Expensive imported beer at half price

[bangmai]

and dark, too.

[keo]

In answer to daoyai, an opened keg does have a very limited lifespan. Once opened it relies on a regular flow of customers drinking it, probably over a couple of days, otherwise it tends to go off ( flat ).

Absolute nonsense! Stored at the correct temperature, unpasteurised beer kegs will keep for 2 months after opened. Pasteurised beer will keep for 6 months. Cask ale, on the other hand, where the beer is exposed to air, you have 3 days to finish it once opened.

2 posters have commented on flat beer and the assumption that is indicitive of freshness or staleness. It is not an indicator, most if not all modern keg beer is flat, that is cabonation is injected as it is dispensed and is actually the process to get the beer out of the keg, so no co2, no beer.

Some people like their beer "flat" with a foamy "head" (Germans and Irish come to mind) so in pouring the staff is instructed to pour directly to the bottom of the glass, foaming the beer and depleting the co2 bubbles. I don't like that style at all and like lots of carbonation in the beer.

I instruct the wait staff to tip my glass and slowly fill the glass to preserve the bubbles. I actually got rebuffed by a bartender once, saying he was ordered by the boss to pour "correctly" the very expensive Irish beer making it flat with a foamy head and he implied I was some kind of unsophistcate (true) for wanting it poured incorectly. They won the argument and lost a customer.

BR staff will pour it the way you want it but you may have to stand by to make sure, for that kind of money you should get what you want !... by the way I really like the taste of good beer and wine. Thai beer tastes ok when the air temp is around 40 the beer is ice cold and you have spicy food to make you thirsty.

More nonsense! Kegs are carbonated by the brewery, not injected as it is dispensed! If this wasn't the case, how do you explain that Key Kegs, which can be served with pressurised air (as the gas does not come into direct contact with the beer) pour carbonated beer?

A beer should be poured with the glass tilted until half full, and then straight down the middle for the second half. This causes the C02 dissolved in the beer to be released properly and gives the beer fizz, and a nice head. If you pour with the glass tilted for the whole glass, the CO2 will not be released properly, and will remain a liquid. So you'll get a flat beer with no head, and the C02 gas will be released in your stomach. Lovely.

In answer to daoyai, an opened keg does have a very limited lifespan. Once opened it relies on a regular flow of customers drinking it, probably over a couple of days, otherwise it tends to go off ( flat ). Thats why generally large keg beers dont work here. It works with the Guinness at UN Irish and The Pub because they have both a very regular flow of customers drinking it and more importantly they have someone who knows how to look after it.

At Beer Republic, their emphasis is on "cool and trendy" not on the important practicality outlined above. Put simply, you cant pipe up a keg and leave it for a week or two because it doesnt last that long. Last time I tried BR ( to see if it had improved ) I had a pint of Greene King ( English draft beer ) and to use the old cliche "it was as flat as a fart" , virtually undrinkable and 320 baht cost!

However, when I was in there, Chinese tourists and Thai students were drinking similar, seemingly enjoying it because.....drinking English draft beer is obviously so cool, and they had no idea what they were drinking was crap.....a classic case of "the emperors new clothes" in action !!

....and before anyone suggests that I m some kind of "beer bore" absolutely I m not, I drink local beers much of the time, I just think that when a place sets up as a pub trading draft beers it should make sure its product is sold in the best condition, as you would expect with food bought fresh in a supermarket.

5 days max for keg beers. Another consideration is that the pipes are cleaned irregularly (should be done every day and every time a keg is changed), usually every couple of weeks here by the beer suppliers, not the pub staff/owners.

I have given up on the draft ales here as they rarely work unless it's in a place with a high turnover and where the owners know what they're doing.

Even more nonsense! Craft in Bangkok has 40 taps. Do you think they clean the 40 pipes every day?! And why would the beer suppliers be responsible for cleaning the beer lines?

For anyone interested, Riverside Beer Factory now have draft beer from Beervana, two taps. Deschutes Chainbreaker and Fresh Squeezed IPA. Not sure of the price, no doubt it will be expensive, but will be stored and served correctly. Beervana know what they are talking about when it comes to beer, you guys clearly don't!

[bangmai]

The distributors cleaning the lines is common in the US, and is done every week or so. This gentlemen's club I used to go to in Phoenix had 1 USD half pints of Stella, Heinekin, etc. from 11am-noon, M-f, and I watched them do it a few times. It's much more high tech now, with almost zero loss of beer. They cleaned 8 taps in less than 30 minutes. But, they actually keep it refrigerated properly, and pressurized. Bacteria growth is exponential from 33-80F. So what that means here, is if they lose power, shut it off at night, have a failing compressor, then the beer is going to taste bad.

