Author Archives: Rob Nesbit

About Rob Nesbit

Beer drinker and all round annoyance. Likes drinking, football, cricket and having a good time.

Tiger Beer

Tiger Beer

Tiger Beer

www.tigerbeer.com

Brewed by Singapore Brewery (Asia Pacific Breweries-Heineken)
Style: Pale Lager
Alexandra Point, Singapore

Launched in 1932, Tiger beer is a best selling brew from the small Asian country of Singapore. It is very popular and is Asia’s number one beer brand owned and run by Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd, formerly Malayan Breweries Ltd.

Tiger BeerThe brewing giant from The Netherlands, Heineken have always had a helping hand in the creation of this iconic brand. They came up with the idea of a brewery this side of the world, but were initially thinking of Indonesia, as the nation was a Dutch colony, but were denied. Singapore was then chosen. Together with Fraser and Neave (F&N), Heineken launched Malayan Breweries in 1931, and a year later we got Tiger Beer. Today, Heineken owns 42% of the shares of Asia Pacific Breweries.

Today Tiger Beer is brewed in 11 countries and is available in over 70 countries worldwide, from the US and the UK to the ever burgeoning market of China. The beer has also won numerous awards down through the years, including the Gold Medals for “International-Style Lager” and “European Style Pilsner” in the 2004 and 2010 editions of the World Beer Cup.

It is quite a popular beer, especially in Asia, and  has used “There’s always time for a Tiger” as its catchphrase since the 1930s, made famous by the British author Anthony Burgess, him of A Clockwork Orange fame, named his 1956 first novel “Time for a Tiger” (the first part of the Malayan trilogy The Long Day Wanes) after the slogan of the iconic beer.  

It’s not only Tiger lager that the brewery produces, they also have a “Tiger Crystal” which was launched in 2010, is a beer cooled down to a temperature of -1 degree Celsius. Its “Tiger Radler”, released in 2013, uses natural lemon juice with the beer. In 2016, Tiger Beer introduced “Tiger Black”, a type of black beer that is steeped with Asian black rice, which sounds very interesting,  and “Tiger White”, a type of German wheat beer infused with coriander, clove and citrus.

Review: 500ml bottle of Tiger Beer: 4.8% vol.

Tiger BeerCan find it as 5% vol. in other regions of the world. Comes in a bottle, can or from the tap.  Popular in Asia especially as it is the perfect beer to have as the sun goes down.

Unlike a lot of other Asian beers, Tiger actually use quality ingredients from Australia and Europe. No shitty rice beers here!

Love the famous iconic branding, the famous tiger logo and nice big colourful lettering, the blue, orange and gold. Stands out for sure. On the bottle we get “World acclaimed Asian lager”, born in Singapore and this is an “award winning full bodied beer”. 

On the pour I am getting a nice clear golden coloured beer with a white head that is a little on the small side. Some slight carbonation. Ok on the looks. 

The aroma is not great, very light, an ok lagery smell, all malty and grainy on the nose but too light and a little too much corn and very sweet.

The taste is easy enough to appreciate, was very soft on the tongue, nice and crisp.

Nice frothy mouthfuls initially, and also getting some corn in the taste.

Tiger BeerTasted like a regular lager, no real complaints there. Perhaps a little creamy off taste but generally it was ok. Getting the malts and grains, and the fruits, with the hops on the low level.

To be frank I was a little disappointed as the overall taste was ok but nothing too exciting, a bit bland in fact, nothing to set it apart from the millions of lagers out there. Disappointed as I have had this beer many a time when I was in Asia. In fact it was my most favourite beer that side of the world, lovely from the taps. I just guess it doesn’t travel well, and not so exciting in a bottle thousands of miles away from home. Perfect for the hot humid Asian cityscape, not so when its piddling down in bog town Ireland!

Overall it was light, smooth and drinkable but with no kick or standout features. Boring.

