Chang Classic - which year did it first appear?

[rott]

I arrived in 1997 and remember the 3 main beers being Carlsberg, Heineken and Singha. These were the ones in the bars in Pattaya. Amarit and Kloster were also avalable but I never saw anyone drinking them.

 

In my memory it was at least a year before  Chang and Leo were about, but now I am being told Chang was available in 1996. I find this difficult to believe, can anyone say whether I am right or wrong??

[johng]

I was drinking kloster beer in 1996...what ever happened to Thai beer (spelt Ty) seems it was replaced by Leo ?

[kkerry]

Production commenced March 1995 according to Wikipedia

 

ThaiBev Wiki

 

Kloster, I used to drink that. Is it still available? Haven't seen it in a long time but I don't drink much anymore and most of the small shops where I live sell only Leo and Singha now.

[rott]

43 minutes ago, kkerry said:

Production commenced March 1995 according to Wikipedia

 

Thanks for that, never thought of looking on Wiki.

 

Don't remember it being in Pattaya before 1998 though. But then we were all flash gits due to the exchange rate, so would not have considered it. A mate of mine who once described Chang and Leo as the dregs from the breweries, has recently upgraded from Archa to Chang, changing times.!!

[kkerry]

My memories of Chang from fifteen years ago were that it was considered cheap in the same way Cheers and Archa are now. Most people I knew back then drank Heineken or Singha. I drank Kloster because I preferred the taste and it was easy to find. Carlsberg was also good but then there was a big dispute with their local partner and it disappeared from the shelves for years. I didn't mind Chang Export but they got rid of that as well  

 

All the big breweries were around Pathumthani and Ayutthaya, don't know if that is still the case.

I have the occasional Leo now because it's what everyone drinks around here and it's sold everywhere.

[chrisinth]

5 hours ago, rott said:

Thanks for that, never thought of looking on Wiki.

 

Don't remember it being in Pattaya before 1998 though. But then we were all flash gits due to the exchange rate, so would not have considered it. A mate of mine who once described Chang and Leo as the dregs from the breweries, has recently upgraded from Archa to Chang, changing times.!!

1998 it was available in Pattaya, but I don't think it was on sale in any of the bars. It was 18 baht for a large bottle (and just called Chang at the time). That increased to 20 baht over the next year (I left Pattaya in 1999 and haven't drunk alcohol since then).............

 

The reason I'm so sure is that at that time we used to have a round-robin of afternoon drinking venues on Tuesday afternoons divided among about 6 of us and Chang was normally the beer of choice. Chang is (was) the only beer that could ever give me a chemical induced hangover the next morning in the form of a splitting headache.

Edited May 10, 2017 by chrisinth

[cms22]

Yes, Chang entered the market in Bangkok in late 1996. I remember because I lost my job and I had just got married. Whilst in between jobs me and a friend purchased a box of big-bottle Changs (because it was the new beer on the town!) and drank the lot. I swear the hang-over was the worst in my life. Even until this day, I will only have a bottle or two. No more. Lethal.

[steven100]

Chang was in shops and bars in July 1996 ....  it was available in Nana shortly after that.

[MrY]

Chang did indeed arrive in shops in the Winter of 95/96. It was developed with assistance from Carlsberg and was basically a version of Carlsberg Elephant Beer and 8% strong! First draft of the logo had 3 elephants, but was considered 'inauspicious' and was chanced to its current form before production started. It rapidly gained a reputation for causing fights and accidents and was quickly toned down to 7%. Singha at the time was 6% by volume.

 

Amazingly their 1st brewery had the potential to produce more beer than the combined consumption in Thailand at the time, even though Carlsberg only had a market share of well under 10%. What Chang did to ramp up production was to 'float' the price on the market by selling batches of beer to highest bidder. The price was thus fluctuating wildly (150-330 baht a case in 1996 for example) depending on the season and demand until about 1999. Chang market share soon peaked around 80% and and beer consumption (and alcohol consumption in general) in Thailand skyrocketed.

 

Chang wasn't initially very popular amongst foreigners, except in Chiang Mai backpacker circles, and was only offered in large bottles until 1998 (?). Chang still carries the Cheap Charlie reputation for any farang favouring it even though over the years there has been several other beer brands offered at or below its price point.

