Beer Of The Week: AOOOOONI! The Green Ghost Toast!

Whenever I go to Singapore, I always try to make it for a beer or two at Jibiru Japanese Craft Beer Bar at Somerset 313. It's one of my favorite drinking spots in Singapore, nice cozy little outlet, with some really great beers.



The last time I went there, I was happy to see a few new beers from the Yoho Brewing company, which also makes the excellent Yona Yona Ale. The new ones were Tokyo Black (nothing to do with the Black Tokyo Horizon), the Sun Sun Organic Beer, and my favorite, the Indo No Aooni IPA.



Damn, I LOVE that packaging. Yoho has always had nice cans, but this one is just awesome. The name means "Green Ghost" (I think, at least that's what those characters mean in Chinese), 7%ABV, and is apparently a "Full-bodied IPA with a generous floral hop aroma".



They've got the description of the aroma right. The nose is a wonderfully hoppy yet sweet, floral scent, and is probably one of the best-smelling beers I've had in a while. The colour is a nice, slightly ruby red,  amber-ish straw color too.



I have to say, this has just overtaken the Yona Yona as my favorite beer from Yoho. It's got a perfect balance of hops and sweet maltiness, and the bitterness comes through just right, meaning it doesn't hit you in the face as soon as you sip it, unlike many IPAs. It's also surprisingly easy to drink considering it's 7%ABV, and I polished off mine in no time at all. EXCELLENT.

Beer Rating: 8.5 out of 10



BTW, I'm not sure if Aooni will be at the Better Beer Festival this Saturday at Taps Beer Bar, but one beer brand from Jibiru will DEFINITELY be there - Hitachino Nest! Hopefully they'll have the AWESOME Espresso Stout, but even if they don't, Hitachino Nest still makes some GREAT beers. So head over to the Better Beer Festival to check it out!

Beer of The Week: Now THAT'S Hardcore

Hmmm... been awhile since I've done a Beer of the Week post. Not that I haven't tried many beers, in fact, I've tried TOO MANY beers that I don't know which one to write on! :-p



Anyway, one of my favorite beers at what is my current NUMBER ONE BEER BAR - Taps Beer Bar - is actually the awesome BrewDog Hardcore IPA. It comes in the bottle, and they usually have it on tap as well. While I prefer it a lot more on tap, the bottle one packs one heck of a punch as well.



The beer has a fresh, refreshing, grassy nose, and compared to the other BrewDog IPA available here - the rather light Punk IPA - this is a MONSTER of a beer, containing 9% ABV, and a GREAT hoppy, citrusy taste that ends with a nice, long hoppy finish. One of the better beers to go with Taps' beef rendang or satay pizzas, IMHO.

Definitely one of the better IPAs I've ever tried.



BTW, Taps will be organising the BETTER BEER FESTIVAL next Sunday (29/9) at their outlet, and besides their usual beers (which already number over 60), they've also invited over Hitachino Nest Japanese craft beers, and Singapore's upstart craft brewers Jungle Beer! Head on over HERE for more information:

Beer Of The Week: Red MacGregor, Not Ewan Great

The best part about Taps Beer Bar is they have so many beers on tap and by the bottle that you can go there every day to try a different each day for a whole month, and you still wouldn't be able to finish trying all the beers. I dropped by there after the St. Patrick's and grabbed the Oakney Red MacGregor Ruby Ale, which apparently had been selling quite well at Taps.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the more disappointing beers I've had there so far. Pouring a nice ruby red, has the slightest of aromas, slight hints of lychee and little bit of rust to be honest. Heck, I had to sniff so hard to get a whiff of the nose that I nearly got beer up MY nose.

It fares slightly better on the palate though. There're some biscuity, hoppy, malty notes, but not much else. It's a little thin though, almost reminds me of the piss-like Lite beers I tried in US; but with a little bit more flavor to it.

I'm not sure whether it's just my bottle or it's the beer, but I found this to be quite disappointing, considering how highly rated it is on RateBeer. I found it a bit too weak for my liking, and struggled a little to identify the flavours and the nose. And frankly, any beer that reminds me of the crap piss American Lite beers was always going to fare poorly with me...

Oh well, good thing there are so many other beers to try at Taps hehe....

Beer Of The Week: Kajigga Kajigga Shiga Kogen!

Today's Beer Of The Week is the other Japanese IPA I bought from Jibiru in Singapore - Shiga Kogen IPA.

