Singha beer now only 5%!!

[U.S.Veteran]

Singha Light is a soft drink
In all fairness I have seen you do the soft drink (water) thing to start.

 

[Pompal 09.]

4-5-6 percent
i always say, after 12-15 beers, im drunk!!
doeant matter the perceneforum.xxxe

 

[Tomb Raider]

I never used to believe in this, the change of brewer, because they are all using the same recipe if it's brewed under licence aren't they? But when they took boddingtons away from Strangeways and Inmassageplanet.netrew started brewing it elsewhere the taste changed.

It seems that the water they use makes a difference to the taste, and if you change location then you change the water.

 

[Hayden K.]

someone mentioned San Miguel Light...

One night we thought we'd try this "lower strength" beer early on in the evening. When we got the bottle we checked the bottle and it was 5% !! . So its got its light name from being low calorie instead. DOH.

Mainly we drank Beer Lao on this trip as it was different and not a bad drop.

 

[10242]

I did a little google searching but still can't seem to find any hard news that Singha dropped to 5% -- I find it odd that it isn't mentioned somewhere. I saw an article about how Boon Rawd is charged more tax for Singha because it is a "premium brand" (at least they complain that Chang Beer pays less tax than they do), but no press releases. Well, none in English anyway. I also read something about how Singha is only a tourist beer and Boon Rawd is placing its bet on Leo since it has 25% of the domestic market.

Well, whether any of that is true, guess I'll switch over to Leo or Chang or beer Lao...

Now, do any bars in Patong serve Leo? I have never seen it in a "farang bar", but then, I've never tried to order it.

 

[Woody]

My bro likes Leo.. Tends to drink it if he has a beer at home etc..

 

[Jason B]

water makes a huge difference
in the states-it is known that nyc makes teh best pizza and bagels and it is supposedly because the water is so good

 

[LittleB]

Tried Phuket Lager in Joe's Downstairs, not seen it anywhere else.

 

[Empress of Trolls]

Same recipe, same ingredients, but in different soil... That, and the water as you state makes a huge difference. Tobacco products are similar in this regard. Ask any Marlboro (Lights) smoker and all you will get is complaints about the local (Phillipines) brand...

Hmm, bagels... the best are in New Jersey!... Bergen County to be exact...

 

[a_hunters_wife]

I thought that had died a death.. Remember the posters with a toucan and a pic of promtheap..

 

[cralyn]

It bloody annoys the hell out of me when the large breweries take over, they mess things up Greene King are one of the worse they are spoilt Old Bob destroyed Ruddles county, what will be next.

Why can't things be left the same I will try the new longer 5% as i always drank it before they dropped the perceneforum.xxxe. :angry:

Does any where in Bangkok or Pattaya sell real ale (I know there are the places in Pattaya that sell the cream flow beer and Guiness).

Also what would you recommend to drink instead of Singha ?

 

[seek513]

Although I seem to be pretty much alone in my outrage over Singha's decrease to 5%, I would like to go ahead and share the results of the blind taste test.

It was a dark and stormy night. I walked over to the 7/11 near my hotel and made my way back to beer cooler, where, in my search for cans of 6% I found myself with at least 30 cans of Singha beer spread out on the floor around me. The 7/11 staff were too polite or disinterested to say anything but I got a dirty look from a Scandinavian lady so I knew I was on the right track. I bought 2 cans of 6%, 2 cans of 5% and one big bottle of Leo. Of course, no tasting would be complete without Green Pea Snacks, so I picked up one bag of the curly ones, and two packs of the ones that still look like peas, but with little hats.

Back in my room now, I put one can of each 5% and 6% in the freezer and allowed them to chill for 45 minutes. It was a long wait and the only movie on TV was the one with the car chase and the explosions, so I decided to dip into the Leo beer.

LEO beer is pretty good. It has a "creamy" froth that lasts quite a while and a medium golden color. It is also pretty cheap which helps if you buy 1,000 beers a month. The beer was smooth, had a little taste of barley or hops or malt. I have never tasted only barley, hops or malt so it is hard to tell. However, I thought the beer was a little "thin". No depth. Not exactly watery but I guess the aftertaste was flat. It also didn't smell so good, kind of like a good chablis that smells like motor oil. Still, I liked it and decided that in the future I would drink more LEO. I had a few curly green pea snacks and finished off the bottle of LEO.

Finally the big moment arrived. Next door a lady screamed. I found two identical glasses and labeled one A and one B. I suddenly regretted not chilling the glasses but these things happen and I decide to roll with it. The two cans of Singha are identical, except for the 5% and 6%, which is written in a very small font, so i have no problem pouring the beer without accidentally discovering which beer is which. I immediately notice that the foam is nowhere near as fine or creamy as the Leo beer, and it disappears very quickly. This might have been due to the glasses, but I don't think so.

Beer A
Well, I guessed immediately that it was Singha beer. It wasn't quite as good as the LEO but it also had a slightly thin, watery taste. Also, the bubbles picked at my tongue -- just like a good beer should. It just didn't have any legs, I suspected immediately that this was the 5% Singha. It made me a little sad..

Beer B
This was the Singha I know and love. Stronger, fuller and rich taste, it is immediately apparent that it was the "good stuff". The smell was good, compared to the Leo, but the foam was nearly nonexistant. I like Singha beer in the first place (I know many don't, but then that isn't really my problem) and actually still preferred it over the Leo beer. It has a bigger taste, kind of like stereo versus mono.

I finished off both beers, going back and forth trying to see how much they tasted alike. All I can say is it is obvious they are both Singha beer, but the new version is just thinner tasting - kind of like the second half of a bottle when you are drinking it with ice. I decided that probably after drinking 5 or 6 beers, I could probably drink a new Singha or two, but it would no longer be my favorite.

As for now, I've kind of switched over to Tiger beer but for some reason after a few of those it starts to taste a little acidic. Hmm. Guess I'm gonna have to butterfly - flitting from one beer to the next to the next to the next....

Cheers, Ro-baht

 

[LittleFoot]

Robaht, thanks for the very detailed and entertaining taste test. All I can add is that you probably got the better pour (i.e. head) from the Leo because it was in a bottle. And, that quick chilling the Singhas didn't help their cause in this regard.

You must have had a nice little buzz tied on after the test... Good primer for the evening out?

 

[i gotta question]

Sounds great, where can i read more about that?

 

[Ali G]

We used to get that a bit over here, they lower the ABV to keep costs down usually; less alcohol content means less duty/tax to pay.

I don't mind less alcohol. I'm normally pretty thirsty in the heat and less alcohol content means I can drink more beer. I like Chang, but need a little lie down after half a dozen of them.

 

[johnsvolt]

So .... do you or don't you

 

[e l i z a ?]

Robaht, after your latest survey you should be ready to move up to a proper beer.......Chang at 6.4%. Only takes 3 of these to make me fall over.

 

[Ryskag]

Well,
after reading all of this I opened my fridge and had a new bottle of Singha - as it said in the back label mainly in Thai: 630 ??3 / alc.5.0% vol.

So that's it is :angry:

 

[bealzebub]

As I was reading your reply I was thinking .... how respectful ... and then you finish like this :aao:

 

[Johncenazgurl88]

im sure there is a few good places in Bergen Co
but there are tons in the boroughs

also, id assume it's all from the same water