I read with some astonishment that Tiger beer, brewed in Singapore will be trialled on draught in the UK. The bottled version (the way it is drunk almost exclusively in the Far East) is already imported here and has been for years. On one hand it underlines the paucity of decent UK brewed lager, but in a time where we are all being asked to look to our green credentials, some numpty has decided it would be a good idea to drag even more of this undistinguished beer 6750 miles (Singapore - London distance) to the UK. How's that for a carbon footprint then?
Is it just me or is this a completely pointless exercise? Is it being done just because it can be done?
Tiger is an inoffensive all malt brew of little distinction. It is the the flagship brand of Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd, and is brewed in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Malaysia and China.
7 comments:
Ah, but me thinks this is how Stella began. Once trialed successfully, it will be contract brewed here.
You are probably correct.
I can tell you one thing: they're offering very good inducements to owners of untied, high turnover venues to take their product on draught. Trip to Singapore, anyone?
Lovely brewpub in Singapore. Though it's not as cool as the criminalisation of gum-chewers.
This kind of thing makes me very angry. It's more than pointless. It's a crime against the environment and possibly humanity.
Sam Smith's range of lagers are pretty decent, and if you like bland euro-fizz then there's plenty of that being contract-brewed in Blighty anyway. Can't understand it.
Hmmmm. From a personal and rather biased point of view I'd rather see Asia Pacific introducing their South Pacific (SP) range of bottled beers from Papua New Guinea - I spent six years out there as a child, and SP was the first beer I ever tried.
Sadly it's not available anywhere in the UK and despit my repeated enquiries no one from the brewco will even reply to my emails asking about personal import options.
I imagine Tyson's right - UK contract brewing would seem the most likely outcome should the trial prove successful.
I lived in Kuala Lumpur as a child in the 1960s, and although I was too young to drink Tiger beer (except for an occasional sip probably granted in the hope of putting me off beer for life), I recall that it was all over the place - simply the standard beer and not sold as anything exotic or premium. Bringing it over here is a bit like taking John Smiths over to Malaya ~ not a bad idea when you think about it, although I don't think the Malaysian people actually deserve such punishment.
I was slightly older when we lived in Java, and the omnipresent beer there was Bir Bintang, a pilsener style brewed by a subsidiary of Heinekin, just under 5% if I remember correctly. Bintang means 'star', and the label included a Heineken-style star. It wasn't bad as bottled beers go, but nothing to get excited about. I haven't seen it here yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. If it turns up, you read it here first!
In general it's simply stupid to transport a product that is around 95% water around the planet.
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