What Is Going On With Chang Beer?

[Vogele123]

I am sitting here with 3 bottles of Chang "Classic" The first bottle is brewed by Beer Thai Kamphangphet, it has 630 mL and is 6.4% ABV, the 2nd bottle I have is from "Brewed at Beer Thai (1991) Public Co. Ltd. Khamphangphet" and the label says 6.0% ABV, the 3rd Bottle is "Brewed at Beer Thai Brewery 1991 Co. Ltd. Ayuttaya and is 5.8%?

Anyone know what Thai Berr is doing with their brews? All are classed as Beer Chang Classic, but each one is very different, there are even differences in the labels??????

The 6.4% is probably an old brew, more than a year ago, but the other two, the 5.8 and the 6.0% were bought from the same shop in the same week, am I missing something about the definition of "CLASSIC"?

[CharlieH]

MOVED to the Pub

[Vogele123]

Woof!

[Vogele123]

Seriously, how can you call anything a classic when you have three variations available? Seems a bit mad eh?

I am sure Singha used to be about 6.4% then tamed it down to 5% for export, ruined the beer completely.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Vogele123

[Vogele123]

And.......does this answer or contribute anything?

[nazree360]

Honestly its the only beer in Thailand thts keeps me smiling in the LOS

[Vogele123]

And.......does this answer or contribute anything?

Weeeeeeeell, think classic was the original brew, light, Draught, then Export came along.All different........

You don't seem to understand what I am on about, no one gives a toss about Draft, Export etc. Why does Chang Classic keep changing?

[nazree360]

From what ive heard from the locals because chang being my fav beer only recently it has had the alcohol percentage on the btls.......not sure if its true

[Vogele123]

From what ive heard from the locals because chang being my fav beer only recently it has had the alcohol percentage on the btls.......not sure if its true

The Alcohol content has been there on the bottles for at least 10 years,

it seems a bit of a ripoff when they reduce the alcohol content by more than 9% and then up the price! We used to get 4 Changs for 100 Baht, 4 x 630 x 6.4%, now it is 4 Changs for 225 Baht and you have to check the alcohol content, it varies between "I NEED ONE MORE" to " A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP"

Edited May 12, 2015 by Vogele123

[nazree360]

Anyway thank u for the info will check on each btl when im buying ......

[Vogele123]

Anyway thank u for the info will check on each btl when im buying ......

If you are a beer drinker rather than a spirit person, you really can tell the second that the 5.8% compared to the 6.0% or the 6.4% hits the palate, it tastes totally different. (No I don't sniff and sample wines, I chug a beer and yes there is a difference!)

Can you imagine the Scottish Whisky Brigade if they found out that their favourite tipple had just been messed around with by up to +/-10% Alcohol?

If I wanted to drink horse piss like Archa and Leo I would buy it, I kind of like a Chang. (As it was)

Edited May 12, 2015 by Vogele123

[nazree360]

Agreed and yes indeed

[green job]

Honestly its the only beer in Thailand thts keeps me smiling in the LOS

Give me a pint of Barly Wine any day ( gold top )

[HooHaa]

why dont you check the dates on the bottles, determine when each was brewed?

[Jim walker]

Change to Leo I did

[seabear]

Honestly its the only beer in Thailand thts keeps me smiling in the LOS

And.......does this answer or contribute anything?

[nazree360]

Honestly its the only beer in Thailand thts keeps me smiling in the LOS

And.......does this answer or contribute anything?

Apologies wiseman......shoot

[jayceenik]

why dont you check the dates on the bottles, determine when each was brewed?

Brew dates are printed on the cardboard 12-box, not on the bottle.

Buy a dozen (not the 3 and 6-pack) and you'll know.

[slipperylobster]

Now, if this was a 40 dollar (or more) bottle of vintage wine...I could understand your concern.

Why worry about rot gut beer?

[recycler]

Beer is for drinking, not reading!

[zyphodb]

The Gov had a budget a year or 2 ago & the Chiang company reduced the size of the bottles from 640 to 630 ml & reduced the beer %age to 6.0% (as the extra tax was calculated on the % alcohol) to keep the price increase down allegedly... This year the budget has come again & they've reduced the %age again down to 5.8% & put it up 15 Bht for 12 big bottles...

I agree with you, its my favorite Thai beer & the taste does change each time, However, to me anyway it still tastes better than all the other Thai beers including its draught & export versions, they all taste "tinny" to me... Anyway yes, bloody annoying...

[SoiBiker]

Gotta love the idea of beer connoisseurs debating the taste of Chang. It's Thai beer, it all tastes of some variation of bugger all. Chuck some ice in it and get it down your neck.

[wombat]

3 different home brew sources sold on the black market hence the confusion in labeling?

[F4UCorsair]

Honestly its the only beer in Thailand thts keeps me smiling in the LOS

And.......does this answer or contribute anything?

Do the posting rules dictate that it must do either?

[stephenterry]

Chang special does my head in, literally. By far the best tasting Thai beer is Cheers extra (the red can that is sold in 7-11) 490ml 6%.

[wump]

Ah there is so much misinformation in this thread...

Of course the date is printed on EVERY bottle, not only on the carton (they could sell you old stuff otherwise). It is printed right inside the HA of CHANG in the label in fine print, please check your bottles.

The alcohol content was reduced from 6.4 to 6.0% over a year ago. It has recently been (quietly) reduced to 5.8%, probably just in time for the tax hike on 1st of April.

I bought a bottle of Chang last night from a small shop and was surprised it still had 6.0%... all the ones in 7-11 have 5.8%. This bottle was brewed on 19th of February. The ones in 7-11 usually aren't older than a month or so.

So there is no 3 different Chang Classics, just more and more ripoffs by the billionaire who owns the brewery and the government

[SOTIRIOS]

...they don't expect you to intellectualize....just buy it...chug it......(you know what comes next)...and repeat...

[green job]

Gotta love the idea of beer connoisseurs debating the taste of Chang. It's Thai beer, it all tastes of some variation of bugger all. Chuck some ice in it and get it down your neck.

Well maybe the the Elephants diet differs from area to area in Thailand. So when they collect the chang urine the taste and volume.varies.

[Fullstop]

Old news...

[khunbillmex]

Gotta love the idea of beer connoisseurs debating the taste of Chang. It's Thai beer, it all tastes of some variation of bugger all. Chuck some ice in it and get it down your neck.

Ah, so you haven't had Guatemalan beer? After a Gallo one wonders for a second why one is drinking Budweiser [uSA]. And then your remember the taste of Gallo. Same thing happens on Korean Air.

Chang is the king of beers in comparison. What I miss is Kloster. Nice and hoppy. A question -what happens to all the empties as I see no recycling effort.