Clean, crisp and refreshing! (Tsingtao)

Member Name: machar

Product:	Tsingtao
Date:	12/03/01 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: clean and crisp, not too heavy

Disadvantages: not that common outside restuarants.

When I go out for a Chinese or an Oriental meal I need a long refreshing drink to go with it. Wine just doesn't work. It doesn't refresh you and there is never enough of it! The obvious alternative is to have a longer more refreshing drink. If we were sensible we would probably go for water or a non-alcoholic drink but, if you are like me when a meal out always includes a wee alcoholic drinkie, then lager or beer is the ideal solution.

While visiting my favourite Vietnamese restaurant in Aberdeen (The Saigon, and yes I have written an op about it!) a few days ago, I consumed one or two of my favourite Oriental beer Tsingtao hence this op!

Tsingtao is brewed in the Qinqdao brewery in China and is actually the number one consumer branded product exported from China. Unbelievably it is also the number one imported beer in the US but when you think of the size of the various China towns in the US, you can perhaps understand why.
Although the beer is brewed in China, the master German brewers still had a hand in it as German settlers founded the brewery in 1903. The beer is still winning awards for its quality and taste. It was awarded the Silver medal in 1995 in the Pilsner category at the World beer championships and it won the bronze medal the year before.

Tsingtao is produced using spring water from the Laoshan mountain area in China that is famous for the purity of the water. The hops are domestically grown and are of very high quality - well according to their web site actually!
I like the beer as it is light, very refreshing and not too gassy! I think it is the perfect accompaniment to a meal as it doesn't detract from the flavours of the food. Some Oriental food is light flavoured and you still want to be able to taste it after you have taken a drink! The beer is quite malty and has a sort of fruity back taste to it, well I think it has!

If this is on the beer list at your local Chinese I would re
commend it. It fits into the style of the meal a lot better than a pint of McEwans!

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