Brewed by Tamamura-Honten, a brewery in Yamanouchi, this is a lot closer to the IPAs I am more familiar with, especially compared to the previous Japanese IPA I tried - the Kinshachi IPA. It IS slightly lighter than the Kinshachi though, being only 6% ABV, but somehow it tastes a lot richer. I definitely prefer this over the Kinshachi though.

It's got a wonderfully hoppy nose, with a slight hint of citrus. Nice, medium bodied mouth-feel, with a sharp tang of bitterness, and again, slight citrus notes. Surprisingly refreshing for such a bitter-tasting beer, it also has a nice, dry slightly lychee but bitter finish that is not too long but not too short either.

Beer Of The Week: India Pale Ale from Japan. Er... right.

Today's beer of the week is one of two IPAs I bought at Jibiru in Somerset 313 in Singapore. Jibiru is currently one of my favorite beer joints in Singapore - it's convenient to get to via MRT, and it's got a great selection of Japanese craft beers. It even stocks one of the best ciders I've ever tasted - the Coldstream Cider from Australia!

Anyway, on my last trip to Singapore, I brought home two bottles of Japanese IPAs to try at home. The first of these is the Kinshachi India Pale Ale (7% ABV), from the Morita Kinshachi Brewery in Japan.

In case you are not familiar with IPA, it stands for India Pale Ale. No, it wasn't made in India, the beer originated from England, and apparently got the name from being called "pale ale made for India". In the US, many craft breweries have taken to making their own IPAs, and their style of IPAs are generally quite hoppy and bitter, with a very high IBU.

So, on to the Kinshachi IPA. This was not as bitter as some of the American IPAs I've tried, this is nevertheless still a nice decent offering in that style. It doesn't have much of a nose, but on the palate it tastes slightly bitter, but with a subtle tangy sweetness to it. It's even got a little bit of a bubblegum aftertaste that I quite like. Hmmm, I think I might get another bottle back the next time I go to Jibiru...

Beer Of The Week: How Could This Be Beer? What Sorcery Is This?

In case you haven't heard already, there's a brand new craft beer place down in KL called TAPS BEER BAR, and it's got one hell of a crazy range of beers. There's currently about 14 different taps now, with another 20 different bottles of beers. And these aren't even the normal Carlsberg, Hoegaarden, or Guinness beers - these are genuine CRAFT BEERS brought all the way from UK, Australia and Europe. If you think that's impressive, think again... Taps plans to have at least SIXTY FIVE different beers by the end of March. Holy shit that's a lot of beers!

One of the best brands they currently serve is BrewDog, from Scotland, a craft brewery that prides itself on its punk philosophy and awesome beer names:

But more about those other beers for now. Today, the beer of the week is this one, arguably one of the most expensive beers available in Malaysia currently... Behold, the BLACK TOKYO* HORIZON:

Is this even a beer? When me, Shaolintiger and Fireangel tried this the other day, we were wondering the same thing.

The beer itself costs a whopping RM107++, which seems like MADNESS when you consider that it comes in the usual 330ml bottle. Then, when Alvin of Taps poured us the beer, we found out why.

First of all, it was poured into a wine-glass like goblet. The texture was velvety, thick and rich, and the color is almost impenetrable BLACK (we actually tried shining a torchlight through it and it really WAS impenetrable).

On the nose, it smelled of a combination of dark chocolate and er... light soya sauce (it smells better than it sounds, trust me!). At 17.2% and with such a full body, this is definitely a beer you SIP and SAVOUR, not GULP and GUZZLE. Heck at that price you BETTER BLOODY NOT GUZZLE IT!

This beer will literally FUCK WITH YOUR MIND. As I was drinking it, I kept thinking: "THIS IS A BEER, THIS IS A BEER" but it tasted so UNLIKE beer that I swear my taste buds got confused. This is a very, very complex beer (in fact, it was more like wine than beer) - velvety smooth and rich, with layer upon layer of flavors including malt stout, dark chocolate, all accompanied by the syrupy sweetness of port wine. 

Let the beer warm up a little (yes you can drink it at room temperature too), and you get more layers of flavour - bisuits, rich malt - and it all comes together in a long. lingering finish of chocolate, port wine and er... soy sauce (again, it tastes better than it sounds).

The Black Tokyo* Horizon is a special collaboration between three independent European breweries – BrewDog (Scotland), Nøgne ø (Norway) and Mikkeller (Denmark), and is a fusion of the respective breweries’ big stouts, namely the Mikkeller Black, the BrewDog Tokyo*, and the Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon.

