Beer Lao proclaimed as Asia’s best beer by TIME magazine and hailed as the Dom Perignon of Asian beers by The Bangkok Post has finally arrived on British shores.

The premium rice beer that defines a nation and accompanies anything and everything in the land of smiles is here…
Beer Lao is the embodiment of South East Asia’s forgotten jewel, a tropical paradise with the innocence of an earlier age, when time was not money, life was savoured slowly and the joys of the moment triumphed over the desires of the future…

The oldest archaeological records of rice cultivation in the world can be found in Laos, and throughout the millennia Laos has provided a home to more varieties of rice than any other country in the world. Today some 3-4000 varieties can be found in Laos. The same traditions of care, cultivation and stewardship that have created this unique heritage can be tasted in the crisp, clean and relaxed taste of Beer Lao.

Awards

Beer Lao has received accolades from all corners of the earth for its crisp, smooth, laid back taste.

Osiris beer festival in Moscow

New York Quality award

Monde Belgian award

Monde Belgian award 2

The Australian International Beer Awards 2006

Not a beer drinker myself, only beer I can tolerate is Cascade
But in Aust the most common beer of the ones mentioned is San Miguel. From memory, Anchor is Malaysian and Tiger is Singaporean.

Beer Myanmar - the 1,500 Baht Beer



Now I have never been one for supporting military Juntas who commit mass murder and rape but I have to say as far as making beer goes the Union of Myanmar has got it right. Despite recent claims that Beer Myanmar is being exported to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh you would be hard pushed to find any great quantity at your local shop anywhere apart from Myanmar due to global economic sanctions against the country for one of the longest lists of human rights abuses in the world. Now since the Myanmar Junta own Beer Myanmar many people would take issue with supplying funds to the regime by manner of purchasing a bottle of their very, very good beer but the Junta own everything in the country, even the water, so anything you buy there will eventually find its way into the pockets of the military government anyway. Many people would simply refuse to enter into such a country let alone condone the actions of the Junta by giving them money but most foreigners who visit Myanmar do so not out of choice but of necessity. Myanmar neighbours Thailand and Thailand has a very strict, and incredibly frustrating, visa policy. You can enter on a tourist visa that gives you 30 days grace or on a Non-Immigrant visa that gives you 90 days in the country. Once this expires you have to cross over the border to renew your visa. So you head to the nearest border, which for most people is that of Myanmar and after five or six hours on a bus and a boat, believe me you need a beer. Even if you do not buy the beer the Junta will recieve around five US dollars for every foreigner that crosses it's border so buying the beer, or anything else, should not cause you too much concern. At least if you buy something from a vendor then that person will get some of the money, unlike the 5 dollars that goes straight into the pockets of the Junta.

"Myanmar's favourite beer" is the slogan that emblazes every bottle and it is factual for several reasons. First of all the beer is very good. Second of all the Junta has just nationalised it's main competitor Beer Mandalay for being too popular. It costs anywhere from 40 to 60 Baht per bottle ($1 to $1.30) depending on your negotiation skills. Best served chilled it has a golden brown colour that indicates that they have actually bothered to use some ingredients in the brewing process unlike the many chemically based beers in Asia. The beer actually has a bit of body to it, light to medium but a body none the less, and it has got quite a nice taste as well. There is a mixture of hops and yeast that combine to create a flavour that leaves a pleasant aftertaste for somewhile after the beer is consumed. The beer is a standard 5% - this is about the right alcohol level for my tastes and also for the tropical climate. A 640ml bottle in the afternoon won't end your day and a few more in the evening won't leave you reeling in the morning. Up to a year ago it was easy to find cans of the beer for sale at the border but for some unknown reason it is now only available in bottles. This might be because they ran out of aluminium or, perhaps more plausibly, a soothsayer or sage advised the management that bottles were luckier. You have to remember that this is the country that has just moved it's long established national capital 400 km north allegedly on the advice of witchdoctors.

Anyone who has spent any amount of time in Thailand will be more than aware of the outlandish and mostly fraudulant claims by everyone from tailors to restaurants about winning awards for any multitude of things but the awards Beer Myanmar displays on it's label are actually genuine. To date it has won the Gold Medal (Packaged Lager) and Gold Medal (Draught Lager) in the 2005 Brewing Industry International Awards, the Silver Medal in the 2004 World Beer Cup as well as several other awards. Quite an achievement for a beer that comes from a country nearly as isolated as North Korea. While I thoroughly dislike the day it takes me to journey to the border of Myanmar and back to fulfil my visa obligations I have to say that the 1,500 baht (30 dollars) the trip costs me is well worth it just for that bottle of Beer Myanmar. It is an alcoholic gem of Asia and as I sample, critique and review the beers of Thailand the reasons for my appreciation of Beer Myanmar will become more and more evident. It is a good beer that stands tall against some truely awful ones.

Article from Tales of Asia

I am wondering if Myanmar beer is brewed in the English fashion siince the colonials were there previously?

Monde Selection



MBL takes great pride and care in the brewing of Myanmar Beer. No less than 250 quality checks are made on raw materials, water and finished product before the consumer gets to taste the beer. This attention to detail is to ensure that MBL produces a beer of consistent high quality. Only with such dedication was Myanmar Beer able to twice win the Monde Selection High Quality Trophy, in 2001 and 2006. This trophy is only awarded to winners of three consecutive Monde Selection gold medals.


World Beer Cup



The World Beer Cup held in the USA, is one of the most prestigious beer competitions in the world. The World Beer Cup adheres to the mission statement to educate beer drinkers around the world about the quantity and diversity displayed by the various beers of the world. In year 2000, Myanmar beer was awarded a Bronze medal by the World Beer Cup, and a Silver medal in the year 2004.



Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA)



In 2001, Myanmar Beer was awarded a gold medal by the Australian International Beer Awards.





Brewing Industry International Awards (BIIA)



In the year 2005 Myanmar Beer won unprecedented Double Gold at the Brewing Industry International Awards (otherwise known as BIIA) in Munich, Germany. The prestigious BIIA is widely recognized as the world’s top professional beer competition and is only held once every two years. Amongst beer companies worldwide, the BIIA is regarded as the “Oscars” of beer competitions.

Sorry, things must be going to hell when I let politics affect my choice of beers but there you have it.

Is Red Horse a pinoy beer???

it's a product of San Miguel.

How can you rate beers when you are not a beer drinker yourself

why can't i boycott beers for political reasons, mister???

I go for San Miguel, RedHorse is not bad at all

There's beer in Indonesia? I thought all alcohol was prohibited in Islamic countries.

I pity him, to take inspiration from a beer. What, he couldn't have any woman or sumthin'? Must be a miserable old drunk with beer gut

Err.. so he's a friend? Sorry..... shall I pray for him to get a new source of inspiration then?

Oh, then it's fine to mock him!
Anyway, I don't know how to feel about him using some kind of Buddhist chanting for his music, under influence of alcoholic drink

@ ralf, I can't hear the song... but it sounds like a temple ceremony with buddhist monks chanting.

@ bhas, have u heard of the Buddha Bar? Which religious group would allow their leader to have a bar named after him? Isn't he great?