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Singha Beer

sheffield

By sheffield
in Beer

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Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow

Posted
Posted

Singha is a beer produced in Thailand by the Boon Rawd Brewery. It is, in fact, the #1 beer in that country.

http://www.boonrawd.co.th/

I sometimes order it when I go out for Thai food. Its not a bad lager, goes well with spicy cuisine.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

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=Mark

=Mark

Posted
Posted

It is also one of the priciest beers sold in this country. Not worth it IMHO for what is essentially Asian Budweiser.

=Mark

Give a man a fish, he eats for a Day.

Teach a man to fish, he eats for Life.

Teach a man to sell fish, he eats Steak

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beerguyjim

beerguyjim

Posted
Posted
It is also one of the priciest beers sold in this country.  Not worth it IMHO for what is essentially Asian Budweiser.

Singha bears no resemblance to Budweiser. To start off, it has 40 bitterness units, compared to about 10 for Bud. It has 6% abv, while Bud has probably 4.7 or so. Michael Jackson gives it three stars (worth seeking out), vs one star for Bud. And I can show you beers that cost much more.

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liamdc

liamdc

Posted
Posted

Singha is nothing special in my opinion. Frankly, I prefer a lager like Rolling Rock to Singha.

Liam

Eat it, eat it

If it's gettin' cold, reheat it

Have a big dinner, have a light snack

If you don't like it, you can't send it back

Just eat it -- Weird Al Yankovic

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fresh_a

fresh_a

Posted
Posted

Singha has no taste, but is often the only beer found in many asian restaurants, therefore you are obliged to drink it...

Anti-alcoholics are unfortunates in the grip of water, that terrible poison, so corrosive that out of all substances it has been chosen for washing and scouring, and a drop of water added to a clear liquid like Absinthe, muddles it." ALFRED JARRY

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ctgm

ctgm

Posted
Posted

Where is the Singha that you are drinking brewed. If it is made under licence then this might explain why you find it so nasty. I have never come across a beer made under licence (ie it is not made in the country where the original brewery is) that tastes anything like the "original".

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Meow-Mix

Meow-Mix

Posted
Posted
Singha has no taste, but is often the only beer found in many asian restaurants, therefore you are obliged to drink it...

singha having no taste dont know if I agree with that.

Yes, I would also say that it does have a bit better rating than "no taste". Singha is above average, but nothing special as others have stated on this thread. Not a bad beer.

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Sinbad

Sinbad

Posted
Posted

I never understood why most Thai restaurants insist on serving Singha only. THe other major brew in Thailand, Kloster, is IMO a better beer. Drinking Thai beer to me adds nothing to the experience at eating at a Thai restaurant, a good quality lager from a microbrewery or Europe would be a better choice.

Same applies to Japanese restaurants in the US, they all insist on serving Suntory or Kirin which are some of the worst Japanese beers that can be had. Same applies here as to thai restaurants, a good Japanese microbrew or other quality lager would be a better choice.

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beerguyjim

beerguyjim

Posted
Posted
actually isn't it malt beer? I thought the bottle I had said something like that...and yes it is "alright" and definitely has taste.

some states require the 'malt liquor' label if a beer exceeds a certain percentage of alcohol. you see the ML label on some German beers as well, for the same reason.

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Sinbad

Sinbad

Posted
Posted
I never understood why most Thai restaurants insist on serving Singha only. THe other major brew in Thailand, Kloster, is IMO a better beer.

is it an availability issue?

Singha is more easily available than Kloster in the US, that is for sure.

What is all boils down to in my view is that with Singha you get a beer that sounds Thai, Kloster sounds like a german beer. People want to believe that they are getting an authentic Thai experience which makes them more inclined to order/buy Singha.

What I personally would like is for ethnic restaurants to serve better beer, especially since IMO most ethnic food goes better with beer than with wine. Thai food is a very good example. Unfortunately most restaurants usually serve a beer from it's "homecountry" + a domestic/international brew of poor/mediocre quality such as Budwiser/Heineken.

