Is it just me or does Draft Beer in Thailand taste like ...

[slipperylobster]

Many things I love so much about Thailand....except...watered down beer. Especially sad when they present a glass of ice with one ounce of beer in it. How about the way they secret the bottle far away from your table, so that you have to wait for them to top off your glass. I just get up and grab it, so that it remains handy by my side. Call me irresponsible and crude..but that's the way I like it.

[sunshine51]

@david48...

Have any idea what the girl in the OP tastes like?

Beer's beer after 3 swallows.

[Issanman]

US beer is the worst tasting crap, so anything is a step up.

I'll be in the US for three more weeks. Come and see me. I will prove that you are wrong. Many excellent beers now in the US. The major well-known US brands do suck, though.

[Kudel]

US beer is the worst tasting crap, so anything is a step up.

I'll be in the US for three more weeks. Come and see me. I will prove that you are wrong. Many excellent beers now in the US. The major well-known US brands do suck, though.

I saw a program on tv a while ago about micro breweries in the us they seem to make some decent beers some of these guys come to Belgium sometimes to learn and look for quality ingredients and recepy's.But putting ice in beer like chang is to lower the alcohol content i learned that the hard way a few years ago in phuket two large bottles with a meal and woke up the day after with a terrible headache the so called chang over. Edited December 20, 2013 by Kudel

[thailiketoo]

US beer is the worst tasting crap, so anything is a step up. Mexican made Corona are the best there. The Euro beer loses something in the long journey, like flavor and freshness.

2538 breweries in the USA. Did you taste them all or are you just blowing smoke out your.......

[Ghostnigel]

You've all made me a tad thirsty...!!

Cheers...

[Ghostnigel]

No, the pic isn't sideways...you're just lying on the floor pissed..!

[GrantSmith]

No, the pic isn't sideways...you're just lying on the floor pissed..!

It's the only way you can drink that fermented klong water

[Ghostnigel]

No, the pic isn't sideways...you're just lying on the floor pissed..!

It's the only way you can drink that fermented klong water

No need to be a d#ck just because your an alcy!!

[GrantSmith]

No, the pic isn't sideways...you're just lying on the floor pissed..!

It's the only way you can drink that fermented klong water

No need to be a d#ck just because your an alcy!!

Drinking Archa would be enough to make you want to quit drinking

[Ghostnigel]

No, the pic isn't sideways...you're just lying on the floor pissed..!

It's the only way you can drink that fermented klong water

No need to be a d#ck just because your an alcy!!

Drinking Archa would be enough to make you want to quit drinking

You are dead right, time to give up the amber stuff...

But it's still better than draught <deleted>, you must agree with that?

[MB1]

It's not unlikely that they haven't bled the pipes properly after washing them the night before, but this would only affect the first one or two drinks. So possibly a bit adulterated - agree that it tastes watery until after the fourth or fifth shot from the tequila girl. Drink, I mean.

Never cared much for XXXX, but went to the brewery in Brisbane and drank the pre-canned stuff in the hospitality room. dam_n it was nice.

True: XXXX went on a big PR drive in California many years ago with the slogan "I can feel a Four-X coming on." Bomnbed badly. The biggest selling condom in the US is, you guessed it, XXXX.

Only reason the Aussies called it XXXX was that they can't spell piss..So I'm told anyway...

[7by7]

How about the way they secret the bottle far away from your table, so that you have to wait for them to top off your glass. I just get up and grab it, so that it remains handy by my side. Call me irresponsible and crude..but that's the way I like it.

Whether large or small, up market or down, every bar in Thailand I've frequented has always either left the bottle on the table or on a small trolley next to the table.

Unfortunately drinking beer in Thailand usually means drinking yellow, fizzy stuff; whether from a bottle, can or keg. But it's better than nothing. Even English bitters are usually in a bottle or can and so pasteurised, homogenised with all taste taken out (that's from a song, but I can't remember which or by whom).

Stella may be Belgian, but it's still crap. There are many excellent beers brewed in Belgium; Rochefort being a particular favourite of mine. Is it available in Thailand?

[Kudel]

How about the way they secret the bottle far away from your table, so that you have to wait for them to top off your glass. I just get up and grab it, so that it remains handy by my side. Call me irresponsible and crude..but that's the way I like it.

Whether large or small, up market or down, every bar in Thailand I've frequented has always either left the bottle on the table or on a small trolley next to the table.

