While the beer doesn’t sit pretty on our list of favourite brews, their ad campaigns are always something to look forward to, especially the campaign featuring the “brudders” Rod Monteiro and Glenn Ong or how about Jessica Alba saying “Yes,“ even before being asked the question. Bros, agreeable women and ice cold beer, who could ask for more?

Tiger’s new campaign couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s exams season for school kids so fathers are probably stuck at home watching telly instead of out at the pub. Plus, it’s perfectly timed for Halloween too and getting House Of Costumes as a sponsor would have been easy. So when the newest campaign was launched, we thought we’d share a couple of lessons we picked up.

Lesson 1: Never drink with a friend you need to fight or arm wrestle with. Heck, just get another bucket, if you’re too cheapo, ask for 2 straws.

Lesson 2: Men in tights never win.

Lesson 3: Men in underwear may overcome men in tights but they still may not emerge victors. Try putting on the underwear over the tights ala Superman style in future.

Lesson 4: Hairy men may beat men in underwear but not distant cousins of Storm Troopers, except possibly if you’re Brazilian (no pun intended) and the game is football.

Lesson 5: Even with biceps made of steel, it’s still no guarantee you’ll win a battle with a woman. The babe always wins.

We always dig a woman who enjoys her beers and in Singapore, it’s hard to come by such babes. Most local women would rather sip a Cosmopolitan or try really hard to decipher that hint of raspberry in a Merlot. So when we meet a babe like the blonde in the commercial, you can be sure, there’ll be another round of Tiger on the table.

Glad to see one of our fave watering holes featured in a ‘Best’ ranking! Well done, Brewerkz! Love your Oktoberfest brew, BTW. Had 2 pints of it over the recent F1 Singapore weekend when we showed our Japanese bartender friend Yusuke Sato where to find the best microbrews in hot ol’ Singapore. Sato-san pulls pints at Shimbashi Dry-Dock, which serves craft beer. I think Sato-san likes Tiger Beer and Singapore.

Best beer places

inSing.com – Zaki – 1 day 15 hrs 40 mins ago

iStockphoto.com

The search for the best spots for beers in Singapore can be as unpredictable and daunting as the Singaporean weather — not every bar can deliver a perfectly pulled pint of lager or serve it ice cold for that matter. Too much or too little head (foam) can be a deal-breaker for most beer aficionados. From bars with the most beers on tap, brews with Asian twists to titillating tipples for the ladies, we’ve rounded up the best beer haunts for you.

Durty Nelly’s
The buzz: A popular joint for the financial types working around the Marina Bay area, this Irish pub, from the same people who brought us Muddy Murphy’s Irish Pub, boasts a spacious interior and a wide selection of Irish beers and single malt whiskeys. Resident band Nana & Friends plays a mean repertoire of rock and pop classics every Friday from 9pm.

Pints of pride: Durty Nelly’s has eight whopping choices of brews for you to choose from. Take your pick from Tiger Beer, Heineken, Old Speckled Hen, Guinness, Strongbow, Kilkenny and Erdinger

Brewerkz
The buzz: Since 1997, Singapore’s award-winning microbrewery restaurant Brewerkz has been doling out perfect pints of its delectable golden custom creations. Of all the pubs and restaurants here, Brewerkz comes closest to emulating the American dining experience — hearty servings of food, copious pints of fresh beer and a friendly atmosphere.

Pints of pride: This place has won accolades for its outstanding thirst-quenchers, all whipped up with love by brew master Scott Robertson, a former Canadian physicist. Its Indian Pale Ale, with its crisp flavours, may even convert non-beer drinkers. With 13 brews fresh on tap in addition to its offerings of bottled Belgian beers, there’s definitely one for every mood and moment. There’s also a beer just for charity. With every purchase of the Hope Beer — a nutty, bittersweet ale — $1 will be donated to cancer research.

Ice Cold Beer
The buzz: Situated in a conservation shophouse, this two-storey watering hole has custom made ice tanks just to serve you all sorts of reasonably-priced beers at just the right temperature — ice cold, just like its name. Other than its extensive selection of beers, its range of pub grub — like its crispy wings — are definitely must-haves when you’re downing a cold pint of Stella Artois. Ice Cold Beer’s bartenders have won numerous awards for pulling a perfect pint of the Belgian brew.