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Bass Pale Ale

Bass Pale Ale

Bass Pale Ale 

www.bass.com (defunct)

Brewed by Bass Brewery Ltd (AB InBev UK)
Style: English Pale Ale
Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

Bass Pale Ale Founded in the year of 1777 by William Bass in the old industrial town of Burton-upon-Trent, in the centre of England. Bass Pale Ale was so popular that at one stage it was the biggest selling beer in the UK, and not only that but in the space of a hundred years, 1877, it was also the most popular beers in the whole wide world, with an annual output of one million barrels. The first beer that had a global impact. 

The company’s distinctive red triangle became the UK’s first registered trade mark under the UK’s Trade Marks Registration Act 1875, narrowly missing out to German brand Krupp’s in being the world’s first, in any product category, and is one of the most popular beer logos in the industry. Simple but effective. 

In 2000, Interbrew (now Anheuser-Busch InBev) took control of operations at the Bass Brewery, and with it the revival of Draught Bass brewed under contract in Burton by Marston’s since 2005. Bottled and keg products are brewed at AB-InBev’s own brewery in Samlesbury for export, except in the United States and Belgium, where Bass is brewed locally. Bass Ale is the exported version of Bass, is usually brewed to around 5% ABV. and is in the top ten premium canned ales in the UK.

Review: 500ml can of Bass Pale Ale: 3.8% vol.

Bass Pale Ale Bought these cans, cheap, in local supermarket back home, and not sure exactly which version of the iconic beer I am trying. Is it the one brewed in the Uk, the old or new version, or the cheap import version from the States, or even the Belgian version! I think its the British version as that’s the one I have drank over the last few years. It used to be well popular growing up in Ireland and was a beer you would find served in pubs, but these days it has fallen out of favour. It was especially popular up in Dublin. But they sell them now in shiny cans with the famous iconic Bass image in the supermarkets here so that’s good enough for me. Whatever, the Irish version in the shiny can comes at a pathetic 3.8% alcohol volume!

Yes a shiny can, but with the famous Bass logo in red lettering and a red triangle, a classic and iconic.

On pour it looks pretty damn good I have to say. The carbonation fizzing away, making the beer come alive in the glass.

Get a dark amber colour with a decent sized foamy white head, but it all fits together well, beer looks very appealing on the eye. A nice deep look, inviting. Some lacing left on the glass.

Bass Pale Ale On the nose I get a smell of some adjuncts, not great, overall very, very light smells and virtually odorless.

Served cold, getting lovely mouthfuls on the tongue, nice and crisp.

They do advise to “serve cold” on the can, and I can concur. Nice to sip straight out of the fridge.

There are no massive overriding tastes, enjoyable all the same though as it goes down well enough. 

Getting the nice sweet malts, some fruits and deep earthy floral notes hitting the taste buds, nice. 

A nice, light, smooth, and enjoyable beer to drink, but overall not many clear tastes or flavours.

It is an ok beer, but I fear I am giving it a slightly positive review for nostalgic reasons. More macro than fine ale.

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Brexit: Deal or no deal?

Brexit: Deal or no deal?

Good chat with Martin Costello from the Brexit Party on the balls up that is Brexit.

Done before today’s (18/10/2019) announcement of Boris’ “great deal”, which we predicted would be simply a rehash of Theresa May’s old deal……………………..

Check out Martins youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Costellomp
and his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MartinCostelloUK/
and The Brexiteers channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXljBHGlUCs9do_CeDi-6bA

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Franciscan Well Rebel Red Ale

Franciscan Well Rebel Red Ale

Franciscan Well Rebel Red Ale

http://franciscanwellbrewery.com

Brewed by Franciscan Well Brewery (Molson Coors)
Style: Irish Red Ale 
Cork, Ireland

Franciscan Well Rebel Red AleBuilt on the site of a former Franciscan monastery and well dating back to the year 1219, in Cork City, the brewery was founded in 1998 by publican Shane Long.

The brewery has won numerous awards over the years across Europe and beyond. Wins include Best Seasonal Pale Ale at the World Beer Awards with its seasonal Summer Saison brew, the World Beer Awards Gold twice, for Rebel Red (European section) and for Shandon Export, and a Bronze for its Coffee Porter.

Review: 330ml tiny can of Franciscan Well Rebel Red Ale: 4.3% vol.

Franciscan Well Rebel Red AleHave had this on draught which I loved, very crisp and so easy to drink.  

