Everyone loves Southeast
Asia for the beautiful beaches, fascinating cultures and of course, the cheap drinks. However, their low price isn’t necessarily linked to low quality; in fact, there are a variety of lagers that everyone loves in Southeast Asia – and here they are.
Angkor Beer
Angkor Beer is the default beer in
Cambodia - everpresent, extremely affordable, and ever-welcome when cold and imbibed just after a whole day exploring the ruins of the Angkor temples. The beer's flavor is somewhat low-profile with a distinct hoppy presence, but it packs a relatively high alcohol content at 5.5%.
Angkor has been made and bottled in Cambodia since the 1960s, and every corner store, restaurant, and dive bar serves the stuff in massive quantities. Cambodians are great drinkers - there are cave drawings in Cambodia showing drunkards sleeping off their rice beer hangovers - and in Angkor, they've got a beer to match their thirst.
Beerlao
Time Magazine called it "Asia's best beer"; the Bangkok Post named it the "Dom Perignon of Asian beers". Not bad for a beer brewed by one of Southeast Asia's least developed countries. Beerlao was first bottled in 1973 - four decades and a partnership with Carlsberg later, this beer is a favorite among expat communities for its subtlety and clean flavor.
The manufacturer claims that only the best ingredients go into their beer - German hops and dry yeast, French malts, and local polished rice. Easygoing and absolutely silken when imbibed cold, Beerlao seems inextricably intertwined with the laid-back ambiance of
Luang Prabang.
Bia Huda
Almost every major Vietnamese town has its own beer. In Hue, the "official" beer is Huda, produced in partnership with Carlsberg. Huda is a light, crisp-tasting lager with a small head and a malty nose.
Like all Vietnamese beers, Huda is served cold, often with ice - an ideal internal refrigerator for the humid Central
Vietnam weather. This beer is especially well-suited for Hue's spicy, greasy regional cuisine.
Bia Saigon
Bia Saigon, the Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation's flagship product, is produced (and mainly imbibed) in Ho Chi Minh City, South Vietnam - do not make the mistake of asking for it anywhere else in Vietnam.
A light golden lager with some notes of rice and boiled vegetable, Bia Saigon is a must-have when drinking with friends on Pham Ngu Lao. It makes a very slight impression, if at all: drinking it cold (with ice, as the Vietnamese like it) allows it to make its character felt only in passing.
Bir Bintang
Bir Bintang dominates the
Indonesian beer market, which is surprisingly large; Indonesians are very big on beer despite their being culturally an Islamic country.
Bintang is manufactured under a partnership with Heineken, so the resulting beer tastes like it comes from the same family: a grainy aroma with notes of hops, honey, citrus, and malt. The beer is golden-colored, slightly sweet, and very carbonated: it goes down very easy in the tropical heat.
Chang Beer
Despite being one of
Thailand's cheaper brews, Chang is still a good beer experience: a very pale gold liquid with a slight sweetness, malty flavor with hints of grains and hops.
Best when imbibed cold, Chang Beer is an excellent match for streetside Thai food.
Dagon Beer
While
Myanmar has a catalog of local beers, Dagon Beer is considered one of the stronger contenders: it's light, sweetish and hoppy, with a somewhat metallic and malty aftertaste.
Dagon can be had in cans and bottles, but (naturally) the draft version offers the best experience of the lot, preferably imbibed in a historic watering hole like the long bar at the Strand in the Myanmar capital Yangon.
Reflecting on Myanmar's long history as a rice-growing power in Southeast Asia, Dagon Beer is brewed with rice. Compared to European beers, rice lagers tend to be lighter, crisper and a little fruitier, and Dagon Beer is no exception!
San Miguel Pale Pilsen
This golden lager owns about 90% of the beer market share in its native country the
Philippines, and it's not hard to figure out why: San Miguel Pale Pilsen has been produced in Manila since 1890 and has found its way across Southeast Asia since then, achieving top market share in Hong Kong.
A full-flavored pilsner with hints of caramel and a malty top note, San Miguel Pale Pilsen is meant to be imbibed in warm weather and consumed alongside greasy Filipino pulutan (side dishes) like balut. When ordering in the Philippines, you can just tell the waiter to get you "Pale", just "Pale", and he'll know what to do.
See more: Top local drinks you should try in Indonesia
Source: Internet