 

Subsequently Chang has gone through several other changes including further dropping the alcohol content to 6.4% abv, introducing several other versions, renaming the [not so] original version to Chang Classic, further dropping abv to 6%, pulling the other versions out of the market, again reducing alcohol by volume to 5%, changing ingredients (rice!), and further fine tuning abv to 5.2% (as advertised).

 

As for the taste opinions vary wildly but so did the product! Certainly in the early years (under Carlsberg supervision) it was far better quality than Singha at the time (pre-2000) and had after effects that were mostly related to ease of overconsumption (2 Chang equalled a bottle of wine in alcohol content) rather than poor quality or preservatives. I [personally] much favour the current product as I have matured a bit and do not need to seek a rush, not from beer anyway... I also like Tsingtao and Chinese Löwenbräu (100% rice), but that's just me. Had you asked me 10 years ago, I would have said the 7% version ( with Carlsberg yeast under Carlsberg quality control) was the best. YMMV.

[robertson468]

Yup, Chang has gone through a lot of changes, sadly, in my opinion, for the worst, particularly in so far as taste is concerned.  But hey ho, there is always another beer around the corner, particularly now that there are so many (quite expensive) imports from Europe.

[Formaleins]

Chang was the poor persons drink and barely had a foothold in '97.

 

It didn't make a mark on the markets up here in Chiang Mai until after 2000 when you could buy 3 bottles for less than 100 Baht, then it took over from Singha as No. 1.

 

Sadly Singha and Chang have both been remixed with new recipes a number of times over and are all disgusting these days. Not one of them remotely resembles the original beers from whence they came.

 

Go out and rummage around in Tesco, see if you can find yourself a bottle of Red Horse, it is the nearest thing to the old "knock your socks off" Chang that once was sold here, not the junk they try to pass of as "Classic".

[Khon Kaen Dave]

I got here in 99. I can remember Sing Ha gold.I have never drank a beer here that i could get at home (UK) I always thought, 'when in Rome' Yes Red Horse is a great beer, sold in Tesco's, as the above poster says.I have seen a new beer on the market. Its called 'U'. Its just a big yellow 'U' on the bottle. I think its Sing Ha.

Mind you, the first year here is a complete blur for me. I was drinking Chang until the wee hours, waking up with the mother of all hang over's and invariably her mother too.I always remember the guy next door telling me "son, the future is unclear, but the fridge is always near" That advice was very true, because an ice cold Chang export at 6 am in the morning, is a great cure for TMOAHO.

of course i am older and much wiser, but i still remember the day, Youth is wasted on the young.

[thaiguzzi]

21 hours ago, MrY said:

Chang did indeed arrive in shops in the Winter of 95/96. It was developed with assistance from Carlsberg and was basically a version of Carlsberg Elephant Beer and 8% strong! First draft of the logo had 3 elephants, but was considered 'inauspicious' and was chanced to its current form before production started. It rapidly gained a reputation for causing fights and accidents and was quickly toned down to 7%. Singha at the time was 6% by volume.

 

Amazingly their 1st brewery had the potential to produce more beer than the combined consumption in Thailand at the time, even though Carlsberg only had a market share of well under 10%. What Chang did to ramp up production was to 'float' the price on the market by selling batches of beer to highest bidder. The price was thus fluctuating wildly (150-330 baht a case in 1996 for example) depending on the season and demand until about 1999. Chang market share soon peaked around 80% and and beer consumption (and alcohol consumption in general) in Thailand skyrocketed.

 

Chang wasn't initially very popular amongst foreigners, except in Chiang Mai backpacker circles, and was only offered in large bottles until 1998 (?). Chang still carries the Cheap Charlie reputation for any farang favouring it even though over the years there has been several other beer brands offered at or below its price point.

 

Subsequently Chang has gone through several other changes including further dropping the alcohol content to 6.4% abv, introducing several other versions, renaming the [not so] original version to Chang Classic, further dropping abv to 6%, pulling the other versions out of the market, again reducing alcohol by volume to 5%, changing ingredients (rice!), and further fine tuning abv to 5.2% (as advertised).