The beer is a small-run, limited edition brew; and at the time of writing, there are only 10 bottles of the beer left at Taps. So if you want to try it, you better hurry up!

Taps Beer Bar is located at One Residency, 1 Jalan Nagasari, Off Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 03-21101560)

Beer Of The Week: Fuller's Gets An 1845 out of 1845!

I've always been more partial to ale than most other styles of beer, and when I first saw this beer in Bangsar Shopping Complex, I couldn't resist buying on to try. I ended up liking it so much that I decided to go back and buy more of it, even though it was slightly more expensive than other beers (It's about RM28 at BSC, and RM22 in Isetan KLCC I think)



Anyway, this is probably one of the best ales available currently here. Made to commemorate Fuller's 150th anniversary, it is bottle conditioned and matured for 100 days. It has a wonderful fruit cake aroma, malty, and has a full, malty, creamy body that was also pretty chocolate-ty as well. The richness of the malt was just wonderful, and I just love the aroma of the ale.



For RM22-28 a bottle, it's probably slightly expensive, but still worth it, considering it is a 500ml bottle. Plus it's better than most ales that cost just as much anyway.

Fuller's 1845 is 6.3% ABV, and I saw it in O Gourmet in Bangsar Shopping Complex, Isetan KLCC and is apparently available at Sid's Pubs for a limited time as well.

Beer Of The Week: Double DAMN, Voll-Damm!

One day, while I was walking around Bangsar Shopping Complex, I was quite surprised to see a rack of beers at the O Gourmet Food Hall, just next to a cabinet full of Monin syrups. There were about six beers there, a couple of Fuller's beers (the Fullers 1845, and the Fullers London Pride), a Spanish cider called el Gaitero, and three other Spanish beers - Estrella Damm, Birra Moretti and a beer from A.K. Damm which I wasn't sure what, and this Voll-Damm Doble Malta, which I'm gonna assume means double malt.

I bought three bottles that day, the cider, 1845, and hte Doble Malta, and I've already tried two of them. The Doble Malta was the first one I tried, and surprisingly, it was a pretty good beer. Clocking in at 7.2%ABV, it had a nice golden brown color and a really strong malty aroma.

The beer itself was surprisingly hoppy, and as expected was pretty malty as well. It was a really full-bodied beer too, and the finish was a real kick in the pinata, heh heh.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to trying the rest of the beers next time, but at about RM20-30 a bottle, it's a little on the high priced side. Oh well, one at a time then...

Beer Of The Week: Ho Ho Sapporo!

Hmmm, two Japanese Beers of The Week in a row. Oh well, I've always found Japanese beer to be quite nice anyway. I have fond memories of this particular brand, as I remember visiting the Sapporo Museum when I was in Tokyo where they had a nice six flight beer tasting thingy for only about RM20 (can't remember exactly how much though, but it was cheap!).

Anyway, Sapporo (which is the oldest beer brand in JApan, apparently) was recently launched officially in Malaysia, and is also available on tap at Bar Madrid, Jaya One.

I quite like this one, which is their premium beer. Funnily enough, this particular awesome looking can also says it was brewed in Canada, which is a bit strange, but at least the beer is still pretty good. It's got a nice light citrus-y nose, and tastes a little citrus-y sweet as well. For this kind of style of beer, I'm still partial to Suntory Premium Malt though, but for a lager, this is still pretty good.

I don't really know where you can get this can though, but the draught in Bar Madrid is also pretty good, so do check it out next time you're there!

Beer Of The Week: Ohai Asahi, The Jap In Black!

I first heard of Asahi Black when I was browsing through a copy of TimeOut Singapore, and they recommended this as one of the best beers available at Ice Cold Beer in Emerald Hill. The first time I tried it at the outlet though, it didn't really live up to expectation (probably because it was the second day of Beerfest and I was pretty sick of the taste of beer).

Undeterred, I bought another two bottles back from Singapore the last time we were there, and tried it again at home. This time, the experience was much, much better.

The nose of the beer is rich and chocolately, and even reminded me of a chocolate infused Guinness. The beer itself was full-bodied, rich, and strangely, very crisp at the same time. I has a rich, malty flavour not unlike a Guinness, but also some awesome chocolate notes as well, all of which go down refreshingly and gives you a brilliant chocolate malt finish as well.

Definitely much better than the usual Asahi Dry lager I always have. Next time you go Singapore, keep a lookout for this one!

Beer Of The Week: Zippy Zesty Żywiec!

