Thai Beers

[kjun12]

When I first moved to Bangkok I drank all Thai beers not noticing the great difference in them. After these years I have decided that Chang is by far the worse beer brewed in the country. Simply too bitter. Beer like many beverages is a personal opinion item. You may feel differently. Phuket is the best tasting beer but not at all easy to find. Leo is second in my book.

Do any of you have any opinions on this?

[cdnmatt]

Have you ever tried Archer beer? Now that's some horrible shit. Cheaper than Chang too.

But yeah, I just drink Leo myself. It's abundant, cheap, and tastes just fine for my standards.

I enjoy Singha beer, and Kloster beer which for some reason I can only find it in hotel minibars.

[Marsilius]

I find Singha to be very bland, so I will always order Chang if it is available.

[Magnum]

I consume Thai-Beer only to get drunk. Compared to Flensburger or Jever at home this is all like dishwater...

[christianpfc]

I drink too little beer to form an opinion (about 5 Liter per year? Maybe 10).

But I once read that Heineken Export is the lowest common denominator of worldwide beer taste. Even if I can't judge, this makes sense. So I avoid Heineken and ask for Leo, Chang, Singha or Beer Lao, whichever comes to my mind and is available.

[anonone]

For my tastes, Chang is pretty bad. Singha and Leo are both fine and what I usually choose.

I can't stand Heineken...horrible tasting.

[joe552]

can you get draft Singha or Leo? can't really drink much bottled beer

[latintopxxx]

if you want to avoid stomach/health issues best to drink out of a bottle, never sure how the glasses are washed, dried and stored...imagine the bugs/roaches in the bars after hours....bad enough even when people are around.

[joe552]

I take your point, latin, but the bars I drink in keep the glasses in the freezer until they're required. I'm sure it doesn't eliminate the risks, but I haven't had any problems so far.

[christianpfc]

I usually drink out of a bottle because I drink in a disco and in the bottle the beer is better protected against splashing on your clothes.

[joe552]

happily, my disco/nightclub days and nights are long behind me - I'm fine with draft beer or glass of wine at a beer bar with a cute boy to hold my hand. :old:

[SmoothLegs]

I like Singha, 4-6 small bottles and after that a bottle of SONGSOM Thai Rum (not whisky) 700 baht + free mixers, always a cheap evening and a bad morning the next day. :crybaby:

But 1 day in a week is OK, not like most of you drinking every day :occasion9:

[anonone]

can you get draft Singha or Leo? can't really drink much bottled beer

Never really realized it ,but the only Thai draft beer I have seen around is Chang. Especially see the big Chang towers on occasion.
I can't recall ever seeing Leo or Singha draft. :dontknow:

[rifraf]

I don't drink too many Thai beers. My personal preference is Corona, though it is not cheap in Thailand, but if unavailable then it is either Singha or San Miguel.

I still don't understand those who drink their beer on ice and claim it is still good. To each his own, indeed.

[lukylok]

I can't recall ever seeing Leo or Singha draft. :dontknow:

Try the Telephone in Bkk, draught Singha.

[newalaan2]

if you want to avoid stomach/health issues best to drink out of a bottle, never sure how the glasses are washed, dried and stored...imagine the bugs/roaches in the bars after hours....bad enough even when people are around
Just noticed this post...good point Latin, however when I do ask for a glass for any beer from the bottle, I always ask for one of the frozen-style glasses from the freezer in the hope that what you say about possible contamination is not so severe. As I say below, I would 'think' most of any contamination is likely to come through any pipes if the beer is drawn from 'kegs'.


bottle of SONGSOM Thai Rum (not whisky
Well spotted Smoothlegs, Sang Som and Mehkhong are always referred to as 'whiskey' but are absolutely Rum. Maybe that's why some find drinking lots of it gives them bad reactions, like very sore heads. In Scotland, traditional Rum drinkers are a different breed to whiskey drinkers. I do like Morgans Spiced Rum or the newer Bacardi Oakheart Spiced for a change from traditional whiskey or Thai beer/lager and an occassional Sang Som is nice and very simlar in taste, but I never drink the same quantity of that as I do whiskey!


Never really realized it ,but the only Thai draft beer I have seen around is Chang. Especially see the big Chang towers on occasion. I can't recall ever seeing Leo or Singha draft
Most of the pub/club/live venues like Tam Nan Chon, Tam Nan Issan, Tawan Daeng have draft towers of both Singha and Leo as well as Chang. Chang is making a strong comeback in the Issan heartlands who previously fell out of love with it in favour of Leo. On my last trip when I took my traditional arrival box of beer bf advised Chang was now the preffered beverage. But there are two/three Chang beers now...'Classic' Chang....'Light' Chang and another? which I forget, I also forget which one is the new preference.

