Beer in SE Asia

[Austin]

I'm doing some preliminary research for the Eating & Drinking section of a guidebook to SE Asia and was wondering about the origins of beer in the region. Nowadays beer is found from Yunnan to Bali, and in my opinion, is quickly taking over the more traditional rice-based alcohols as the tipple of choice, but when did this start, and who initiated it? Any verifiable (links to source) information would be muchly appreciated!

Cheers,

Austin

[debbster]

Would the first beer in SE Asia be San Miguel Beer? The brewery was established in the Philippines in 1890 by a Spaniard. Here is a link to San Miguel Corporation's web site.

[Austin]

Wow, thanks for that--they do indeed claim to be SE Asia's first brewery. I have to admit that my guidebooks concerns only mainland SE Asia though. Who was the first to bring brewing to the this area?

Austin

[Big Bunny]

I have to admit that my guidebooks concerns only mainland SE Asia though.

←

Bali is not on the mainland.

BB

[PCL]

Bali is indeed and island! last time I looked anyway... which was like, 5 weeks ago. Enjoyed the very good, very crisp, Bintang Beer.... which is very similar to Anchor Beer in Malaysia, both in outside can/bottle appearance and taste. A pilsner type I believe, but very dry, aromatic, yet easy on the palate and head.

I would say the white man brought beer... obvious enough yeah, but it would be a toss up between the English and the Dutch... I mean, San Miguel... yeah, Spanish in origin but were they big brewers who couldn't live without beer in the lands they colonised? I don't know, this is kind of ignorance and speculation here, but my money would be on the Dutch or English... and if I'm wrong, hell, there's always beer to turn to!

Maybe you could focus on actually tasting the stuff rather than origins in the region? I mean your comment about it taking over rice based alcohols... those would be of mainly Chinese origin, and really, alcohol in the region is based on quite a number of products, not just rice... I mean, there's coconut, there's cane, there are various fermentable fruits of the tropical variety, and really, rice based alcohols really isn't that common when you pop into Bali, Bangkok, KL, Singapore, Hanoi etc etc. It is BEER... I think you need to do some more ethnicity related research into what each culture distills or drinks... and if possible, taste the stuff...

which guide books are you reading anyways???

edit to add: And how are you defining SE Asia? If it's geo-political, then 'officially', according to ASEAN, which stands for the Association of South East Asian Nations, or some such, the count includes Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Phillipines, Thailand... not sure if Burma is a member, nor am I sure if Cambodia is a member, or Laos... but these are SE Asian... China is not included in that definition... much Indochine comprises many of the countries mentioned... am I ranting? going off topic? maybe... but it's good to define something no?

Edited September 18, 2006 by PCL (log)

[PPPans]

@ PCL

ASEAN website and member-countries:

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

Indonesia

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

Even ethnolinguistically, Southeast Asia makes no sense without the archipelagic countries.

Btw Austin, how did you come up with the assumption that rice-based spirits were ubiquitous? Or perhaps I didn't understand you well enough.

Like what PCL mentioned, I don't think they were ever as common as beer is now. In the Philippines (which may not count), the distribution of rice wine (tapuey/tapuy) is limited to Northern Luzon, the origin perhaps near the Banaue Rice Terraces. Other localities have sugarcane, coconut, palm, fruits, etc.

Second point, again in terms of distribution, the native liquor was only made in very limited amounts, traditionally just for family, friends and/or the village. They never had large breweries. You know, something like economy of scale.

[Austin]

Yikes... This is going overboard...! Was my initial post that unclear? Let me try again: I'm writing the Food & Drink chapter of an upcoming Lonely Planet guide that will be called Greater Mekong. The guide covers the areas that border on or include the Mekong river, ie. Yunnan (China), northern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and southern Vietnam. Beer is very, very big in this area, and I'm just curious as to 1) when it was introduced 2) Who introduced it 3) Where it was introduced.

debster: Thanks for your help, I appreciate it, althought unfortunately I'm looking for info about the mainland. I should have made this more clear.

Big Bunny: I know Bali is not on the mainland, but thanks anyway.