I've mentioned this Polish beer before last year, but since I recently got another can back from Germany, I thought I'd do another post, with a proper tasting. And just because I like it so much. heh heh.

Anyway, Żywiec is a Polish beer that I used to drink a lot of years ago back in Poland, and everytime I go to Europe these days, I keep a lookout for this or the other favorite Polish beer of mine, Tyskie. These are two of the very few lagers I can actually drink all night and not get sick of.

Żywiec is a lager/pilsner. It's easy to drink, refreshing, and has a wonderfully zesty, zippy zing to it that I find very pleasant. It's not hoppy like most lagers, it's slightly citrus-y, and it's even got a slightly CREAMY texture to it, which I love. And oh,

This is definitely one of the best pilsners I've ever had, and I've had quite a few too. I've loved it since I first tried it in Poland some 9 years ago, and even though it's been 5-6 years since I had it, the first taste of it brought back some really good memories with this beer.

Sigh, too bad it's so hard to get around here... SIGGGHHHHH...

Beer Of The Week: My Goodness My Guinness!

No, this is not an advertorial about Arthur's Day. If you want to know more about that, you can go check out the hundreds of other more popular blogs promoting the event, including some by guys who don't even drink it in the first place (yes KY I'm talking about you LOL).

I'm here to talk about Guinness, the BEER. Because you know, everyone's so wrapped up with the bloody concert that no one seems to care about the beer that the concert is based on in the first place.

Frankly, there really isn't enough free Guinness in the entire world to make me want to go watch Taio Cruz.

Not that I have anything against it, mind you. I LOVE Guinness, Draught or FES. I just haven't been drinking a lot of it lately, partly due to an overdose of it some time ago, and because I prefer ales these days, so I drink more Newcastle and Kilkenny.

Anyway, Guinness is a stout. But did you know that the one you drink on tap at pubs is technically NOT a stout? the bottled one, otherwise known as Foreign Extra Stout (FES) is the REAL stout.What's the draught one then? I don't know. a kid stout? Heh heh. Not that I mind though, I prefer the Draught over the FES, even though I like em both.

FES is more full-bodied and has a much, much heavier malt flavor to it. It's also got a higher Alcohol content.

On the other hand, the Guinness Draught is pretty much an easier to drink version of the stout. It's lighter, slightly heavier than Kilkenny, full-bodied (but not TOO full that it makes you bloated after one), and is easier on the malts. It's slightly creamier as well, and is a very, very satisfying drink especially after a long day at work.

BTW, Guinness Draught has a special two-part pour that makes it better to drink. I'm not gonna go through it here, so go Google it yourself. Oh, and the Guinness in Malaysia brewed by GAB is apparently the best one brewed outside of Ireland. Now that's some achievement.

And the best place to have Guinness Draught? Sid's Pub of course. Where else? Now, I'd take a pint or two of Guinness at Sid's over a whole night of freeflow with bloody Taio Cruz ANYTIME....

Beer Of The Week: Hoppity Hoppity Hopus!

This is one of my favorite beers over at Brux-Ale Belgian Bistro, where they have about 18 other authentic Belgian beers there, three of which are on tap. It's probably one of my favorite places to go for beer, because of the variety and the different types and flavors of beers there.

There is literally a beer for ANYONE at that place.

Hopus is one of the more unique beers at Brux-Ale. It's also the strongest one there, coming in at about 8.3% ABV. And like every beer in the bar, it also has it's own set of glassware, specifically for the beer. Did I say SET of glasses? Yup, this is one special beer, because it comes with TWO glasses for that one bottle of beer - one normal glass, and one shotglass.

What you're supposed to do is to pour the beer into the large glass first, then when there's only like a few centimeters left in the bottle, pour the bottom of the beer into the shot glass. Taht way, you'll get TWO different taste profiles in one beer.

First, take the beer in the shot glass. This part contains the residue yeast at the bottom of the bottle, and so the beer tastes extremely hoppy and bitter. It's a very full-bodied ale, and full of flavour as well. Once you've finished the shotglass, move on to the bigger glass, which is full of nice hoppy yet grassy notes, and despite the strong ABV, it's a surprisingly refreshing beer. Jsut don't drink too much too fast....

You can get Hopus and a lot of other awesome Belgian beers at Brux-Ale (4 Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For reservations, call 03 2287 2628). You can even buy a gift box set that includes the beer, as well as the full set of glassware there!

Beer Of The Week: Go Go Carlsberg Gold!

