What's the story with Chang Beer?

[bumblebee]

Years ago guys I hung out with drank Chang beer because it gave them a good buzz. It was told to me that Chang had limited quality control. Therefore the alcohol content on the label may not be what you experience.

So is this a legend or does Chang vary in alcohol content from bottle to bottle. What has been your experience?

[Luung]

BB... Years ago you had 'Elephant beer' which was the forerunner of Chang & was said to be variable between 6/9% proof dependent on where in the country it was brewed.

 

Then Elephant beer developed into Chang (Thai for elephant) & Carlsberg was brought in to provide the brewing know how & taste, until Chang pulled the carpet from under their feet & got rid of them... (And that's why Carlsberg went to Lao to develope Beer Lao which has frightened the Chang company ridgid)!!!

 

I'm not sure about Chang's brewing process nowdays, but there's definitely something up, because I could swear that the day after feeling is far more akin to a 'class A' drug comedown than to a hangover... And the spin can last for days... Maybe they put formaldahide in it for a longer shelf life??? I wouldn't put it past them.

[Quinn]

Strength of Chang Beer does seem to vary quite a bit. Not sure about the formaldehyde tho'. However many many years ago Singha did include it in their brew - and stated so on the label. Think this was for the export market.

I've had to "wuss out" on Chang - too strong, and go for Singha Lite. After all you don't drink Thai beer for the taste (or lack of). !

[bumblebee]

I have heard the formaldehyde rumours before regarding Chang.  Whatever they do with the beer it does leave a nasty ©hangover that I don't seem to get from drinking the same quantity of other beers.  It feels almost like a pin stuck in the top of my head.

[JaiDee]

 Oddly enough, I don't get the Chang hangovers; and there have been nights I have had 7 or 8 of 'em. But I HAVE noticed that on certain occasions I will drink 3 or 4 and not really get much of a buzz; other times I will have the same amount and be absolutely blitzed, so I would say there my be something to these rumors.

 

Last time we discussed this topic was the first I had ever heard about all this, BB......Chang is the only beer I drink when I am in Thailand but now I may have to re-think my choice

[duke007]

I used to drink Chang all the time because I thought it had a lower ABV than Singha (which gave me a headaches), I was wrong so no wonder I got drunk on it more often than not

 

Nowadays I stick to Leo, Tiger or San Miguel because Heineken is like drinking piss water imho

 

 

ThaiBev brews Beer Chang (Thai: เบียร์ช้าง), a pale lager. Chang (Thai: ช้าง) is the Thai word for elephant, an animal with cultural and historical significance in Thailand. The logo features two elephants facing each other.

Chang is brewed at 6.4% abv for the local market. It is 5% abv for export. The two "versions" are in fact very different, the export a 100% malt beer, while the Beer Chang sold in-country is brewed with rice.

[Tomcat]

Singha was rumored to have hallucinogenic effects back in 1990,s and i must say i did have some really weird dreams on that stuff back then  , and not just me either. I only drink Singha these days and no issues. 

 

what happened to Kloster Beer ?

[JaiDee]

Not sure about Kloster  but never liked Singha, it has a bitter taste.....you either love it or hate it.

 

  I like Chang and will likely keep drinking it, to the usual sneers and chuckles from locals.......Leo is OK but not quite as good IMO, I drink beer rarely so I want to get a decent buzz when I DO drink.  I had 4 or 5 mugs of Tiger draft recently and didn't feel a thing.

 

  When in Laos BeerLao is quite similar to  Chang and gives a similar buzz.

[Lefty]

The story is they make Chang out of elephant urine. At least as gawd awful as it tastes, that is what I imagine elephant piss must taste like. 

By far the worst tasting beer I've drank in Thailand and by far worse than any PI beer too. We used to have, maybe still do have, a rot gut beer in the US called Carling Black Label. That is what Chang reminds me of. 

[JaiDee]

Yeah, on the east coast we had Narragansett, named after a river in Rhode Island, and Schlitz was always super-bad......my Dad used to drink that stuff, so it was the first beer I was ever turned on to;  it's no wonder I am not a big drinker. Carling Black Label and Pabst Blue Ribbon would be in that same class, I would guess.

 

 Not sure why I like Chang and why so many turn their noses up at it;  when I see them drinking Singha I do the same thing. But again, BB's theory could be dead on; I remember a few nights drinking Chang on the beach on my island home and after 4 I would be stumbling around like a gap-year kid; other times, not so bad.   YMMV really means something with them!

 

  By the way, went into a go-go bar last week and asked for a Chang; ''we no have.'' Ok, how about a Leo? "we no have." Ok, what DO you have?  Heneiken? Yuccchhh.   Tiger?  OK,  but for 130B a bottle?  Never going in that place again.

[pdogg]

In New York City there was Ballantine, Rheingold and Schaefer.

 

Schaeffer had a brilliant slogan, "Schaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one".  More politically correct than "let's get wasted dude"

 

[JaiDee]

By the way...for anyone who likes to drink beer but doesn't want to get too loaded,  may I suggest getting it with a glass of "Nam Kang"? Ice. It waters the beer down a little bit as the ice melts, allowing you to drink more of it without getting so blasted.