PCL: I'm not reading guidebooks, I'm writing one!

PPPans: Actually I never up with the assumption (?) that rice based-spirits are ubiquitous, but they actually are! Name a country in SE Asia that doesn't have them! Unfortunately I'm not too keen on geopolitical drinking issues in the northern Philippines, but thanks for your help with my question.

So, does anybody know?

[cdh]

Hmmmm. Did beer predate the Germans in Shanghai? Tsing Tao claims a direct lineage to German colonialists and cites 1903 as their founding date.

A more interesting question is where the barley to brew all the beers in Southeast Asia came from, and who malted it... was it all shipped in, or did someplace over there start growing varieties of barley conducive to making malt? Were there indigenous strains of barley that were already there? You can't make beer without malted barley... so where is it coming from?

The process of malting and fermenting barley is very different from the process of extracting a sake style beverage from rice... totally different biochemistry going on in the liberation of yeast-edible carbohydrates from the starches... So, were both processes known in SE Asia, or was the malting and mashing process introduced?

[Shiewie]

Yikes... This is going overboard...! Was my initial post that unclear?  Let me try again: I'm writing the Food & Drink chapter of an upcoming Lonely Planet guide that will be called Greater Mekong. The guide covers the areas that border on or include the Mekong river, ie. Yunnan (China), northern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and southern Vietnam. Beer is very, very big in this area, and I'm just curious as to 1) when it was introduced 2) Who introduced it 3) Where it was introduced.

←

As far as Hanoi goes, this may be of help - if it falls within the area you're covering.

[PCL]

I'm doing some preliminary research for the Eating & Drinking section of a guidebook to SE Asia and was wondering about the origins of beer in the region. Nowadays beer is found from Yunnan to Bali, and in my opinion, is quickly taking over the more traditional rice-based alcohols as the tipple of choice, but when did this start, and who initiated it? Any verifiable (links to source) information would be muchly appreciated!

←

Note 'preliminary research' so I assumed you'd be reading other guidebooks as part of said research in addition to posting your question, I mean, some dudes I used to drink with were Lonely Planet staffers and they always seemed to reading some guidebook or another to keep up so to speak.

So anyhow, seems like a few good people have googled, yahoo'ed, MSN'ed away so you should be well on the way to discovering who discovered beer in SE Asia if it wasn't indeed brought by colonialists/traders/etc.

Would be interested to see what your in-depth research trawls up once we're past this preliminary stage.

[Peter Green]

Beer in South East Asia is very much a colonial import. Probably the first to arrive was kegged in the bellies of the trading ships. I suspect much of that has gone past the sell-by date.

But the imperialists (darn their hopped up hides) would have malted away (sorry) before the Islamic ire of much of the south, and so San Miguel's claim would be one of a lone bastion of frothiness in the otherwise flat seas about.

Thailand, never being colonized, did not benefit from the social ferment, and came late to the scene.

Indochine may, perhaps, lay claim to the early lees, having established Bier La Rue in the Annamese holdings. Their brews stretched along the headwaters of the Mekong, from Saigon to Phnom Penh, to Vientiane, aiding in the mission civilatrice.

This in turn has left both Vietnam and Laos with good brewing traditions, the mark of which is if one can drink the beer without refridgeration. Beer Lao easily stands this test (perhaps they still feel the chill of the Cold War when Pils Urquell consulted with them), and 333, Panther, and others in Vietnam can hold their own any day.

With Beer Lao, during Pimai in '97, Luang Prabang found itself out of the amber liquid (it wasn't all my fault). There was still Heiniken, Fosters, and others available, but these were left on the shelf. It was Beer Lao or nothing (as a happy note, Beer Lao is now being distributed in Bangkok, but only in the bars, it seems).

I recall sitting in Sapa one day, and the fellow across from me asked why I was drinking a Beer La Rue when I could have a Chinese beer for half the price and twice the volume. (The border is a stone's throw off the cliff side).

"Do you like drinking that?" I asked.

"No," said he.

"Case solved".

