Best beers in Asia

Well a post like this has been a while overdue. Having travelled a fair bit of this section of the globe, and sampled cuisine from much more of it, I think I have had a fair bit of what Asia has to offer. So with that in mind I thought I'd name a few of my favourite beers by country and brand and hopefully recommend a few to people who enjoy a good brew. Asia is actually a fantastic destination for quality brews, with many coming from colonial times when Brits, Germans and Americans built breweries or when locals went to those locations to study brewing. In Japan's case they sent brewmasters to Germany to learn their brewing techniques and brought them back to Japan in the 1880's (before mass brewing perfected by Anheiser-Busch existed).

Two countries that in my mind make top quality beers are:

1) Japan - This is an area where the Japanese excel. Asahi, Sapporo, Suntory and Kirin are all world class export beers. Yebisu, available only in Japan, is in my opinion better than any of these, should also be on that list of exports, and hopefully one day it will be. All four export brands are equal in taste and quality to any quality brewer in North America (ie - not Molson, Coors or Anheiser-Busch). Asahi Premium, a beer that has only been available in Korea for about a year now, is fantastic and well worth the $3 price tag.

2) Thailand. A strictly buddhist country where brewers can only establish themselves with permission from the king has nonetheless made several superior quality beers. Singha is quite possibly the best beer to have on a warm summer day (Corona being Mexican for Aztec urine) but also enjoyable when it cools down. It's flavourful and well worth it. Chang is another decent Thai beer that is worth the effort to find, although the export Chang is not half as good as what you'd get in Thailand. There is also Leo beer, popular in Thailand but almost impossible to find elsewhere, that is quite tasty.


As to beers themselves I'll just make my favourite beers :

1   -  Asahi (esp. Premium)  -  Japan
2   -  Singha                         -  Thailand
3   -  Yebisu                         -  Japan
4   -  Sapporo                      -  Japan
5   -  Chang Draft                 - Thailand
6   -  San Miguel                  -  Philippines
7   -  Tsingtao                      - China
8   -  Kirin                           - Japan
9   -  Suntory                       - Japan
10 -  Taiwan Lager              - Taiwan
11 -  Tiger                           - Tiger
12 -  OB Lager                    - Korea
13 -  Leo Beer                     - Thailand
14 -  Cass                            - Korea
15 -  Saigon Beer                 - Vietnam


Some might think Tiger deserves better, but I do think that it's overrated. This also does not include domestic only beers in China and micro breweries in Japan, of which there are hundreds.


As to Korean beer well........ it's a good thing there's makkeoli. OB Golden Lager is the first Korean beer that I've had that I like enough to recommend to people. It actually has taste and doesn't have the huge markup that non-Korean beers have so it's the best option if you want a cheaper beer that still tastes good. It's still far from what is on offer in neighbouring Japan, but it's certainly tasty. However, for Korean beer that's available everywhere I'll usually buy a Cass. It's not great, but it actually has taste, which is more than can be said for its competitors Hite, OB Blue and Max, which have none. While Korean food would easily be in my top 3 for Asian cuisine (with Szechuan and Thai) it's beer leaves much to be desired.