputy deputy, it's chang light alright? The shock wasn't over yet though, I squinted and blinked a few times to make sure I was reading the price tag correctly...

Normal Chang - 38 baht

Chang Light - 49 baht

Wow, that's on par with Tiger and Singha . Well, being the bottle collector and beer sampler that I am, had to get me two bottles. What?? Only 4.2 percent alcohal?? Well, I guess it's the same as drinking American grocery store beer, only stronger

So, far not so bad...smoother than the brown bottle, yet similar brew...almost a lager feel. It's like Chang minus the poisinous fumes that string out when you open it.

Question is, will it survive the Thai market. Chang brown is known all over for having the 'cheap yet strong' quality

This new Chang green is the opposite 'Expensive yet weak'

If you ask me, they could lower it by about 10 baht, and then it might have a hope...but don't think many people are willing to pay 50 baht for 4 percent beer...

What do y'all think?

Nice Photos - tank you "very light"

[Jockstar]

saw Singha Light (cans)

3.5% if i remember. Didnt buy it but saw it. The % put me off.

[madmitch]

Are there anyother light beers available in Thailand?

I think San Miguel started this new trend and, yes, San Miguel Light tastes like water. I also made a mistake and bought a can of Singha Light, just because it was there and it tasted even weaker than the San Miguel, which I thought impossible.

Chang made for export has always had a lower abv for some reason. Also as well as Chang Light, they have also introduced bottled Chang Draft.

If the Thai brewing industry is following an American trend then maybe in a few years we may see microbreweries start to proliferate. Which begs another question; are there any localised (legal!) breweries in Thailand, apart from the brewpubs? I'm not aware of any (even Phuket Beer is now brewed by San Miguel).

[greenwanderer108]

I tried a Chang Lite at a bar. It costs the same (80 baht) as would a regular Chang beer. Did I order another?... nope! If I am going to get pissed, might as well do it with a stronger beer.

As for those of you who despise the taste (or lack thereof) of Chang, try pouring it into a glass, and adding a slice of lime. It takes away the bitterness, and sweetens the taste.

I never did get the logic of paying 80-120 baht for a small bottle of Chang out in the pubs/clubs...On rare occasions, I'll allow myself to pay the hi-jacked 60-70 baht for a large bottle at a nicer resteraunt or 100-150 for the pitcher...

I prefer either the standard 30-35 baht large bottles for home drinking or the 40 baht (5 baht surcharge) at the snooker hall...

Anything more, you're either paying for atmosphere or eye candy...which I've got more than enough at home. As I see it, those Cheer Beer chicks ought to be wearing a lot less for me to pay the marked up prices for beer

As for the Chang Light....don't think I'll fancy it again...4.2 percent just didn't cut it last night...ended up having to get a normal Chang to feel even semi drunk... With 49 baht, I'd be happier with Tiger.

Edited May 3, 2006 by greenwanderer108

[PREM-R]

I think that both Singha and Chang 'light' beers are aimed at the younger 'trendy' crowd, higher price, nice bottle with the foil around the top, intended to be drunk from the bottle.

[OneeyedJohn]

When I used to sell Thai beer in the UK Singha was virtually the only beer available from Thailand, however there were excellent beers Klosters,Amarit and others in Thailand that weren't exported. I believe that Singha was 6.4 abv at the time but the export label put it at 6.0 just to keep it below the next level of tax. I used to get seriously pissed on Singha in the old days ( 80's ) before thay brought in proper quality control. Now that Chang is also export quality I think they will overextend and dilute the demand by bring in variations on a theme.

I agree there is absolutely no point in drinking the lite version of any of these brands.

If u see on the Menu Specials board :-

Chicken Yellow Curry

Chicken Red Curry

Someone is always going to ask "Wots the difference?" and the answer will always be....

The F**cking color !

[ilyushin]

San Mig also has a lite beer. The brewers are trying to capture the female market. My wife could us a beer to cool out at times.

[NguuMuu]

I have been waiting for this since it was announced that Chang would release a light version in the first half of this year. I was surprised to also find out that Singha released a light beer also.

A couple observations:

Singha light seems to only be available in small cans and bottles.

A small bottle of Singha light is about 4 baht cheaper than regular small Singha.

A large bottle of Chang light is about 13 baht more than a regular large Chang

A large bottle of Chang draught is about 2 baht more than a regular large Chang

Alcohol content: Singha light (3.5%); Chang light (~4.5%); Chang draught (5%)

What does all this mean to me? I'm one happy camper with Singha light. I like Singha better than Chang in the first place. I also like light beers with a low amount of alcohol. Yes, I said that correctly. I tend to drink rather quickly, but I don't want to get drunk too fast/early so by drinking a beer with only 3.5% (a little more than half the normal beer) I can keep the same speed but last twice as long. Finally, Singha light ends up being a good value at 38 baht for two small bottles. Say what you want about me needing to slow down or drinking beer that tastes like water, etc, blah, but this is what I prefer.

A final note...at my local supermarket Singha light seems to be selling well with them being out of stock of the bottles and only having the cans available whereas there has been plenty of Chang light available. The cashier said a lot of people have been buying the Singha light.