Unfortunately drinking beer in Thailand usually means drinking yellow, fizzy stuff; whether from a bottle, can or keg. But it's better than nothing. Even English bitters are usually in a bottle or can and so pasteurised, homogenised with all taste taken out (that's from a song, but I can't remember which or by whom).

Stella may be Belgian, but it's still crap. There are many excellent beers brewed in Belgium; Rochefort being a particular favourite of mine. Is it available in Thailand?

www.belbev.asia have a look on this site Rochefort is available in Thailand according to theyre website .

[MB1]

All beer of the tap is watered , has to be to keep the chill in the tap line ,

Venues vary as per the amount of supply and the intake /outake to supply the consumer.

I never enjoy tapped beer , never will as the amount of co2 will vary in different establishments

depending on the amount of flow . Can make you feel ill sometimes.

Yes beer has water in it, it's an ingredient needed to make it..

You don't need water in a line to chill beer/lager, have you never heard of coolers/flash coolers that chill the beer direct from the keg to beer line into a glass....

Most draught beer is delivered from a pressurised keg and to water it down from the keg through the beer line is do-able but is probably more a pain in the arse to do than most would care to do, one way to do it would involve adding a seperate water keg and using co2 to pressurise that keg and then connecting a splitter to both water keg and beer keg, then you would have the problem of getting the right amount of water flow that you wanted to add to the beer through both lines..

Watering down beer that comes in a cask/ real ale where the keg is not pressurised is simple to add water..

One of the simplest and most obvious reasons to me as to why some draught beer tastes a bit watery in hot climates is that sometimes the beer is served into an iced glass, that iced glass contains water which mixes with the beer in the glass....

Another reason could be that the lines have been cleaned and not all the water had been pulled through the lines after re- connecting to the beer keg...but even then, after pulling off a couple more pints the beer would be all beer...It's just that the first to get there drink after the lines had been cleaned may taste a watery taste...

Oh and another simple one that can make beer taste watered down, the glass is still wet after washing, beer should be served in a clean dry glass ideally....

Edited December 20, 2013 by MB1

[GrantSmith]

No, the pic isn't sideways...you're just lying on the floor pissed..!

It's the only way you can drink that fermented klong water

No need to be a d#ck just because your an alcy!!

Drinking Archa would be enough to make you want to quit drinking

You are dead right, time to give up the amber stuff...

But it's still better than draught <deleted>, you must agree with that?

Than Chang Draught? Absolutely that stuff is horrible! Has this bitter battery acid taste...

Chang Export's not bad and drinkable in a pinch..

Singha 'Draught' is palatable, I actually prefer the Singha Light as opposed to the full strength, for a light beer it's got plenty of flavor...

That Federbrau Chang make as a 'Becks' knock off is a bit meh...

At 90 baht a stubby, I'll take Cooper's Pale or Sparkling Ale any day of the week..

[GrantSmith]

Only reason the Aussies called it XXXX was that they can't spell piss..So I'm told anyway...

Oi, it's only the Queenslanders who don't know how to spell beer!

The rest of us 'convicts' have no such issue

That said XXXX Bitter ain't half bad certainly runs rings around their Victorian Cousins

[Ghostnigel]

No, the pic isn't sideways...you're just lying on the floor pissed..!

It's the only way you can drink that fermented klong water

No need to be a d#ck just because your an alcy!!

Drinking Archa would be enough to make you want to quit drinking

You are dead right, time to give up the amber stuff...

But it's still better than draught <deleted>, you must agree with that?

Than Chang Draught? Absolutely that stuff is horrible! Has this bitter battery acid taste...

Chang Export's not bad and drinkable in a pinch..

Singha 'Draught' is palatable, I actually prefer the Singha Light as opposed to the full strength, for a light beer it's got plenty of flavor...

That Federbrau Chang make as a 'Becks' knock off is a bit meh...

At 90 baht a stubby, I'll take Cooper's Pale or Sparkling Ale any day of the week..

You're the Maaan....

[thailiketoo]

After riding 10 red horses anything looks and/or tastes good.

[NumbNut]

David48.....My god is the Brekkie creek hotel still standing??? What a pub that one is. best beer and steak in Brissy...

I think it's owned by the same owners as Cavs at Labrador, and that's great too....or it used to be.

A small diversion away from the topic to answer the query ...

Now don't go and get all teary eyed on my now reminiscing ...

.

Yeah, a beer on the wood in the brekky... shame to hear it's been 'yuppie-fied'.

Used to have the best steaks in Brissy too, but I think that honour goes to The Norman now, I think?

Edited December 20, 2013 by NumbNut

[GrantSmith]

David48.....My god is the Brekkie creek hotel still standing??? What a pub that one is. best beer and steak in Brissy...

