Never had a good Asian beer

Soju is really pretty ok. A friend of mine from Korea bought some for me once (I've since found it at an eastern food store), and I drank it on ice. I've since been told that's not the way to enjoy it. But it tastes like a cross between good vodka and white wine. Not quite the same as Sake.
Sapporo (spelling?) is pretty much the same as Budweiser. It's got that eastern twist to it, and I kind of like it. Catfish's history lesson kind of confirmed my theory that it might be the best Japanese beer, but I've only had a few.
I only just realized that good Sake is supposed to be cold. Is this just the legend my local Sake bar pushes on us, or is this true?

Maybe this should be a new thread. Feel free to start a new one for an answer.

try the San Miguel brand of beers, and Red Horse in philippines.

desertBrew said:

S & S (Sushi & Sapporo). Not like Sapporo is very good. It's kind of like those dry beers the macro guys were doing in the states but its japanese in origin. Think I heard AB owns Kirin? Anyway it's my tradition if I'm eating sushi. Yep, you either love it or gross out... and that could be for both Sushi And Sapporo

I always like to try a beer that is related to the restaurant ethnicity. Italian - I gotta drink italian beer (can't remember what; the one with the mafia dude on it). Greek - Keo (actually Cyprus there).

Basically, I like beer.

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Drink a Japanese beer if you are looking for a cool, crisp taste. It goes excellent with Japanese food- not so much sushi, but all the other stuff you can get as appetizers..

Try some edamame (salted)-- it goes EXCELLENTLY w/ Kirin or Sapporo.
Some more really good appetizers are age dashi tofu (fried tofu) and gyu tataki (basically a yummy tender fillet of beef that is essentially served raw, save for a quick grilling).

You can pick up frozen edamame in some grocery stores. Just boil for a few minutes, drain, salt and voila, an excellent snack with your Kirin or Sapporo.

rewster451 said:

Soju is really pretty ok. A friend of mine from Korea bought some for me once (I've since found it at an eastern food store), and I drank it on ice. I've since been told that's not the way to enjoy it. But it tastes like a cross between good vodka and white wine. Not quite the same as Sake.
Sapporo (spelling?) is pretty much the same as Budweiser.

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It's actually Shouchu (showchu). In Japan, I had it on ice with a tad bit of water. A very good way to get drunk very fast. Very smooth, almost don't detect the alcohol.

As for the Japanese beer being like a Budweiser, I definitely agree (albeit slightly crisper). I worked with a Japanese guy (he was here for a 3 month stay) and EVERY day after work, he downed a 6 pack of Bud. It was a daily affair.

When I visited him and his family in Japan, he would set (kinda a slam) beer glass on the table and say "biru!" then his wife would calmly get up and refill his glass. kinda funny.

When visiting China on a gap year, I took a liking to the Yanjing beer there. Admittedly I hadn't tasted proper (i.e. English ) beer for a while at that point.

I haven't been able to find it since getting back, even the chinese supermarkets only seem to sell Tsingtao, so haven't been able to reassess it. I just remember it didn't taste half bad in Beijing!

Michael_Currie said:

I've yet to try an Asian beer I truely enjoy. Any suggestions?

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And you never will. Like finding a great beer in Italy.

Went up to a local korean restaurant tonight, and the bro-in-law and I revisited OB. OMFG is that stuff bad. It actually tasted better in Korea when it was skunked.

The real question is whether the beer is actually imported from another country. Read the small print and it usually says brewed in New Jersey under license of the foreign beer company. So the bottom line is that the foreign beers are like Bud and other domestic beers and the imported beers is still pointed toward domestic tastes.

