Thailand beers

Brewing beer in Thailand began in 1934. (although the Singha label says "SINCE 1933") Locally produced Thai beers face competition from major international brands, but have successfully found their own niche in the Thai market and abroad.

Thai beer is typically lager. The oldest and most popular Thai beer in Thailand and abroad isSingha, brewed by Boon Rawd Brewery. Singha also appears in Thailand in Light (3.5% ABV) and Draught versions.

Recently, Singha has been challenged by Chang beer, made by Thai Beverages. Chang is noted globally for its sponsorship of Liverpool's Everton football club, as

its name and logo have appeared on the team uniform since 2004.

Boon Rawd Brewery also makes Leo, a non-premium beer, and Leo Super, a 6.5% alcohol beer. In addition, Thai Beverages sells Archa, a mass-market, non-premium lager. Boon Rawd Brewery also sold a global brand Mittweida, but this was replaced by a beer brewed in partnership with InBev, Kloster. It also sells a 6.5% lager called Thai Beer.

Other locally brewed Thai beers are Phuket Beer and Siam, in Pathum Thani province; the latter brewery exports Bangkok Beer abroad, but does not sell it in Thailand. Phuket Beer and Federbrau are the only Thai beers brewed according to the German purification laws or Reinheitsgebot;Phuket Beer has recently won a Gold Medal Award in the Category of Best Lager under the selection process of the Monde Selection organisation based in Brussels, Belgium. Klassik beer is another local beer brewed in Pathum Thani province. See Beer and breweries in Thailand for a more complete alphabetical listing.

Although foreign beers are popular within the country, the Thai government seeks to shelter its domestic breweries through the imposition of import duties; in addition, all imported beers must bear an import sticker on their bottle caps. As a result, Thai brewers have struck partnership deals with western brewers, such as Carlsberg's partnership with Thai Beverages.

Thailand’s number one selling beer is Beer Chang, which you can spot by its distinctive green label adorned with two elephants. In Thai, Chang means elephant and that’s a good name for this beer since Chang Classic really packs a punch at 6.4%, especially when served in the common 630 milliliter size. That’s about double the size and double the strength of a typical light beer in the US, so four times the alcohol per bottle! Beer Chang is also a lager, though the malt flavor is a little more intense than Singha’s. Beer Chang is very popular, but often it's not available in nicer restaurants.

Classic, Draught and Light:

There are now three kinds of Chang Beer available -- Classic, Draught and Light. Classic is regular Chang. Draught is slightly weaker, both in terms of flavor and alcohol content (it's 5% versus 6.4%) but still has that distinctive malty taste and aroma. Chang Light, with 4% alcohol, is a surprisingly full-bodied light beer and although alcohol content is lower, does not taste watered down.