I think it's owned by the same owners as Cavs at Labrador, and that's great too....or it used to be.

A small diversion away from the topic to answer the query ...

Now don't go and get all teary eyed on my now reminiscing ...

.

Yeah, a beer on the wood in the brekky... shame to hear it's been 'yuppie-fied'.

Used to have the best steaks in Brissy to, but I think that honour goes to the Norman, I think?

Think The Morrison's got the best pub steak in Brisneyland, Brekkie Creek went yuppy the minute they started developing Hamilton

[GrantSmith]

All beer of the tap is watered , has to be to keep the chill in the tap line ,

Venues vary as per the amount of supply and the intake /outake to supply the consumer.

I never enjoy tapped beer , never will as the amount of co2 will vary in different establishments

depending on the amount of flow . Can make you feel ill sometimes.

Yes beer has water in it, it's an ingredient needed to make it..

You don't need water in a line to chill beer/lager, have you never heard of coolers/flash coolers that chill the beer direct from the keg to beer line into a glass....

Most draught beer is delivered from a pressurised keg and to water it down from the keg through the beer line is do-able but is probably more a pain in the arse to do than most would care to do, one way to do it would involve adding a seperate water keg and using co2 to pressurise that keg and then connecting a splitter to both water keg and beer keg, then you would have the problem of getting the right amount of water flow that you wanted to add to the beer through both lines..

Watering down beer that comes in a cask/ real ale where the keg is not pressurised is simple to add water..

One of the simplest and most obvious reasons to me as to why some draught beer tastes a bit watery in hot climates is that sometimes the beer is served into an iced glass, that iced glass contains water which mixes with the beer in the glass....

Another reason could be that the lines have been cleaned and not all the water had been pulled through the lines after re- connecting to the beer keg...but even then, after pulling off a couple more pints the beer would be all beer...It's just that the first to get there drink after the lines had been cleaned may taste a watery taste...

Oh and another simple one that can make beer taste watered down, the glass is still wet after washing, beer should be served in a clean dry glass ideally....

I think also it may be the soapy taste comes from not flushing the lines properly after cleaning and leaving that chemical residue. I often notice that taste in tap beer here. Fortunately it's diluted enough that it won't burn a hole in your throat.

Here's a link to one of the chemical company back home that's basically tied into any beer contract.

http://www.bracton.com/hotel-chemical-solutions/in-the-cellar

[NumbNut]

I agree Dave. The draught beer in Bangers and Thailand generally does leave a bit to be desired, with to my mind two notable exceptions that I've stumbled across; The Old German Beer House on Soi 11 Sukhumvit and Bei Otto just up the road a bit on Soi 20 I think it is, on the same side of the road as Emporium.

The Old German Beerhouse has Bitberger and Warsteiner on tap, which is all fine and dandy but Bei Otto has my favourite beer of all, the mighty Hofbrau, the real deal from Munich on tap.

God I love Hofbrau... as Hoges used to say in one of the earlier Foster's beer adds, it tastes like 'an angel crying on your tongue'.

My work is a dry environment and I always drop into Bei Otto in the first few days when I'm back in Bangers for a beer or seven. It's imported, so it's a bit pricey, but no more then you would pay for a beer in Aussie now.

Off topic I know, apologies for that, the question was about draught beer in general, but I just had to get a plug into my two favourite watering holes in Bangers.

[Briggsy]

I have noticed the after effects of draught beer in Thailand are dramatically worse than bottled beer. So, around 12 years I decided to stick to bottles and cans and have occasionally dabbled in draught beers since. This has only confirmed my opinion that something not good is going on with draught. Stick to the bottled stuff.

[Showbags]

Does the formaldehyde in it give a different taste to the west ?

[thailiketoo]

Does the formaldehyde in it give a different taste to the west ?

I believe that is an urban legend unless you can link it.

[MB1]

I have noticed the after effects of draught beer in Thailand are dramatically worse than bottled beer. So, around 12 years I decided to stick to bottles and cans and have occasionally dabbled in draught beers since. This has only confirmed my opinion that something not good is going on with draught. Stick to the bottled stuff.

Some people say that bottled is best, others say draught is best, others say canned is best..

Some say that ultra violet light damages bottled beer (lightstruck), keg/cask beer does not have this issue....

I prefer draught to bottled, draft is normally always served in a glass which should be clean and dry, the glass allows the beer to agitate and realease aromas..