For the tiny cans bought in the supermarket, I dig the well designed colourful red setting with white lettering and distinctive Franciscan Well monastery logo, “crafted the Cork way” with a “smooth revolution”, love it. 

The name “Rebel Red”, of course, a nod to Cork, the “Rebel County”.

Very nice on the appearance, getting a nice reddish hue and a general dark amber look, a good white head, not a bad looking beer.

A bit of carbonation, fizzing around, makes a decent white head.

A very light aroma on the nose, barely registering anything to be honest.

Getting a lagery type smell, caramel malts, some hops, yeast, citrus, and that’s about it. All light though. 

Initially, lovely big refreshing mouthfuls on the taste. Getting a regular red ale taste to it, the malts, dark fruits, and hops are there, also getting a taste of caramel. 

Franciscan Well Rebel Red AleAlso get a decent amount in the glass from the can, considering how tiny they are, not bad.

Taste does go a bit watery though, and I am getting a slight off taste to it.

The aftertaste is a bit strong, a bit “urgh”, all a bit too much in the caramel, too sweetish and too hoppy for me. 

Overall, it is not that bad of a red ale I suppose and has all the main characteristics of a red ale as one would expect. 

I have had this on the taps, and I can tell you it tastes much, much better. It is really a very decent brew when in the bar. Not so much from a cheap can off the supermarket shelf, which is less smooth and has a bitter taste that was not as appealing.………..

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O'Shea's Traditional Irish Stout 

O’Shea’s Traditional Irish Stout 

O’Shea’s Traditional Irish Stout 

www.carlowbrewing.com

Brewed by Carlow Brewing Company
Style: Irish Stout
Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow, Ireland

O'Shea's Traditional Irish Stout Located in Bagenalstown, County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, the Carlow Brewing Company, founded by the O’Hara family in 1996, is one of the largest and most successful craft breweries in Ireland. It is more popularly known as O’Hara’s Brewing Company after the family name that still runs the business today.

After seeing the wide success of the craft beer revolution in the United States and Continental Europe, Seamus O’Hara, along with his brother Eamon, decided to produce Irish craft beers, at first to export, and later, to Ireland after it took the natives to come round to the idea of anything but macro beers.

They produce a wide variety of exciting and adventurous beers. From the regular Red Ales, IPA’s, Stouts, to beers that perhaps are a bit of a rarity to Irish drinkers……Smoked Ales, Golden Ales, and Celtic versions of Wheat Beers!!

I have tasted O’Hara’s well known Irish Red Traditional Ale, a beer that many reviewers rant and rave about, but alas I thought was very disappointing and slightly overrated. 

Review: 50cl brown bottle of O’Shea’s Irish Stout: 4.5% vol.

O'Shea's Traditional Irish Stout Incase you are confused, the O’Shea brand is made by the Carlow Brewing company for the Aldi cheap discount store, think of it as the ugly sister to the O’Hara’s beers!

Coming in a nice big brown bottle with an interesting logo of a swan, pretty lettering of “O’Shea’s” which looks nice. “Craft brewed In Ireland” 

On pour I get the, as expected, stout look of a pitch black appearance, creamy with a tannish frothy head. It is not a Guinness head but not bad all the same. 

Some good lacing. Overall a good looking stout.

The aroma is quite light, getting the coffee and roasted malts notes with hints of toffee, but overall it is all disappointedly light on the nose.

On the taste, found it quite strong in the hops, a very bitter unpleasant taste for me.

O'Shea's Traditional Irish Stout In addition, I got a very strong taste of coffee and dark chocolate. too strong, also a bit too creamy. It has all the characteristics you need for a good stout, but its seems they overdid it a little with them. 

Initial mouthfuls were a turnoff, not nice at all, more a bad IPA than a stout. Very hard to stomach really, disgusting even.

Taste got slightly better in the second bottle, with less lingering bitterness, but less taste too!

It can be manageable to sip slowly, but it’s a bit bland with no exciting flavours and those hops are a killer on the taste buds. Overall it never felt like a stout. 
Also found it to be quite strong in the alcohol, a bit boozy, gave me a slight head the next day, even if it was just 4.5% vol…….

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