Tsingtao is the most popular beer in China. When you consider the population of China, this is saying something. Big. Sales. So how does it drink?
Poured from a green bottle with no freshness date. Beer is golden, with good carbonation, and a bit of head that disappeared faster then an election promise. Aroma is a sharp hop, with a bit of a grainy sweetness. Almost reminds me of Mill St Organic. Some folks might accuse it of being “skunky”, but it’s not. Taste is a bit thin, but more of the same. Sweetly malty, though the hops are a bit less present. The one thing I’ve always found interesting about this beer, is it has a bit of a mineral feel/taste to it. It is assumed that this is likley a side-effect of a fairly hard-water source for the brewing. Some bottles have more, some less; this one is on the heavier side. The mineral taste also leaves your tongue a bit clean/dry. It’s an interesting effect. The body is pretty thin, but then again, this is China’s equivalent to Bud, so what are we to expect? With that in mind, Tsingtao is a great beer. Macro for sure, but tasty. I enjoy this beer more then most of the big ones. Plus it’s fun to say: “JING-dao”
I regularly describe myself as an "ardent supporter of beer", which pretty well sums it up. While I'm not working or busy being a husband and dad (okay, honestly, sometimes while I'm doing those things), I am drinking beer, attending events, visiting pubs, and thinking about beer. I work at Castro's Lounge, my local bar in the Beach, where I host beer events and take part in most things beer-related.
5 Comments
The mineral taste/feel may be due to the mineral water (supposedly) used to brew it, Laoshan water. Living in Qingdao, it is easy to get spoiled on the good stuff and spurn the standard green bottle in favor of the stubby brown, or some good fresh, unflitered, draught, white, black, tan, even green, all available only on Beer Street in Taidong, a district of Qingdao. BTW, Tsingtao is just the old spelling of the city name, the pronounciation has never changed, neither has the Chinese name 青岛。
More info on Tsingtao beer here:
http://www.qingdaonese.com/tsingtao-medicinal/
and
http://www.qingdaonese.com/tsingtao-qingdao/
The mineral taste/feel may be due to the mineral water (supposedly) used to brew it, Laoshan water. Living in Qingdao, it is easy to get spoiled on the good stuff and spurn the standard green bottle in favor of the stubby brown, or some good fresh, unflitered, draught, white, black, tan, even green, all available only on Beer Street in Taidong, a district of Qingdao. BTW, Tsingtao is just the old spelling of the city name, the pronounciation has never changed, neither has the Chinese name 青岛。
More info on Tsingtao beer here:
http://www.qingdaonese.com/tsingtao-medicinal/
and
http://www.qingdaonese.com/tsingtao-qingdao/
A pretty decent, straightforward pilsner/lager. Indeed it does have a mineral texture to it. Moderate hop content and nice head from the 640ml bottle I had. I like this beer and Harbin from the most northern region of China as well, Zhujiang Beer from the south. China has a lot of lager beers but also some interesting brews based on the wheat beer style, ale and stout styles too. Surprisingly, there is increasing diversity over there.
A pretty decent, straightforward pilsner/lager. Indeed it does have a mineral texture to it. Moderate hop content and nice head from the 640ml bottle I had. I like this beer and Harbin from the most northern region of China as well, Zhujiang Beer from the south. China has a lot of lager beers but also some interesting brews based on the wheat beer style, ale and stout styles too. Surprisingly, there is increasing diversity over there.
According to Chinese folks I know TsingTao is the original Heineken recipe. Heineken was brewing their recipe in China and the Chinese gave them the boot, but kept the recipe.