Chang Beer
Brewed by Cosmos Brewery (Thai Beverages)
Style: Pale Lager
Ayutthaya Province, Thailand
Chang, which is the Thai world for ‘elephant’, is brewed at Cosmos Brewery in Thailand.
Considered to be “Thailand’s Number 1 Beer”, if they dont mind saying so themselves, even though Singha might have something to say about this bold claim!
Brewed by Thai Beverage/Cosmos Brewery, Chang Beer was launched in 1995 at their brewery in the Bang Ban District of Ayutthaya Province, in central Thailand, North of Bangkok.
Thai Beverage, better known as ThaiBev, is Thailand’s largest beverage company, and also has significant operations in Europe, producing malt Scotch whisky, vodka, gin, and liqueurs with over 20 distilleries in Scotland, France, Poland, and Ireland. Chang beer is exported to 20 countries, and can be found in many Thai and Asian themed restaurants all over the world.
Chang Beer was voted ‘Asia’s Best Premium Lager’ at the World Beer Awards 2012 and is the official sponsor of Everton Football Club, for their sins, having their logo on the front of the teams shirts.
Review: 330 ml Bottle of Chang Beer Export: ABV: 5%
With a nice logo of two big elephants facing each other on its label, Chang is the Thai word for elephant, an important animal in Thailand as a symbol of both power and peace.
On pour we get a nice clear yellow colour, with a big frothy white head that is decent enough, and which settles down but maintains. A lot of carbonation, very bubbly and lively.
No real lacing.
Overall, not a bad looking beer
On the nose I get an initial sweet piercing smell of lemon but overall not so strong, very faint.
A beery smell, sweet grains, hay, lemon, malts, all good on the nose, but as I mentioned not so strong…..
Taste is bittersweet, soft, clean and relatively easy to drink. Some light grains, but not enough to really get excited about.
Bit of an aftertaste, all bitter. Stringent sweet malts
Too sweet for my liking, and the tastes are not well balanced.
Not a great beer, very little to actually taste. Ok it is a little sessionable, but overall it is not really enjoyable. Bland. I am not a fan.
Apparently the home brew version is meant to be better than the export version, brewed with rice rather than malt, and is a 6.4% strength lager. Perhaps another inspection is needed, on a beach in Pattaya supping an ice cold beer enjoying the sun……
Brewing in this region dates back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. From the early Slavs in the first century to Bohemians who were brewing beer by 1088. In 1295 the City of Pilsen was established, and with it the beginnings of brewing, and in 1307 we have the first historical recorded mention of the existence of an actual brewery with malt house.
The beer was a sensation: the world’s first golden lager, unlike anything most beer drinkers at the time had ever seen.
Coming in a nice green bottle and with classy looking labelling. There’s an attractive red seal stating that this is the “The Original Pilsner”, just so you dont get mixed up with all those cool Czech beers on the market. This one is the original, make no doubt about it!
Hoppy aftertaste which is a bit overbearing to be honest.
Yes, the old black out, I have had a few down through the years. From ruining parties, to getting into fights, to waking up in an unusual places, to having interesting conversations with people I can never remember, or what was talked. Anything can happen when I’m blacked out. The lights are on, but no one is at home!
We are not just talking about alcoholics or heavy drinkers here, it can also happen to social drinkers, people who like a few drinks with the mates at the end of a tough week at work. It is important to note not everyone gets blackouts, about 50% of drinkers do, and there are also many alcoholics who claim to have never experienced blackouts. Remember, it is not how much you drink, but how fast you drink, and how quickly the blood alcohol content rises.
People experiencing en bloc blackouts are unable to recall any details at all, not a zilch, nothing, from events that occurred while they were intoxicated, despite all efforts by the drinkers or friends to rejig the memory. It is as if the process of transferring information from short–term to long–term storage has been completely road blocked.
Mixing drinks also might not be a good idea, and not just alcohol, adding some recreational drugs is also a one stop route to memory loss.
Questions might arise. Why do I go mad and do stupid stuff when I am drunk, as when I’m sober I’m not such a bad person? Are these actions really part of my inner character that I have unleashed over a few shots, am I really such a cunt? I do know people say that when you are drunk that’s when your true character comes out. I disagree, I don’t think it’s as simple as that. I think it’s more that you are just out of your mind and your judgment is altered. It also might be something that’s lurking in everyone rather than just one person, our animal instincts……
The story began seven weeks earlier when in the accompaniment of some friends, the teetotaller tried a few whiskeys. And as you know, one drink led to another and before you know it he was on a boat to America.
