Tsingtao

Brewed by Tsingtao Brewery
Style: Premium Lager
Qinqdao, China

This is my first Asian beer, so I was tentative about it. It poured a pale amber with a sudsy-looking head. I read that some smelled the dreaded skunk, but there was none in mine. The nose was very lightly fruity with a detergent component???, unusual for a lager. The taste was excellent, light hops and bitterness and very refreshing with a nutty aftertaste. For me, a pale lager fan, this is a very good beer.

This is a good, solid and tasty lager and one I’ve had a number of times but not frequently. It is a slightly deeper gold than usual, with a thick, big white head that slowly dissipates to a small ring, a little bubbly but not very. The aroma is basically standard for the type but stronger and more pungent and flowery than most. It smells of malt, grain and a bit of flowery hops. The taste is grain, a little sweet, with definite hoppy bitterness, more strongly flavoured, sweet and bitter than Tsingtao Pure Draft and more hoppy/bitter than many other pale lagers like Sapporo (otherwise rather similar). It has some alcoholic warmth, body, and a longish grain aftertaste.

Shows its German heritage (brewery originally established by German colonial masters; most brewmasters still alumni of famed Munich Technical University’s Weihenstephan Institute as are many of their peers around the world). Can stand up to most any traditional European beer. Not a difficult choice when on the menu, US beers (not talking micros here) need not apply.

Bottle. P. F. Changs Tucson AZ light zesty pour with a thin head. Light. Corn wheat barley light in the hopps dept. Very flavorful for a light beer. Goes very well with Chinese food!

I don’t know why the other reviews are so negative. I found this beer to be crisp without much bitterness at all. I enjoyed it with a healthy portion of Thai food, the heavy spices of which may have made the beer more agreeable. It did seem a little over carbonated, but that can be forgiven I suppose. Probably the best Asian beer I’ve tasted.

Hoppy, sweet aroma, bit of adjunct. Weak but pleasant. Bright amber color with slight head. Medium, watery body and medium carbonation. Crisp and refreshing. Slightly sweet with mild bitter end and after. A nice everyday beer, really good with spicy food.

Extremely drinkable and refreshing with all foods. Perfect for drinking more than one while indulging in a chinese food feast. I really like this beer and often order it when choosing between it and many standard american brews.

What I really liike about this beer is that it has distinct taste to it. Very malty beer has no bitter hoppy aftertaste to it, has a very heineken quality to it. Tastes really good with Chinese food.