Pints of pride: Ice Cold Beer boasts a staggering list of 50 beers from all over the world: pilsners, ales, lagers, stouts, wheat beers — you name it, they’ve got it. Try Belgian stalwarts like Leffe Blonde and Chimay Blanche or French favourites Kronenburg 1664. Beer lovers should try to earn its Master of Beer Addiction (MBA) where if you consume all of its beers within a month, you’ll get a certificate and a case of your favourite beer.

Archipelago Craft Beer Hub
The buzz: The flagship outlet of Singapore’s very own craft beer makers, Archipelago Brewery Company (ABC Stout anyone?) has been brewing the golden stuff here since 1931. It was only in 2006 that they revived Archipelago’s tradition of handcrafted bespoke beers like the ones we’re drinking today. The beer hub is reminiscent of an English pub with a modern twist. Its location, in a Boat Quay shophouse, helps create a romantic aura of quaffing pints in a bygone era.

Pints of pride: Expect craft beers with an Asian twist — all dreamt up by brewmaster Fal Allen. Concoctions like traveler’s wheat, trader’s brown ale and straits pale are infused with spices such as assam and palm sugar. We recommend the refreshing and invigoratingly sweet and zesty Samui, infused with calamansi limes and pandan leaves.

Paulaner Brauhaus
The buzz: Soak up authentic German bier hall vibes at Singapore’s only German microbrewery and restaurant, Paulaner Brauhaus — the place for authentic German beers. With its unique three-storey glass enclosure showcasing microbrewery hardware coupled with the raucous atmosphere, it’s the perfect spot to clink steins of German beers with your pals after hours.

Pints of pride: With an in-house microbrewery, this place ensures your beer is always served fresh. Everything is done here, from milling, to brewing and fermenting, and Paulaner Brauhaus takes pride that the beers here are made according to the Purity Law that dates back to the 16th century. Noteworthy suds are the delectable bright golden brew with a light hops flavour that is the Munich lager, and Munich dark with its natural malt flavour. Every October (during Oktoberfest of course), its brewmaster will whip up its own Oktoberfestbier — a delectable heady brew of pale ale.

While this may not have been the intentions of the originators of Oktoberfest, it sure has been fine way of chugging more beer down throats in a few weeks than any other time of the year. Every beer loving throat looks forward to this time of the year with eager anticipation because we all know that for just this “limited time only” we get to sample specially brewed Marzen which have been fermenting since March! At the Munich village alone, over 7 million litres of alcohol is consumed over a the 2 week celebration!

In Singapore, celebrations will never get to the epic proportions witnessed at Munich each year. With this in mind, plus the fact that it should be every beer lover’s mission to visit Munich, we decided to make 2009 the year of our Oktoberfest pilgrimage. We even got past convincing our wives that there was shopping and wine in Germany by mentioning fashionistas like Claudia Schiffer and Karl Lagerfeld. Unfortunately, the year’s financial crisis made us a little more prudent and we decided that our pilgrimage would have to wait another year.

Instead, we set out searching for the few microbreweries in Singapore that do make an admirable attempt to brew their own Oktoberfest beers. We started out at Brotzeit after the first practice session of the Formula One weekend. Brotzeit’s Oktoberfest Bier had come over from Paulaner Brauhaus and had a nice pale golden colour, not too hoppy but with a crisp finish. Apparently, this is actually flown in specially from Munich making this a much cheaper option than flying to Germany.

Air flown from Munich

About 15 hours later, we were at Brewerkz sampling their brewmaster’s Oktoberfest contribution. This was vastly different from what we had tried at Brotzeit the night before. Brewerkz’s brew was dark drown, full bodied, malty, almost like a dunkel. And it’s 6% alcohol! We would have had a picture of this except we have an annoying habit of not reminding each other to take a photo of the beer before we actually drink it.

Paulaner Brauhaus didn’t start serving their special brew till the first week of October. Why special? This year, their freshly brewed beer, made on premise, was made in the same way as what they had served at the Munchen festival. It was full bodied with a golden yellow colour with a hoppy malt flavour which was very delicious. They’ve made only 50hl of this, of which, we’ve consumed 2 litres in jugular fashion.