 

As for the taste opinions vary wildly but so did the product! Certainly in the early years (under Carlsberg supervision) it was far better quality than Singha at the time (pre-2000) and had after effects that were mostly related to ease of overconsumption (2 Chang equalled a bottle of wine in alcohol content) rather than poor quality or preservatives. I [personally] much favour the current product as I have matured a bit and do not need to seek a rush, not from beer anyway... I also like Tsingtao and Chinese Löwenbräu (100% rice), but that's just me. Had you asked me 10 years ago, I would have said the 7% version ( with Carlsberg yeast under Carlsberg quality control) was the best. YMMV.

Ah, another Chang afficianado...

Me, it's all i ever drink over here, beer wise.

[sandyf]

On 5/10/2017 at 2:06 PM, rott said:

Thanks for that, never thought of looking on Wiki.

 

Don't remember it being in Pattaya before 1998 though. But then we were all flash gits due to the exchange rate, so would not have considered it. A mate of mine who once described Chang and Leo as the dregs from the breweries, has recently upgraded from Archa to Chang, changing times.!!

It wasn't very common back in those days, it wasn't until Carlsberg disappeared that Chang became more available.

I have always drunk Chang when available, they had it in 5 Star bar on Beach Road but the problem was that so few were sold it had invariably turned to ice, well the water content had.

[rutteketuut]

I drank Chang for the first time in 1998 in Prachuap Kirikhan. I remember that time you could buy 4 big bottles in a shop for 100 baht. Alcohol percentage was 6.4.

Chok dee!

[Khon Kaen Dave]

1 hour ago, rutteketuut said:

I drank Chang for the first time in 1998 in Prachuap Kirikhan. I remember that time you could buy 4 big bottles in a shop for 100 baht. Alcohol percentage was 6.4.

Chok dee!

Wonderful stuff. I miss the old 6.4. The Chang i drink these days is a poor substitute

RIP Chang Export.

 

[Skeptic7]

Fondly remember the Original Chang (6.4%) from it's inception in the mid-90s. It was an excellent full-bodied bitter brew that was great with spicy food, inexpensive and the absolute best Thai beer ever. Drank it until the awful recipe change a few years back. Actually tried to stick with it for a while out of habit and loyalty, but ultimately couldn't fool myself any further...as it flat out sucks...that I stopped buying it. 

 

A side note...Amarit was another decent beer that sadly disappeared. It made a brief comeback in the mid-2000's but again wasn't successful. Maybe it wasn't as good my memory tells me. 

[MrY]

5 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Ah, another Chang afficianado...

Me, it's all i ever drink over here, beer wise.

Thanks. Not many good choices for a beer drinker in Thailand. For sure Red Horse is not bad, but I've never seen it in a bar/restaurant and quality seems to vary. I've only seem cans of it, are bottles even available? Singha? It really is not a bad beer but as an oldtimer I have too many Singovers in my past to even consider it. LEO? Bland-de-Bland. Heineken? Unfortunately where I work the Dutch brewed version is available, so the Thai version just makes me gag (it's better than the sugar cane sweetened crap of yesrs past). I'm just now sipping (the Vietnamese brewed) Carlsberg and pleasantly surprised. I wish it was available in more restaurants in  my area!

 

BTW thaiguzzi, that's a fine machine you got in your avatar.

[Skeptic7]

IMO Beerlao Dark is the best beer available nowadays. It is a quality brew with real flavor and kick @ 6.5% alcohol content. The regular Beerlao is quite good too (5%).  

Edited May 12, 2017 by Skeptic7

[thaiguzzi]

15 hours ago, MrY said:

Thanks. Not many good choices for a beer drinker in Thailand. For sure Red Horse is not bad, but I've never seen it in a bar/restaurant and quality seems to vary. I've only seem cans of it, are bottles even available? Singha? It really is not a bad beer but as an oldtimer I have too many Singovers in my past to even consider it. LEO? Bland-de-Bland. Heineken? Unfortunately where I work the Dutch brewed version is available, so the Thai version just makes me gag (it's better than the sugar cane sweetened crap of yesrs past). I'm just now sipping (the Vietnamese brewed) Carlsberg and pleasantly surprised. I wish it was available in more restaurants in  my area!

 

BTW thaiguzzi, that's a fine machine you got in your avatar.

# Thanx likewise. Bike is an '89 Moto Guzzi California III, brought it over here from England on 2005. Owned it since the late 90's. Very non std.