Barbe Torte is an award winning Breton beer brewed by Brasserie de Bretagne in the small town of Trégunc located in western Brittany. Brittany, of course, is the Celtic part of France, situated in the North West of the country. The beer is apparently named after a Duke of Brittany, Alan II (“Barbe Torte” à la française or his much more interesting nickname, “Twisted Beard!”) who expelled the Vikings from Brittany and ruled the kingdom until his death in the year of 952. The brewery, not as old, was founded in 1988 and was known as Brasserie Britt.
They launched a beer in the colours of French League One team, FC Lorient, a first for a Breton club. They also branched out with their own version of cola, Britt Cola, adding to an American classic a Breton twist. With the World Cup in Brazil, they produced a fruity “Britt Do Brasil”, for the Sochi Winter Olympics they produced a vodka flavoured beer, and the brewery is the main partner for the famous sailing event Route du Rhum where boats test to see who can travel from Saint-Malo to Guadeloupe in record time. They certainly like to get their brand about.
On pour looks lovely, has a real full body, a lovely light yellow colour. When it settles it does become a bit murky with a lot of carbonation, not as good looking.
Asahi Super Dry is the most popular beer in Japan, produced by Asahi Breweries Ltd, a leading brewery and soft drinks company based in Tokyo, Japan. Asahi Breweries Ltd is the largest beer producer in the whole of Japan.
Asahi Super Dry, dry as in crisp with no sweetness in the taste, light and not much aftertaste. Super dry as in more of all that. I guess. The labeling on the bottle is very stylish I must say, shiny silver background with a black printed “Asahi” catching the eye
On pour got a lovely clear light golden looking beer, with a nice big white foamy head, which unfortunately did die quite quickly.
Generally tasteless, not great at all. actually feel cheated. It says on the label beer, but this tastes like bottled water. And the fact it looked good and smelt ok, was very disappointing that the end product was so bad. A shite feel to the beer, very flat. One to avoid in the future!
Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu is a brewing company in a small town called Alpirsbach in the Black Forest region of Germany
Using the soft pure brewing water from the Black Forest.
A smooth light crisp drink, not too much to taste,
Birra Peja Original from Kosovo, an Albanian speaking disputed territory that is part of the Balkans and only just recently recognized as an independent state. And lately they have got their football team playing with Fifa in the World Cup qualifiers, which is all the recognition I need! (Their first game was a very respectable one all draw away to Finland)
Some lacing
Vùdù started in 1999, and is brewed in Italy in the Birrificio brewery and distributed in Germany by Braufactum. It won a Gold medal at the prestigious World Beer Cup in 2010, in the category of “German-Style Dark Wheat Ale” (Dunkel Weizen!), which was a bit of a shock win for an Italian brewery over its German rivals!
An Italian craft beer, coming in a pretty cool looking 75 cl bottle, with an over-sized cap. The label oozes class. Vudu spelt out in dramatic colouring and surrounded in stylish iconography. With a price range between 11 to 13 € this beer better be good!!
Very strong smell, very strong but very appealing, can smell lots of flavours, lots of fruits from banana (and lemon), very sweet. Wheaty, toasty malts, very very earthy.
I liked this beer, not very sweet, but bitter, but not overbearing. Dark chocolate/caramel tastes, like a stout, but not quite. Roasted malts and fruit (Banana mostly), creamy undertones
Review: Can of Jelen Svetlo Pivo: ABV: : 5%
My introduction to Serbian lager
Smell was very slight, couldn’t really tell you much about it as it was so faint, nothing!…….
La Gauloise is from Purnode, in Wallonia, and, unusual for that part of the world, not tied in with any Trappist monks or monastery. The family owned and independent enterprise, the Bocq brewery, is one of the largest breweries in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of southern Belgium. Since the 60’s though, the agricultural side of the business was abandoned, with the drinks industry pushed to the forefront as it was seen as a more profitable industry than farming!
A World Cup of beer silver award winner, coming in a cool looking 330ml bottle and bought in Lidl. Sure why not!
The taste was savoury, varied flavours, fruity, caramel, well balanced but very light and easy on the palate.