We’ve got one more brew to try and that’s of a fellow homebrewer who’s invited us over this Friday to break open his very own Oktoberfest beer. To be continued…

They’ve created a wine label with a nude portrait of Marilyn Monroe. A chance meeting between the aspiring actress and Hollywood photographer Tom Kelley, Sr. in 1949 led to a two-hour photo session resulting in the scintillating “Red Velvet” series of nude photo-portraits of Marilyn Monroe. Among those photos was a double exposure which has now been separated into two distinctive images, one of which – “Pose 8” – graces the label of this Napa Valley wine.

What’s also been a blessing with the relaxation of Open Trade Agreements are imported American and European beers. I’ve found labels like Red Seal and Rogue in outlets that cater to the more affluent locals and the growing foreign community in Shanghai. Another emerging trend are both local and foreign microbreweries and we’ve listed a few here for your sampling.

 1) Boxing Cat Brewery

Probably better known for its Southern, Tex-Mex cuisine than the beer that’s being brewed onsite. Of the 2 outlets, we went to the original location at 82 Fuxing Xi Lu, within French Concession. Its location is already a plus being located in a beautifully restored house with a cosy interior and outdoor seating. Adding to the fun is the naming convention of their beers – Title Belt Alt Bier; Knock Out Stout; Donkey Punch Dunkel etc. While they promise to have 4 beers on tap at any one time, there were only 3 available when we were there. It’s a decent place and worth a visit, especially if you’re in the area.

8 beers on the placemat, 4 on tap, but only 3 available.

2) Munich Beer House

You know you’re in a developed city when you’ve got Starbucks on opposite corners of a street. Our equivalent of according such economic status is the availability of German hofbrau. There’s Paulaner Brauhaus at Xintiandi and there’s also the Munich Beer House on the Pudong side of Shanghai. Munich Beer House brews their lager, wheat and dark beers onsite and the smell of yeast is unmistakable once you enter. Like their Bavarian food, their hofbrau is quite authentic. See the map below for the address.

Dark Beer

 3) Bund Brewery

Probably the best value offering on The Bund. If you’ve been to places like M On The Bund, Bar Rouge and the now defunct Attica, you’ll be pleased to know the Bund Brewery offers all-you-can-drink for RMB199 from 7-9pm.

Recently refurbished under a new management, it’s truly styled as a traditional beer hall with long benches and nothing but copper and wood. Despite being around since 1998, it’s limited to only the Bundlander Dawn and Bundlander Dusk, aka light and dark. And like most microbrews sampled in China, they’re decent but not memorable.

Find The Bund Brewery at The Custom House, 11 Hankou Road, Shanghai, The Bund, near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu.

Brewerkz Singapore is serving their Hope beer and will donate $1 to the National Cancer Centre Research Fund for every half litre purchased.

We’ve been doing our part during our past few visits there and we will support this cause. Join us.

You know how anyone who’s into yoga tells you how much health benefits they’ve experienced blah blah blah and that you should really try it too? Well, now you can give it back to these stationary-stretching-exercise touts and boast to them YOU  too enjoy all the benefits of yoga PLUS the feeling of inebriation and taking a nap while at it. Why, you may even do it on the bus or train home from the pub. or AT the pub. Now how many yoga enthusiasts can boast THAT?

Good post by Ian On the Dot trackback

Beer Drinking Gives The Same Benefits As Yoga

Credit: http://ian.onthereddot.com/

Credit: www.monasterygreetings.com

It seems Belgium beers are gaining interest here in Singapore. A couple of weeks ago there was a all things Belgium event which I posted. The event featured stalls offering beer from the country also known for their diamond industry and waffles. I suspect this is part of a cultural series that the National Heritage Board is championing.

Andre and I may be trooping down with some media and blogger friends. Not sure if the $35 fee  for the 2 hour event includes free flow beer but it ought to.

DATE
26 Sep 2009
Sat, 3pm DURATION
Approx 2 hrs VENUES
The Salon, National Museum of Singapore
Level 1 TICKET PRICE (Exclude Booking Fee)
Standard – S$35

Please add to above price $3 Booking Fee per ticket for tickets above $20 and $1 Booking Fee per ticket for tickets $20 and below. Charges include GST where applicable.