The Cambodian beers are, alas, a loss. There are a few, but none with any real highlights. They fall into quick disrepute, much as the Indonesian beers do. I've got a piece on that somewhere I must dust off.

[Peter Green]

Microbreweries would be an even more interesting basis for an article!

Who is there out there now?

In Thailand we have:

Brew Haus (they supply the Don Muang place, as well as Road House BBQ) with their selection including the Honey Bee Pilsener.

Tawan Daeng with their own selection, great Thai bar food, and a live band.

The Londoner, with a cream bitter (one of my favourites) and a Pilsener.

Tauras passed away many years ago.

Up in Chiang Mai there's a German brew house over near the Callefour.

Cambodia isn't brewing their own yet (rolling, maybe.....)

Singapore has a Paulaner Brew House which is much like all the other Paulaners, but.....

Singapore also has BrewWerkz down on Clark Quay, which does excellent beers, two of my favourites being the Extra IPA and the heavily malted MouQuay.

Who else is out there?

Inquiring minds need to know.

(and apologies in advance for any misspellings. It's getting late over here)

[PCL]

Excellent... you've learned me.

This forum doesn't fail to amaze me now and then. Brings a whole news perspective to 'ask and thou shall receive'. By the way, Mr Green, do you have like a search-bot or are you simply one of those Jim Thompson types, complete with safari suit and all, intrepid explorer etc?... gettin' late...

[scarlett]

I'm going to venture a guess and say it was the Dutch who brought beer to SE Asia during their colinization frenzy....

[PPPans]

Yikes... This is going overboard...! Was my initial post that unclear?  Let me try again: I'm writing the Food & Drink chapter of an upcoming Lonely Planet guide that will be called Greater Mekong. The guide covers the areas that border on or include the Mekong river, ie. Yunnan (China), northern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and southern Vietnam. Beer is very, very big in this area, and I'm just curious as to 1) when it was introduced 2) Who introduced it 3) Where it was introduced.

<snip>

PPPans: Actually I never up with the assumption (?) that rice based-spirits are ubiquitous, but they actually are!  Name a country in SE Asia that doesn't have them!  Unfortunately I'm not too keen on geopolitical drinking issues in the northern Philippines, but thanks for your help with my question.

So, does anybody know?

←

There you go! Had its title been Beer on the Greater Mekong area, we would have understood you better. When you said Southeast Asia, those who read it must've thought your project encompasses the whole of Southeast Asia. If it were more precise I wouldn't even have replied.

As for your assumption, I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I just asked for the basis, e.g. anecdotal info, survey, industry reports, etc. On rice-based spirits being ubiquitous in Southeast Asia (if we are both referring to the same geographic scope), just because each country has one or two doesn't mean it has penetrated the populace as much as beer has now.

But then again, I don't have historical statistics on beverage consumption for the whole of Southeast Asia.

[Peter Green]

Excellent... you've learned me.

This forum doesn't fail to amaze me now and then. Brings a whole news perspective to 'ask and thou shall receive'. By the way, Mr Green, do you have like a search-bot or are you simply one of those Jim Thompson types, complete with safari suit and all, intrepid explorer etc?... gettin' late...

←

I believe firmly in field research! How can you get to the bottom of a glass.....er problem without pounding the pint......er ground.

Cheers

[PCL]

Okay... some more field research here... asked a few friends and next time I'm in Borneo, Sabah, to be precise, I'm gonna try the local coconut based spirit, and hey hey, a rice based spirit... although I must qualify that rice is not a traditional crop in that part of the world, whereas coconuts, whole different matter I am told...

Looking forward to it... will also be counting the beer drinkers... I mean, like in coffee shops, you see dudes sucking on long neck bottles of Carlsberg, Oraanjeboom and the lot... not many locals drink local beer over there it seems...

[Peter Green]

Okay... some more field research here... asked a few friends and next time I'm in Borneo, Sabah, to be precise, I'm gonna try the local coconut based spirit, and hey hey, a rice based spirit... although I must qualify that rice is not a traditional crop in that part of the world, whereas coconuts, whole different matter I am told...

