Coles Brand Beer

[Synthetase]

I think you mean

Water -> diet ale -> etc

 

[Bribie G]

IIRC the diet ale wasn't a bad drop. XXXX used to do one as well, forget what it was called before they killed it off then rebranded it as TED.

 

[HoppingMad]

I think you mean

Water -> diet ale -> etc

I stand corrected! Put that one at the front! :lol:

 

[geoffi]

"Beer is highly competitive and the brands that will succeed will be those that capitalise on trends but are also backed by a serious investment in product development and marketing."

Marketing on the left. Product development on the right.

 

[Fourstar]

According to Fourstar and Neville from Gryphon, both of whom spend time over there, the beer is actually pretty good in Vietnam and shytes all over VB or Tooheys.

Bia Hoi (if served off CO2 and CHILLED) is freakin awesome and most of the macro/regional labels are great, others not so great (borderline our swill) but i'd happily knock back 1/2 doz of 80% of their macro beers without a second thaught. EVerything there is essentially a Euro Pilsner with a dash of rice and variants of hopping rates. Some low hopped, other quite agressive and floral. Yes agressive.

+1 on the Viet beers, if they are anything like Fourstars Vietnamese style Rice Lager it is nothing to be sniffed at. Very good quaffer for a stinking hot day.
Cheers SJ

To be honest, mine is proabaly a little too polished like a Euro Pilsner, if i dropped 1/2 the carapils i'd say it would be close to spot on. SWMBO picked it without me even telling her it was based off the beers in Vietnam, so atleast im channeling something right! IMO it needs to be a little dryer.

I've sampled a few Vietnamese lagers in the Saigon suburb of Marrickville. Not the greatest beer on Earth, but pisses all over Aus megaswill.

The problem trying beers from the tropics here is:
- They are brewed in a volitale climate.
- They sit in an un-air conditioned warehouse for several weeks.
- They sit in a shipping container for a few months.
- They then spend the rest of their time dealing with the topsy turvy climates of Australia depending on where you are.

What im saying is. These beers would be produced at rates just enough to keep up with supply and demand. You dont often see Bia Hanoi in Saigon and Bia Saigon in Hanoi. If you do, you pay more for it and it doesnt always taste the same. The only place this happens is in Hue` and even then Bia Saigon always seemed to be 'fresher' than Bia Hanoi and everyone drinks hudda!

As soon as i left the north, i began ignoring Hanoi beer due to the inconsistencies of the beer quality from that brewery which i would attribute to storage and transporation. With the poor refridgeration abilities of most store owners they need to have a very high turnover. I'd say majority of the beer i consumed while over there would have been no more than a fortnight old from grain to brain.

Like any product you will have some standouts and others lacking, fortunatly for the vietnamese, their standard is probaly hitting 80% show stoppers. Developed perfectly for their climate and dont forget the atmosphere. Sitting on a 1 ft high stool, sweating bullets, being surrounded by thousands of people, cant stretch your arms out anywhere without toughing somone and you are killing for fliuds every 1/2 hour.

Imagine constantly feeling like you have just mowed the lawn every 1/2 hour and you can see exaclty why these beers are awesome for what they are. Have one here, (regardless if its one of their show stoppers) sitting on your couch in an airconditioned house watching the cricket with a bag of peanuts, unfortunatly it doesn't really cut the mustard. Sweat your arse off on a 40 deg day cooking a barbie and I'll take a Bia Saigon, Ice cold.

 

[Bribie G]

Well, always the optimist I just sank 2 stubbies of this beer.
Bloody dreadful - makes TED taste like Pilsner Urquell.

 

[TidalPete]

IIRC the diet ale wasn't a bad drop. XXXX used to do one as well, forget what it was called before they killed it off then rebranded it as TED.

Diet Lager IIRC? Used to drink this while I was in Weight Watchers in the '70's.
XXXX equaled 4.8% & diet Lager around 5.4% /5.6% TTBOMM.

TP