# Always been a Chang Man. Never liked the taste of Singha. Can't stand Leo, never have - watery and complete lack of taste. Dunno how people can even get drunk on the stuff. For years up here the locals, especially the women always preferred Leo over Chang. Nowadays, Leo just does not sell well up here, virtually everyone drinks Chang especially the women.

# I still like the taste, since it's gone in the green bottles and 5.2%, i think it's a clean consistent taste.

# Chang, like most beers out here can't get too old, i always look at the bottling date on the box, the newer the better. Years ago you still got 3-4 month old bottles, taste already going off.

# Never tried Red Horse, Archa tried once - did'nt like it.

# Cambodian and Laos beer - nice...

[Khon Kaen Dave]

16 hours ago, MrY said:

Thanks. Not many good choices for a beer drinker in Thailand. For sure Red Horse is not bad, but I've never seen it in a bar/restaurant and quality seems to vary. I've only seem cans of it, are bottles even available? Singha? It really is not a bad beer but as an oldtimer I have too many Singovers in my past to even consider it. LEO? Bland-de-Bland. Heineken? Unfortunately where I work the Dutch brewed version is available, so the Thai version just makes me gag (it's better than the sugar cane sweetened crap of yesrs past). I'm just now sipping (the Vietnamese brewed) Carlsberg and pleasantly surprised. I wish it was available in more restaurants in  my area!

 

BTW thaiguzzi, that's a fine machine you got in your avatar.

Ive never seen Red Horse in cans, but its available in Lotus, in bottles. Although saying that, ive never seen it in the Lotus on the Nam Phong road.I always but a couple of bottles, if in Lotus at 'selling time.' No time for Leo, but i have the occasional Sing lite.There is a new beer in the shops, its got a big,yellow, letter U on it. I was told its Sing Ha. Its 5% and quite a nice drink.The 7/11 sells it in 495 m cans, but it comes in the big bottles.

[Skeptic7]

 

On 5/12/2017 at 5:59 AM, Khon Kaen Dave said:

Wonderful stuff. I miss the old 6.4. The Chang i drink these days is a poor substitute

RIP Chang Export.

 

Nit picking a bit, but original Chang 6.4% was quite different than Chang Export. Export was 5% newcomer and not bad, but nothing like The Original! 

[Khon Kaen Dave]

On 5/12/2017 at 0:26 PM, Skeptic7 said:

Fondly remember the Original Chang (6.4%) from it's inception in the mid-90s. It was an excellent full-bodied bitter brew that was great with spicy food, inexpensive and the absolute best Thai beer ever. Drank it until the awful recipe change a few years back. Actually tried to stick with it for a while out of habit and loyalty, but ultimately couldn't fool myself any further...as it flat out sucks...that I stopped buying it. 

 

A side note...Amarit was another decent beer that sadly disappeared. It made a brief comeback in the mid-2000's but again wasn't successful. Maybe it wasn't as good my memory tells me. 

I was suicidal about the demise of Singha Gold. Do you remember that one?

I never forget. It was my very first trip to BKK.I had never been to Thailand before. I checked in, went up to my room(The Asia Hotel) threw the case on the bar and headed straight to the bar. It was an elevated bar and i sat in a chair and a goddess of a girl, came over to my table, dropped to her knees and asked me what i would like to drink.I thought, "dont get an erection, for gods sake dont get an erection" but she did and i got a Singha Gold. Great drop of beer. Gone now i fear.

 

[Khon Kaen Dave]

9 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

 

Nit picking a bit, but original Chang 6.4% was quite different than Chang Export. Export was 5% newcomer and not bad, but nothing like The Original! 

I reckon you are right, i cant remember, export or classic. All i know is that it was a great cure for a hangover at 6 am in the morning after and ice cold. As an old timer once told me,"son! the future may be unclear but the fridge is always near."

[swissie]

All I know is that the trend to lower the alcohol content of beer is in full swing. Is the well being of Farangs and Thais on the minds of the breweries? Hardly!

The long term goal is to raise the "Buzz" level. So, even the peaceful afternoon Beer drinker will need to consume 20 bottles to get near the "Buzz" level. Mission accomplished = Beer sales will increase. Jerking up prices at the same time.

Of course, this strategy may backfire, as more and more consumers will switch over to locally brewed "Firewaters", brewed under a shade tree. This, in turn, will benefit local Hospitals.
Cheers.