One thing about draught beers is that it's at the mercy of the bar owner and the dispense equipment used, brewers of different brands have their own recomendations and can recommend certain levels of carbonation, going away from the brewers recomendations can effect the taste of beer..

I think one of the biggest problems with draught beer in Thailand is that most people do not have a clue how to look after it, some think that connecting the keg is all they have to do...

Oh and as an addage, one of the reasons I'd stick to draught over bottles is where has the bottle been stored and has anything been crawling or pissing over it, has the bottle been cleaned before putting in the fridge, drinking out of a bottle is not to my taste...If anything use a clean glass...

Edited December 20, 2013 by MB1

[Cbr150r]

All beer of the tap is watered , has to be to keep the chill in the tap line ,

Venues vary as per the amount of supply and the intake /outake to supply the consumer.

I never enjoy tapped beer , never will as the amount of co2 will vary in different establishments

depending on the amount of flow . Can make you feel ill sometimes.

Yes beer has water in it, it's an ingredient needed to make it..

You don't need water in a line to chill beer/lager, have you never heard of coolers/flash coolers that chill the beer direct from the keg to beer line into a glass....

Most draught beer is delivered from a pressurised keg and to water it down from the keg through the beer line is do-able but is probably more a pain in the arse to do than most would care to do, one way to do it would involve adding a seperate water keg and using co2 to pressurise that keg and then connecting a splitter to both water keg and beer keg, then you would have the problem of getting the right amount of water flow that you wanted to add to the beer through both lines..

Watering down beer that comes in a cask/ real ale where the keg is not pressurised is simple to add water..

One of the simplest and most obvious reasons to me as to why some draught beer tastes a bit watery in hot climates is that sometimes the beer is served into an iced glass, that iced glass contains water which mixes with the beer in the glass....

Another reason could be that the lines have been cleaned and not all the water had been pulled through the lines after re- connecting to the beer keg...but even then, after pulling off a couple more pints the beer would be all beer...It's just that the first to get there drink after the lines had been cleaned may taste a watery taste...

Oh and another simple one that can make beer taste watered down, the glass is still wet after washing, beer should be served in a clean dry glass ideally....

Haha...cleaning the lines (in Thailand)...good one

[MB1]

All beer of the tap is watered , has to be to keep the chill in the tap line ,

Venues vary as per the amount of supply and the intake /outake to supply the consumer.

I never enjoy tapped beer , never will as the amount of co2 will vary in different establishments

depending on the amount of flow . Can make you feel ill sometimes.

Yes beer has water in it, it's an ingredient needed to make it..

You don't need water in a line to chill beer/lager, have you never heard of coolers/flash coolers that chill the beer direct from the keg to beer line into a glass....

Most draught beer is delivered from a pressurised keg and to water it down from the keg through the beer line is do-able but is probably more a pain in the arse to do than most would care to do, one way to do it would involve adding a seperate water keg and using co2 to pressurise that keg and then connecting a splitter to both water keg and beer keg, then you would have the problem of getting the right amount of water flow that you wanted to add to the beer through both lines..

Watering down beer that comes in a cask/ real ale where the keg is not pressurised is simple to add water..

One of the simplest and most obvious reasons to me as to why some draught beer tastes a bit watery in hot climates is that sometimes the beer is served into an iced glass, that iced glass contains water which mixes with the beer in the glass....

Another reason could be that the lines have been cleaned and not all the water had been pulled through the lines after re- connecting to the beer keg...but even then, after pulling off a couple more pints the beer would be all beer...It's just that the first to get there drink after the lines had been cleaned may taste a watery taste...

Oh and another simple one that can make beer taste watered down, the glass is still wet after washing, beer should be served in a clean dry glass ideally....

Haha...cleaning the lines (in Thailand)...good one

Let me assure you, they do clean the lines in Thailand,some maybe not as good as they need to be cleaned but they are cleaned by many ,let me also assure that if you had a pint of lager or a pint of beer from a line that has not been cleaned for ages is will taste awful, a vinegary taste is a common taste that indicates the line needs cleaning....If you don't clean them you can get a build up of yeast, mold, bacteria,

beerstone etc whithin the line...

It's good practise to clean the lines as word of mouth soon spreads and customers stop drinking in establishments where the beer tastes awful...

[David48]

Yeah, a beer on the wood in the brekky... shame to hear it's been 'yuppie-fied'.

Used to have the best steaks in Brissy too, but I think that honour goes to The Norman now, I think?

I read that quickly, and thought you wrote the Normandy Hotel.

Which was a <deleted> moment for me as I played my last year of League with those guys!