I previously avoided draft lager when I first came to Thailand as I always did/still do in the UK and stuck with bottles or cans/tins as when I worked in a bar at 16 saving for Uni, part of my 'behind the bar scenes' jobs was to wash out the beer 'pipes', sometimes the gunge which came out was disgusting as they were never cleaned as often or as well as they should have by others. Also when serving customers I was always told to serve/'recycle' the 'slops' which was the dripping/overflowing beer collected in the trays below the 'tap' to 'unsuspecting' customers. To this day I never have any stomach 'issues' after drinking bottles or tins in Thailand or UK.

I broke this habit in Thailand when I started drinkg the beer/lager towers and with them never had any issues. On my last visit I tried draft Chang from a jug for the first time when a friend ordered one in Soi 4, saying he found the Chang from the pitcher to be not so gassy and fizzy, I found the same and enjoyed it with no repercussions. Bars which have a huge turnover in beer where its more likely to be fresh coming through the pipes during the evening are probably a fairly safe bet for those with possible bad reactions to draft.

[MiniMee]

if you want to avoid stomach/health issues best to drink out of a bottle, never sure how the glasses are washed, dried and stored...imagine the bugs/roaches in the bars after hours.....

Yes - and imagine the rats pissing on the bottles in the crates stored out the back of the bar. :tongue3:

[anonone]

Interesting to learn that Singha draft is available in some places, though I have no burning desire to hunt down and try it out...I usually stick to the bottles anyway.

I am surprised Chang is making a comeback in Isan. I have not heard this yet. And Chang is one of the few beers in the world I actively dislike. Just has a very off flavor to me.

[kjun12]

Have any of you drunk Phuket beer? Any Carlsberg drinkers?

[anonone]

Pretty sure I had draft Carlsburg someplace...maybe a bowling alley? I remember thinking it was a rather odd brand for the location. It was OK, but nothing I would search out or order if other options were available.

I don't think I have ever had Phuket beer....

[colmx]

For me Leo has always been my preference... always a lot less "gassy" and easier to drink than the others...
Of course it was my BF that put me onto Leo... and it was always his preference over Chang

Strangely enough my BF has started t drink Singha recently... in preference to his normal Leo choice... He is living in bkk these days and feels that despite the extra 3-4B per bottle, beer Sing is more Aroy!

From my perspective i cant stand singha... too many bad bottles over the years to let me forgive it... same same with Heineken in thailand

Interestingly i have heard theories that the "bad bottles" are caused by the bars turning off power to their fridges at night... to save on air con costs...

A constant cycle of cold-hot-cold-hot etc causes the beers to re-ferment and makes them taste so bad...

[kjun12]

For me Leo has always been my preference... always a lot less "gassy" and easier to drink than the others...
Of course it was my BF that put me onto Leo... and it was always his preference over Chang

Strangely enough my BF has started t drink Singha recently... in preference to his normal Leo choice... He is living in bkk these days and feels that despite the extra 3-4B per bottle, beer Sing is more Aroy!

From my perspective i cant stand singha... too many bad bottles over the years to let me forgive it... same same with Heineken in thailand

Interestingly i have heard theories that the "bad bottles" are caused by the bars turning off power to their fridges at night... to save on air con costs...

A constant cycle of cold-hot-cold-hot etc causes the beers to re-ferment and makes them taste so bad...
I, also, drink more Leo than any other Thai beer. It is also much cheaper than others like it's sister beer Singha. Both are made by the Singha company.

The theory that when the beer is cooled and allowed to return to room temperature then it re-ferments is not possible because all live years is removed from Thai beers and then CO2 is "PRESSURED" into the beer in order to get the bubbles.

[lukylok]

The theory that when the beer is cooled and allowed to return to room temperature then it re-ferments is not possible because all live years is removed from Thai beers and then CO2 is "PRESSURED" into the beer in order to get the bubbles.

Shouldn't that be yeast to be understood ?

[kjun12]

Shouldn't that be yeast to be understood ?
You are 100% correct.

[Maxxy]

I'm either drinking Sigha, San Miguel Light or Tiger Crystal Light. If it's tap beer then it's Singha but bottled it's either of the other two.