Looking forward to it... will also be counting the beer drinkers... I mean, like in coffee shops, you see dudes sucking on long neck bottles of Carlsberg, Oraanjeboom and the lot... not many locals drink local beer over there it seems...

←

Please, please post your restaurant reviews on Sabah! I was there in '93, and loved the state, but didn't care much for the food (the rice was disappointing), but I'd like to have a reason to return.

On the coconut spirit side, this is also a common drink on the part of the Phillipinos. My neighbor in Cairo once brought some back that her brother had made and gifted to her. It was wet, is all I can say.

For rice spirits, lau khao is all over the place in Thailand, and, while working effectively add diminishing your vision, can also be used for stripping the driveway. I recommend insted lau Lao, the Laos version. For this, they say that the stuff made in Don Khong near the Mekong Falls in the Panhandle is the best. I've tried that, and have also taken shots in Luang Prabang, and I'd like to give you a comparison, but I honestly have a hard time remembering much about those incidents........

[Peter Green]

I've just heard that the venerable Thai Kloster has bowed out of the beer wars. Thailand's so called "European brew" for decades, it has gone the way of Amarit (I may be wrong, but I haven't seen Amarit anywhere for over a decade).

Kloster and Singha were probably the two biggest reasons for me to take up Maekhong, coke, and soda in the early years.

What does that leave us with now? Carlsberg did a runner what, two years ago?

Chang - the working man's beer (it's cheap and heavy)

Chang Lite - now there's a concept

Singha - (I'll keep my mouth shut....I want to go back).

Leo - released when Leonardo was in country doing The Beach. Coincidence?

Leo Super - if you can't find Chang.....

Tiger - under license from Singapore...sort of like Shin Communications

Asahi Super Dry - probably my favourite of the under-license brews.

Can anyone out there add to the list? I should've paid more attention last week.

[Raoul Duke]

Saigon Bier still around Hanoi?

[Peter Green]

This is something I should've taken care of a long time ago.............

Okay, I've been to the beer section in the Emporium, which is as good a marker for the market as any, and have collected a number of brews for comparisons.

(Bear in mind, I've been drinking the excellent Beer Lao for a week, and so may be hard to please)

Here's what we have available:

Archa (Horse lable) - 5.4% -

comments: general swill, a little on the sweet side for me. Bubbles aren't bad, but head isn't very good.

Chang (Elephant) - The standard bearer of bad headaches the nation over. there are now three to choose from.

Light - 4.2%

Comments: why bother?

draught - 5.0%

Comments: softer than the normal Chang. It releases the odd, occassional flatulance of a bubble, but is generally still, holding a nice frothy head for about five minutes, which then breaks down into a still- appetizing surface scum.

regular - 6.4%

Comments: very good bubblousity, with a crisp but shortlived head. A slightly repellent backwash on the palate that goes away if you drink enough. I've had a number of very good eveningings drinking this from the back of a pick-up truck with the kitchen staff of my favourite 5 star hotel.

Leo - 5.5%

Comments: Poor head, good bubbles. Again, it's sweet for me, and it tends to come across as a little bilious. This beer came out (coincidentally?) as Leonardo diCapprio (or whatever his name is/was from Titanic) was in Thailand filming The Beach. I don't think I've ever seen anyone drink this from choice.

Cheers - 5.6%

Comments:

Thai - 6.5%

Comments:

Asahi - 5%

Comments: A Japanese "dry" brewed under license. Palatable, and a beer of choice for soi 33. Unfortunately, outside of the Japanese bars and restaurants (and soi 33 - the Dead Artists' Street) it's difficult to find. Crisp, and with that tell-tale dry taste that can help you get over a very hot day.

San Miguel

The well respected Filipino is served in three forms:

Pale Pilsener - 5%

Comments: A fair Pils. Generic, but it does the job. Not great bubbles, but the head is good enough for a short time.

Light - 5%

Comments: They're selling a "light" with the same alcohol content as the regular? why am I even bothering trying this?