Most people know the green Carlsberg bottle, but Carlsberg Gold has actually been around for quite some time now. If I'm not mistaken, it's only available in Malaysia right now, but boy, what a gem we have here.



First of all, it's a lot stronger than the usual Carlsberg - about 5.5% ABV. Like its older brother, the beer has hardly any nose to it, but when I tasted it, I could immediately tell the difference between this and the regular Carlsberg.



The green bottle has a certain edge to it that I find to be very distinctive, and while I don't mind drinking it, it's not exactly the first lager I would go for. But Carlsberg Gold is a different matter - it's definitely got a richer, more full-bodied and malty flavor to it, and the hops aren't as apparent here as the regular one. It's also damn bloody refreshing and smooth to drink - I downed my 325ml bottle in less than five minutes.



Definitely one of the best lagers available in Malaysia. I know Shaolintiger can't get enough of it too haha. If only it was available on tap as well, then I would mind actually asking for a Carlsberg.... heh.

Beer Of The Week: Bonjour, Blanc Beer!

I've always liked Kronenbourg 1664's lager. It's probably one of the few lagers I can drink without wincing. It's a bit expensive here in Malaysia, but still, I'd take it over most other lagers these days.

Anyway, Carlsberg Malaysia just launched the second beer under the Kronenbourg brand - 1664 Blanc - which is a wheat beer. The launch went down at an awesome party at View @ Gtower last week.

The beer comes in a pretty nice blue bottle (so you don't confuse it with the lager's green bottle), and like most wheat beers, the beer is a murky, slightly grey-ish yellow color. Taste-wise, it's a very fruity beer, kinda like Hoegaarden but with a stronger citrus flavor to it.

Frankly, 1664 Blanc is a little too sweet, too fruity for my liking. It's a bit of a girl's beer, even more so than Hoegaarden if you ask me. It's still pretty tasty though.

But I'd still prefer the Kronenbourg 1664 lager over this anytime.

You should be able to get 1664 Blanc it at View, Library, Ecoba, The Hill and other Carlsberg joints. It's available in bottle and on tap too I think.

Beer Of The Week: Full Of Fuller

I'm in London right now, and the first two days was basically a really long pub crawl for me. I wanted to go on the London Real Ale Trail, but didn't have time, so I just hoped into random bars and tried all the different ales they had.

Fuller's isn't exactly an unknown brand to Malaysians - it's available in several outlets, though only in bottle form. Never really liked the bottle one, but I decided to check out the draft version while I was here (Also cos I'd tried every other ale in this particular pub).

Anyway, Fuller's London Pride is pretty much par for course when it comes to ABV - only about 4.7%. It IS however a lot nicer tasting than I remember the bottle one being. Maybe because I was thirsty and eating fish and chips at the same time, but the beer really went down smoothly and was remarkably refreshing and pleasant.

I tried a whole lot of other ales in London, but surprisingly, Fuller's London Pride was one of the more memorable ones for me.

More real ale to come next time!

Beer Of The Week: Malt Of The Rising Suntory

I have to admit, I'm not that great with Japanese beers. Most of the ones I've tried are the more common ones like Asahi, and although I visited the Sapporo factory in Tokyo once, that was before I could REALLY appreciate beer as it should be.

Anyway, this week's beer of the week is SUNTORY PREMIUM MALT beer, brought to you by the same guys who make Yamazaki and Hibiki whiskies:




Suntory is actually the fourth largest player in the Japanese beer industry, behind Sapporo, Asahi and Kirin, but apaprently, Premium Malt is now one of the top PREMIUM beers in Japan. It was launched here quite recently, just under a year ago, but it's not widely available - probably only in certain Japanese restaurants and shops.

If you happen to have a bottle or can at home, you should probably know that there is supposedly a special way to pour the beer. You have to pour it straight down first to generate a nice foamy head, then after it's settle somewhat, you pour the rest in gently via the side of the glass. This way, the head remains, and supposedly prevents the flavor of the beer from 'escaping' too quickly. If you have the special Suntory glass, even better, since the glass was designed to be the perfect vessel to serve Suntory beer.

I tried the beer with and without the special technique before, and the one done without was definitely flatter and less aromatic than the one that was served properly.

Anyway, I quite like the beer - it's got a nice, hoppy aromatic aroma that isn't TOO hoppy, and quite pleasant. On the palate, it's very refreshing, one of those beers that I just LOVE having upon coming home after a long day's work and during a hot day. And using ONLY premium malted barley, it's got a very distinct and nice malty flavor to it as well.

Definitely one of my favorite Japanese beers so far.