Presenter: Lincoln Goh, Managing Director of boutique beer specialists The Drinking Partners

Belgium has the most diverse collection of quality beer in the world. From cask conditioned ales to triples and blondes, high fermentation ales to bottom fermented lagers, these beers are refreshingly different from what we are used to in Asia. Join us for a tasting of these delicious specialty beers!

Please note that only persons aged 18 years and above will be admitted to this course due to the minimum legal drinking age.

Copyright (c) of the Belgian Tourist Office NYC/USA

]]> http://175proof.com/events/the-art-of-the-brew-belgian-beer/feed/ 0 http://175proof.com/triedandtested/siding-with-cider/ http://175proof.com/triedandtested/siding-with-cider/#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:05:31 +0000 admin http://175proof.com/?p=641 Truth be told, whenever Andre and I hang out for a drink, we almost never order cider. If I’m correct, even when we drink separately, cider is hardly the top 10 drinks we’d have for the night (or afternoon). Having said that, let me qualify that its not that we don’t like cider. Its just that we don’t find a good selection here in Singapore. Update: Andre reminded me he sometimes orders a Guinness and Cider, also known as a ‘Poor Man’s Black Velvet’ (A ‘Black Velvet’ is Champagne and Guinness). Ok – proves my point that if the pure hard cider we have here is so good, why bother mixing the Guinness in?

Theory: Alcoholic drink made out of fruits = healthy and tasty, right? Hardly. I dislike fruit beers for one and for cider, the only one we usually get on tap is Strongbow. That’s too dry for my liking, to be honest. So by a twist of fate, I have been accidentally exposed to more cider in a month that in 5 years – as if to drum into me that there is some decent cider out there.  There’s been Magners which I drank a bottle of at Molly Malones, Bulmers (courtesy of my wife’s good mate working in a alcoholic beverage company) and Strongbow which I drank from the tap at The Apartment, a nice restaurant bar at trendy The Curve in Kuala Lumpur.

Now Strongbow, apart from being a very ‘commercial’ or ‘mass’ tasting cider on tap, is also quite dry and not full bodied. Does anybody feel different?

Magners Irish Cider, has a more ’boutique’ feel, as does Bulmers, also from Ireland. Good to know that Magnus is doing its part to keep the Irish agricultural industry healthy, at least the apple growing bit. For WM Magners is Ireland’s biggest purchaser of apples, accounting for a substantial proportion of the entire Irish apple crop. The difference between Magnus and Bulmers is that the former is drier that the latter – and dry is not my fave style of cider. Its the same when I drink wine – I like something not too dry, neither cloyingly sweet.

Not too dry - the way I like it

I have tried other ciders in the past including Woodpeckers (from the UK) picked up at the local Cold Storage supermarket as well as very tasty, refreshing Swedish Kopparberg pear ciders from Ikea (of all places, but you’ll score a good deal there. Why, have a cheap hotdog at the cafe too while at it!). Maybe that’s why I used to have very mismatched furniture at home. But  the last time I tried to pick up more Kopparberg during a furniture shopping break, alas, they didn’t carry it anymore. However, I did discover that Kopparberg is a town with a live webcam and where a meteor hit it millions of years ago. Maybe the meteor was thirsty for a cider?

Nugget: Kopparberg is a locality and the seat of Ljusnarsberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 3,189 inhabitants in 2005.^[1] It is famous for one of the most valuable postage stamps in the world, the Treskilling Yellow from 1857-July-13, Kopparberg’s (wooden) Church (voted #1 in Sweden in 2006), and Kopparberg Cider, now the number 1 selling pear cider in the UK and worldwide. (Source: wikipedia)

Furniture shopping at Ikea used to be a better experience (credit: wikipedia)

Anyone out there with a cider story to share? Apple, pear or other fruit?

VB ad for the every-man

Budweiser ‘Wassup’ Ad

Boddington’s beer advert 1992

FLASH BEER Australia Flashdance , mmm Beer

Guinness – Surfer ( extended )