Blue Ice - 6.4%

Comments: Didn't this name come from the Zoolander movie? The lable is very (any lawyers out there?) reminiscent of Labatt's Ice from Canada, which isn't something I'd want to associate myself with. Obviously, the people brewing San Mig in Pathumthani decided that if Beer Thai was going to go head to head with Chang, they weren't going to miss out on a fight. A fairly leprous head, mottled with a variety of bubble sizes, with inconsistent bubbles being released. the flavour, however, is as advertised, fairly smooth, but with a sodden backdrop of wet flowers.

Heiniken - 5%

Comments: your general "as long as it's not Singha, okay" beer. It's a little sour as you take it, and the bubbles die quick. Don't pour this beer, but keep it in the bottle, and it'll get you by. Good bubbles, but no head to speak of.

Tiger - 5%

Comments: again, brewed under license. Good, with a reasonable head, good bubbles, and fairly crisp, but slightly "not there" in your mouth when you take it anything but very cold.

Kloster - 5.2%

Comments: we'd thought that they'd driven a stake through the heart of this veteran of the Thai beer years, but I found bottles of it in the cold section. It's still, well.....Kloster. A slightly different taste from Singha, but it doesn't really do much for me. Perhaps it's a shade more golden, but I could never see the "German style" they claimed.

Singha (pronounced "Sing")

The flagship beer for Thailand, and their ads are very good. I see those scenes of the stockbroker back humping a six pack through the hills, and it almost makes me forget the taste.

regular - 6%

Comments: the first time I tasted this, I was immediately reminded of Egyptian Stella. I may be scarred for life.

Light - 3.5%

Comments: I actually might prefer the taste of this over the regular. Being lighter, it's more watery, but on a hot day, with this served very cold......no, I'd still order a mickey of Maekhong, some coke, and a spritzer of soda.

Beyond........

Beer Lao

You can find this beautiful central European lager dotted about the lower part of Sukhumvit. An excellent beer, with few detractions to speak of. Heck, this passes the "would I drink this warm" test.

On Tap:

- I'm going to avoid the places that provide the standard imports on tap. There's now a good selection of Guiness, Kilkenny (Southpark), and others available across town. I'll concentrate here on locals:

The Londoner - I'm a fan of the cream bitter. I appreciate that it's a compromise bitter between the North and South, so no one's going to be completely happy, but I still like that beer. They also do a good Pils. At happy hour, these are very good value.

Tawan Daeng - good German micro-brew. The beer will come out in these things that look like the old service station gas pumps: a tall cylinder with a spigot at the bottom.

RoadHouse BBQ - Dana has the Strong and the Honey Bee Pils from the people that used to have the Brew House on Sukhumvit, and the Brew House at Don Muang Airport. Okay, technically, it's not brewed on premises, but this is still a good place for a pint.

Days past.....

There used to be a beer called Amarit. I can't recall seeing it since the 80's though.

Also, there was the German brewhouse, Taurus, on soi 24, with a reasonable selection of home brews.

And there was the BrewHouse, both the one on Sukhumvit and the one at Don Muang. A half dozen very good beers, and excellent Thai food.

And I noticed today on Silom that the Paulaner that used to be there seems to have passed.

These last lists are very short, and now's the time for everyone out there to chime in with their favourite small brews (and any of the big ones I've missed).

[Peter Green]

The first addition comes only hours after the post.

I was in Tokyo Joe's last night, and they had a sign up for Phuket Lager (I think). So there's another entry.

Unfortunately, I was sticking with cold sake as a carryover from dinner on Thonglor, so I can't say anything yet about the beer itself, other than it's out there.

more news as it happens

[Peter Green]

I finished off the Cheers and Thai just before heading to the airport.

For the Cheers, I found it fairly smooth, a bit more malty than some of the others. Not a distinguished beer, but it could go well with a number of Thai dishes.

As for Thai, well, I gather it was brought out as direct competition for Chang for the over 6% crowd. It had some rough overtones, and I can't say that I'd be looking to linger over this in the afternoon. I was sort of reminded of Rainier Ale, but without the sense of humour.