 

   I learned this in Vietnam, where the road-side stalls sell "Bia Hoi"  [literal translation; cheap beer] poured over a large block of ice in your mug.   Keeps the beer colder, too.

[JaiDee]

Schaeffer had a brilliant slogan, "Schaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one".  More politiaclly correct than "let's get wasted dude"

 

 

 

  Haha,   Schaefer was popular in New England too, PD!  I remember that slogan as well,  they had those great commercials on the TV and they were the first big sponsor of the Patriots; before Gillette Stadium, there was Schaefer Stadium!  It was a real dump.....fitting, considering the beer it was named after

[pdogg]

  Haha,   Schaefer was popular in New England too, PD!  I remember that slogan as well,  they had those great commercials on the TV and they were the first big sponsor of the Patriots; before Gillette Stadium, there was Schaefer Stadium!  It was a real dump.....fitting, considering the beer it was named after

 

Being closely associated with a sports franchise is powerful branding.  In New York, Ballantine was the Yankee's sponsor and Rheingold the Met's.  When I first started watching baseball the Giants and Dodgers had already headed west and the Met's weren't quite around yet so by default i became a Yankees fan.

 

Not sure if Ballantine or Rheingold made it past Conneticut.

 

Here's some memories of Ballantine with the voice over by Mel Allen who was the Yanks announcer along with a recently retired Rizutto and Red Barber.

 

[Lefty]

By the way...for anyone who likes to drink beer but doesn't want to get too loaded,  may I suggest getting it with a glass of "Nam Kang"? Ice. It waters the beer down a little bit as the ice melts, allowing you to drink more of it without getting so blasted.

 

   I learned this in Vietnam, where the road-side stalls sell "Bia Hoi"  [literal translation; cheap beer] poured over a large block of ice in your mug.   Keeps the beer colder, too.

Just need to be sure the ice comes from a clean water source. 

[pdogg]

cheap beer] poured over a large block of ice in your mug.   Keeps the beer colder, too.

In the Ballantine commercial they make a big deal about cold brewing, and I have real doubts if their beer stayed colder.

 

Nam Kang is the better solution!  

[Lefty]

Out west all the old guys like my dad and his friends, brothers, etc, used to drink a local beer called Blitz Weinhard. The company later got more national was Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve. Olympia beer, brewed in Olympia Washington was also popular. These companies eventually got bought out and closed down by big national brewing companies. Henry's is still brewed by Full Sail under contract with SABMiller, the multinational that bought out Henry Weinhard. 

 

Kind of sad really, seeing these big corporations buying out these regional breweries and shutting them down. 

[duke007]

I cant think of anything worse than lots of nam kang in my beer, Ive had to stop the Thai's doing this many times but hey thats just me 

[JaiDee]

Myself, I've never seen a waitress put ice in a beer glass without being requested to.

 

Lots of my friends over the years used to look at me like I had 2 heads when I would order a glass of ice with my beer, a trick I learned way back in 1998 in Vietnam. Now, I see a lot of these same guys getting a glass of ice with their beers, and thanking me for the tip

[duke007]

I do like ice in my spirits like vodka/red bull for example but watered down beer is defo a no no for me Im afraid

[bumblebee]

Funnily enough I was just adding some ice to my pint as I read this.

[duke007]

Ah, how to tease PD...lol

 

My last visit in the PBG was last May in the company of 4:17 & Ciobha  one afternoon while Owe slept back in the loom

 

For some reason I never made it there in November

[Jimslim]

So is this a legend or does Chang vary in alcohol content from bottle to bottle. 

 

Whatever the truth is it is way too strong for me to drink too much off if I want to enjoy the night .

 

I know the export Chang is 6% which is strong , I bought quite a few of them from my local Tesco one day last summer feeling nostalgic and woke up next morning feeling like I'd been slapped around the head by a chang's trunk .

[duke007]

Whatever the truth is it is way too strong for me to drink too much off if I want to enjoy the night .

 

I know the export Chang is 6% which is strong , I bought quite a few of them from my local Tesco one day last summer feeling nostalgic and woke up next morning feeling like I'd been slapped around the head by a chang's trunk...

 

or being "banged" by one   

[Guest JustSumGai]

Out west all the old guys like my dad and his friends, brothers, etc, used to drink a local beer called Blitz Weinhard. The company later got more national was Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve. Olympia beer, brewed in Olympia Washington was also popular. These companies eventually got bought out and closed down by big national brewing companies. Henry's is still brewed by Full Sail under contract with SABMiller, the multinational that bought out Henry Weinhard. 

 

Kind of sad really, seeing these big corporations buying out these regional breweries and shutting them down. 

that happened eons ago when AB, Coors and one i can't remember started buying up all the regional competition. Stuff like Utica Club, Fox, Brew II, Hamm's, etc. 

HW Private Reserve was one of my favs on the left coast, If I could not get California Steam beer, NOT to be confused with Anchor Steam beer. CSB had a ring of yeast sediment on the bottom. MMM good. 

One of the worst in my memory was Iron City beer, but the stuff was so DAMN cheap :)