BTW, there is a bar in Lampang called Black Cowboy, that seems to know what it is doing, as far as serving beer. Nice selection, and only 80 for a large Tiger, if you are on a budget.

[CMKiwi]

When I was in the military I at one time was the President of the Mess Committee. This involved chairing and overseeing the running of a Warrant Officer and Senior NCO mess. Part of that included the running of the bar. All the beer stock was chilled including kegs The keg stock had their own cooler room and all lines were pressurised From memory lines were cleaned weekly. Very rarely if ever were flat or off beers served. I don't recall that happening during my 6 month extra duty. It's not that hard to store beer correctly but there is an electricity cost as beer needs to be kept cold/chilled.

Kegs will keep well I'd kept chilled and pressurised. However being an Army base our stock had a good turnover so there was never a chance of anything going stale.

And who doesn't love an ice cold beer on a stinking hot day?

[JaseTheBass]

Sorry Keo. You're talking out your donkey. The draught (keg) bitters last around 5 days once tapped. (From experience being ex- Greene King)

[keo]

Sorry Keo. You're talking out your donkey. The draught (keg) bitters last around 5 days once tapped. (From experience being ex- Greene King)

If you are talking about draught cask ale, served with a hand pump, I totally agree.

If you are talking about draught keg ale, served with CO2, then you are the one talking out your donkey. If Greene King bitter kegs only lasted 5 days after tapping, then they either stored them at too high a temperature, weren't sanitizing properly, or were using air to drive the kegs (or all 3).

Google "How long does a keg last once tapped", show me a link that says 5 days, and I'll buy you a pint of flat Brewdog Punk IPA from HOBS!

From Micromatic (an informative website regarding draft beer set up)...

Keg beer will remain fresh if dispensing with CO2, while maintaining the proper temperature and pressure:

• Non-pasteurized draft beer about 45-60 days.

• Pasteurized draft beer about 90-120 days.

I've tapped over 20 kegs in the last 12 months, and they all tasted great until the last glass - not one keg went off after 5 days!

[JaseTheBass]

I'm talking about keg ale which uses CO2 & Nitrogen. I can't show a link to years of personal professional experience dealing with these products in the tropics.

[landtrout]

The distributors cleaning the lines is common in the US, and is done every week or so. This gentlemen's club I used to go to in Phoenix had 1 USD half pints of Stella, Heinekin, etc. from 11am-noon, M-f, and I watched them do it a few times. It's much more high tech now, with almost zero loss of beer. They cleaned 8 taps in less than 30 minutes. But, they actually keep it refrigerated properly, and pressurized. Bacteria growth is exponential from 33-80F. So what that means here, is if they lose power, shut it off at night, have a failing compressor, then the beer is going to taste bad.

BTW, there is a bar in Lampang called Black Cowboy, that seems to know what it is doing, as far as serving beer. Nice selection, and only 80 for a large Tiger, if you are on a budget.

If I ever find myself timing the beer distributors cleaning tap lines in a "gentlemen's club" in Phoenix before noon on a weekday, I suspect that there will be certain, uhhh... facts that will need to be faced. A soul searching, if you will. A taking of inventory.

With any luck, one of the previous night's customers will have forgotten a quarter on the bar, which I will then be able to use to call for help!

[bangmai]

I can't imagine why anyone would start work at 4am, when it doesn't reach 115F until 14:30 (30 USD per hour tax free). Free cheeseburger and chips from 11-2. Five USD prime rib dinners all day on Thursdays. Always one with a boil on her rear.

Sorry to disappoint you, but no Trannies. http://www.cheetahsaz.com/

Edited August 7, 2015 by bangmai

[haybilly]

Looks like an interesting venue, if I ever get to Phoenix (I'm sure that's a song)

[bangmai]

Looks like an interesting venue, if I ever get to Phoenix (I'm sure that's a song)

It was a five minute walk from the house I was working on. There is another one about a 15 minute walk, but it is much more gritty: http://www.bandaidsclub.com/

But there is a British place about a 10 minute walk, no dancing girls, kind of gay, and beers are way more expensive than that: http://www.georgeanddragonpub.net/ ...but they show the soccer games.

[haybilly]

I might be a Brit, but the other places sound better.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[bangmai]

Bangers and Mash=420 THB++ kind of expensive, looks kind of bland, beers are expensive...sound familiar?