I don't think things will change though. Last time I was at Sushi Yasuda here in New York I suggested to Yasuda-san directly to start serving beer from Nest (a good Japanese microbrewery now available in the US and served at several high-end restaurants in New York). He did not seem to have any interest in it at all, and unfortunately I believe that at ethnic restaurants we will be stuck with poor beer selections.

Like most people I like to drink good wine with good food, but I sometimes feel like I am the only person on the planet who like to drink good beer with good food when beer is a better accompaniment.

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PennBrewer

PennBrewer

Posted
Posted

Wow, it's amazing how up and down are the opinions on this beer! FWIW, I find Singha to be an excellent brew. It has a firm, rich body and a nice floral hop nose and good bitterness. It is anything but bland/tastless/Budweiser-like.

It does have a rather unique and distinctive flavor, perhaps that is what some object to?

---Guy

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malarkey

malarkey

Posted
Posted
I never understood why most Thai restaurants insist on serving Singha only. THe other major brew in Thailand, Kloster, is IMO a better beer.

is it an availability issue?

not in the PNW. Most thai restaurants offer local micros along with Singha. I had a Singha recently and I think it was skunked. pretty nasty stuff.

Born Free, Now Expensive

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choreboy

choreboy

Posted
Posted

in response to: Same applies to Japanese restaurants in the US, they all insist on serving Suntory or Kirin which are some of the worst Japanese beers that can be had.

Maybe I'm spoiled working in NYC and living in the metropolitan area, but most good to great Japanese restaurants around here have Sapporo, Yebisu, various Asahis, and other Japanese brews, both large and small.

I would agree that Suntory and Kirin are pretty lame.

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misscindy

misscindy

Posted
Posted

I revived this thread because I've got a question about Singha that I'm hoping someone can answer. I understand that they are changing the bottles from the short bottle to a more standard long bottle. And, I only see the lager, rather than the malt liquor, in the long bottles. I like the malt liquor--ummm, gooood--but I don't like the lager. Have they stopped making malt liquor? Please, in the name of Billy Dee Williams, say it ain't so.

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His Nibs

His Nibs

Posted
Posted (edited)
in response to: Same applies to Japanese restaurants in the US, they all insist on serving Suntory or Kirin which are some of the worst Japanese beers that can be had.

Maybe I'm spoiled working in NYC and living in the metropolitan area, but most good to great Japanese restaurants around here have Sapporo, Yebisu, various Asahis, and other Japanese brews, both large and small.

I would agree that Suntory and Kirin are pretty lame.

However, the Kirin special reserve is exceptionally good (esp. when you consider it is brewed under license by Bud). Very malty, slight hoppiness and almost like a good Czech pilsner (yes... I've been to Prague and tried most of their pilsners. I like the Gambinius which can't be found in the states :sad: )

edit: or should i say anheuser busch instead of bud :laugh:

Edited by His Nibs (log)
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theakston

theakston

Posted
Posted
I revived this thread because I've got a question about Singha that I'm hoping someone can answer.  I understand that they are changing the bottles from the short bottle to a more standard long bottle.  And, I only see the lager, rather than the malt liquor, in the long bottles.  I like the malt liquor--ummm, gooood--but I don't like the lager.  Have they stopped making malt liquor?  Please, in the name of Billy Dee Williams, say it ain't so.

The "malt liquor" was never really a malt liquor at all, it was always a lager and was labelled a malt liquor because of regulations related to the ABV - some places insist that any beverage made from malt that is above a certain ABV be labelled as malt liquor. So I would be suprised that there was any difference between the two other than the label.

(malt liquor as a beer style commonly refers to a lager that has the ABV pumped up by other fermentables, usually corn, with little to no hop presence - Singha is really a strong lager and is an all malt brew)

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