Comments on: Tsingtao Lager

By: Coops

Coops — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:59:28 +0000

There was rice in the Bud I tried last week too. I got a six pack of Tsingtao and then I also bought a six pack of Bud so I wouldn’t walk unbalanced (until I got plastered at home).

For comparison purposes I’d have to say Tsingtao wins hands down in my opinion. Bud was a bit tasteless though quite drinkable. Tsingtao has a pleasing if mild flavour. I would make room for it in my fridge.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:38:54 +0000

Great comment Bob! So it was rice in the mix? I remember really liking this beer.
I wonder was rice used for cost-cutting and then found to actually add to the flavor, or was it an unintended result that just happened to work out?

By: Bob the Brit

Bob the Brit — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:34:58 +0000

Something that is interesting, although not surprising, about Tsing Tao is that they use rice in the mix. Most beers use barley, but some north American brew use rice to bulk up the mash and cut costs.

One prime example is Canada’s Molson lager, which includes rice, and both Tsing Tao and Molson have a slightly rounded sweetness that, once you’ve spotted it, becomes quite distinctive. Once I won twenty bucks at Anchorage airport during a layover when I bet a fellow traveller that the Lowenbrau we were drinking had been brewed by Molson.

Another thing to bear in mind with Tsing Tao is that it’s great to accompany Chinese food!