I dont drink beer that much at least not for taste, but my friend brought back some from Romainia, in the UK I think he traveled all over the place their and I had what was left over in the can the can was almost bone dry good stuff.WHY I POSTED IS about sake here's another link or two about sake just checked on other one server down. Which states some add ethanol alcohol to fortify it :cross: illegal to sell over here. any one have a recipe of Norgri sake?So I can help somone out.

http://www.tibbs-vision.com/sake/instrct.html

just replying somewhere about champagn and I wonder what would champagn sake taste like http://www.winemakermag.com/mrwizard/56.html

Can't agree that all Asian beer is no good! If in doubt, try a smooth, icy-cold draft Asahi! It's magic! I find it much better than the largers in the UK.

Don't like Kirin though! When I say I don't like it that doensn't mean I won't drink one that's offered! There seem to be fans of either Asahi or Kirin. Sapporo isn't bad either but it runs at 4.5%, not the usual 5% so...

The Japanese have a weird beer substute called Happoshu. Not sure what it is exactly but I think it's shochu made to taset a bit like beer.

madrean said:

It's actually Shouchu (showchu).

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In Japan, yeah. But in Korean, it's soju (or so my Korean friends tell me).

I've never had an Asian beer that I liked. Now, umeshu (plum wine)... yum!

Sapporo Draft One is brewed from soy beans and peas. It gets taxed at a lower rate than using malt barley. Other Japanese breweries have similar products.

Genghis77 said:

Sapporo Draft One is brewed from soy beans and peas.

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Wasn't it John Lennon who said "...just give peas a chance."?

Like beer, sake needs enzymes to break down the rice to sugar. The enzyme they use is a mold spore called komi koji, and most homebrew shops sell it. All you need is some yeast nutrient, some acid blend, rice, and a special sake yeast that homebrew stores also sell. I made some and it came out pretty good, but i like beer.

Oh as for asian and american beer, it all taste's like carbonated urine!!

When I was in Japan, Kirin was the choice, at 9% it was good.. You also have to remember if you get any beer in the US with an Asian, German, General overseas, will not be a true beer.. The tastes are way different, basically its Americanized.. Soju mixed with Gatorade, Ammo bowl.. Tialand: if your man enough get some Macong.. Shin Lo Chue, my favorite.. Turkey, the choice it Tuborg, dont drink the Tuborg Red.. Barf, its there beer mixed with Vodka

I like Tiger beer. I think it's from Viet Nam. Nice crisp pilsener style.

Tiger is great with curried anything, and I have to say, I have a huge soft spot for Tsingtao. Sometimes it's not so good, but when it IS good, it's arful durn good. Way better than Heineken on a hot day.

I just have to toss this in... This thread has been going on since 2004!!!!!! Why won't it just go away!

Sasquatch said:

Tiger is great with curried anything, and I have to say, I have a huge soft spot for Tsingtao. Sometimes it's not so good, but when it IS good, it's arful durn good. Way better than Heineken on a hot day.

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Tsingtao is really good when it's good but the good/bad ratio is way below .5 and therefore not worth the risk to me. Tiger is rarely bad. As for Hieneken, as you well know the stuff they serve in Europe is ten times better than the stuff we get here in NA. I imagine that's a freshness issue though.

I suggest that you try a beer from Thailand called Singha. It is quite good

try a Thai beer called singha

Janx said:

Sake.

I don't think there are good Asian beers. There are just imitations of crappy Western beers. I don't think there's any brewing tradition there (please correct me if I am wrong).

Sake. Rice wine. Strange, but a groovy accquired taste. Try it warm (yes, I said warm) with some sushi at a good place. It grows on you.

When in Rome...

Janx

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Wow someone is insecure. All sake is basically beer so they may have just as much experience brewing beer. I don't associate Sapporo, Asahi or Kirin Ichiban with any Western beers. Do yourself a favor and Google the basics.http://urbansake.com/sake-basics/

Cheese or fish are good with sake. Most restaraunts heat cheap sake too high to mask imperfections. Not many premium sakes are heated but if you ever heat sake it should be 100F to 130F. I think most restaraunts heat sake to 170F.

Wow, this one got scraped from the bottom!


However, if this is still an issue try:

Asahi
Singha
Kirin


In that order. Thank you for playing!

:cross: