3 years in a row. 4 consecutive festival days. 250 beers from 20 countries. All from $3 a pop.

These are just some numbers to tease you with but the one that’s had us at hello is the opportunity to sample more than 250 beers in a single seating. In a repeat of the past 2 years, Beerfest Asia 2011 makes a re-appearance at the Marina Promenade behind the Singapore Flyer from 16 to 19 June 2011.

Beers and ciders from Armenia to Sweden to the Czech Republic will be available for sale on the festival grounds. If you love your India Pale Ale(IPA), check out the booth by Beerstyle Distribution who will be carrying brews from American favourites like Rogue and Stone. Commercial brewers like Carlsberg will also be showcasing their portfolio of brands with the inclusion of the Russian Baltika and crowd favourite Somersby Cider. And Singapore’s newest mircobrewer AdstraGold will also be quenching thirsts at the festival.

The U2 Show - Achtung Baby

Beerfest Asia 2011 will also see the debut of the All Star Showstoppers along with three tribute experiences of The Beatles, The Blues Brothers and The Rolling Stones. Tribute bands “The Killer Queen” and “The U2 Show – Achtung Baby” who performed last year are back by popular demand to belt out classic hits.

Asia Beer Awards will be staged again this year and for the first time, the Asia Brewers’ Conference will be held on the trade day (16 June 2011) of Beerfest Asia 2011.

Tickets are on sale at www.sistic.com.sg from $15 onwards including two free beers for selected tiers. For more information on Beerfest Asia 2011, visit the official website at www.beerfestasia.com.

Apollo 11’s foray into space the summer of 1969 turned out to be third time “lucky” for NASA when the men onboard successfully navigated their way to the moon, planted their feet and came back safely. But “lucky” isn’t an inclusive word to describe this immortalized moment in the history of mankind. Technological advances, reserves of greenback, weather, prayers and sheer human courage were just among the list of conditions that created that moment. But it also comes down to A, B, C – Armstrong, Buzz and a particular Collins – were the names of the crew who made that journey.

If Carlsberg had their way, they would have loved to have been the C-word propelling Apollo 11 to a first ever lunar landing. We’re sure the Danes would have sneaked in a case of beer aboard Apollo 11 but what they have done instead is launch a new Spaceman advertising campaign and tagline to appeal to the sense of adventure and courage inside all of us, challenging us to do the right thing in every situation and earning a Carlsberg as a reward. Hence the introduction of a new tagline “That calls for a Carlsberg” ushering out the distinctive “Probably the best beer in the world.”

A Crown, a Hope Leaf and a beer born in Copenhagen in 1847

Accompanying this change is new packaging with a refreshed logo which have hit our stores and kopitiams already, see if you can tell the subtle differences, it took us awhile to figure it out! Well, we dare say this is one of the best Carlsberg TV commercials we’ve seen on our screens in recent years. There’s always been an irreverent sense of humour to the Carlsberg ads like the recent cheerleaders, pyramid commercial during the World Cup. But it’s the Spaceman commercial that takes the cake with a Jerry Bruckheimer ending, leaving us to wonder if there’ll be a sequel to it. After all, what good is a beer in hand when you can’t taste it? Not that it would have mattered anyway since normal beer cannot be consumed in space as it is on earth. Read our previous post of Vostock Space Beer to find out why.

And this concludes our first post in 2 weeks, now this calls for a Carlsberg!

But using the bottle cage to carry beer only allows for 1 can or bottle, which as you would agree, isn’t going to be enough. So our Number 1 fan came across an invention being sold online and sent it to us. It’s a 6-pack holder secured to the horizontal bike frame, perfect for a quick sip while riding! It’s retailing for US$22 and we’re both hoping our wives read this blog in time for Christmas this year!

Bike 6-pack holder from UberReview

For those of you unfamiliar with Lunar, it’s a split-level Cantopop club with “live” band performances and dance performances. Carlsberg branded a corner of the upper level as Eclipse by Carlsberg with a lounge sofa and a few tables. The key highlight of the area is a Carlsberg tap which just keeps flowing. And to provide a full sensory experience, the dancing platform is just in front of the Eclipse area giving spectators a unhindered view of the dance performances. We’re not going to describe the dancing any further, you’ve got to check it out for yourself.

Now, we’re hoping the boys at Carlsberg setup more of these exclusive areas in bars around the city.

Adrian, we said hello to Ah-Ter for you and we heard, "Harp, cannot hear."

We’re not sure whether Arthur Guinness got any celebs of his time to sing at his disposal but that’s exactly what Arthur’s Day is all about. The folks at Guinness have been organizing Arthur’s Day across several cities worldwide including Dublin, KL, Lagos and New York with acts like Black Eyed Peas, Jamie Callum, Tom Jones, Sugababes belting out for Guinness fans. Last weekend, we got invited to Arthur’s Day in Jakarta with Lifehouse rocking late into the night.

Lifehouse doing a toast with the Guinness team

Other than Rivermaya, we didn’t know any of the opening acts, and even with Lifehouse, the only song we’ve got on iPod is Hanging By A Moment. But all that was mitigated by the fact that we were treated to the brilliant dark liquid all night and being in place like Jakarta, it’s difficult not to “party like a rock star”!

Arthur would be very happy with our performance.

To the folks at Guinness Singapore, thanks for the party and cheers to Arthur!

Now, being true to our cause of “Have drink, will travel”, we located a brewpub at the basement of Plaza Senayan. It’s called Brewhouse and apparently they brew an ale/porter. Apparently because they were out of it when we tried to order some. They’ve got Carlsberg on tap and a few other bottle beers like San Miguel, Corona. If you’re misguided into shopping there, check it out, if not, suggest you take your empty throats elsewhere.

One pass to drink them all!

Five is a bitter-sweet number, folks. Beerfest Asia was FIVE days long. And now its been FIVE days since it ended. Its official. We finally admit it. The beer feast is over. The music has stopped. The beer-stained ‘Beer Heals All Wounds’ slogan T-shirt needs to go into the wash. And we are paying the price of having had such a good time.

For the tens of thousands of folks who attended Beerfest Asia 2010 it would have been an awesome event that just ended and its 364 days to the next one. Sadly, this is not the case for everyone. Not the 175proofers, at least. For us, the withdrawal symptoms have just begun. The reality has begun to sink in that its back to real life. And going back to work is a tough cure for this pain. Its been a looonnng FIVE days. Well, to make this better, we’re gonna pen some sweet memories of the best beer feast these guys have been to ever. And this is great training for when the 175proofers head out to Oktoberfest later this year in Munich. Well, the best we can do is to share some of the digitally captured memories with you guys in the hope that it will help ease the pain (ouch!) for us. This will be cathartic, I’m sure. Here goes.

The hallowed tunnel to beer heaven...

Beer hall days... 5 days to be exact

and there were (beer) angels...

and hippies...

... bring out the hula hula - tasty Hawaiiian beers which conjour up the sunny island taste

...delicious Magners pear cider brought in by 6 Drunk Men

and the ocassional yuckky beer - Jaz from Malaysia...

religious beer... Almighty from Grand Ridge

getting some air guitar time with this Stella Artois inflatable beer accompaniment...

'Doc, I have a liver ache...'

Somersby Apple Cider from Carlsberg - a cider the ladies will like too

... bring out the hula hula. Great tasting Hawaiian beers which conjour up the big island magic

Wychcraft. Good looking, good balanced English beer. Hoppy but flavourful. My fave of the nite. Find it at East of Avalon in Singapore.

The smoothest cider you'll be drinking - Green Goblin Oak Aged Cider from the UK. We like. Find this at East of Avalon too.

We feel the desperate urge to rush to East of Avalon for a Goliath. For our bigger-than-man-sized thirst.

In America this would be a sports team, in the UK, more sensibly, its a malty full-bodied dark amber beer. Foutyniner from Ringwood Brewery UK. Avail at EoA. But why isn't it spelt 'fourtyniner'?

Stone Beer - feel that way after a dozen

We know how that must feel if you brew a fine brew like this. A good American craft beer.

Matso's Mango beer - not as girly as it sounds. Refreshing, not overpowering.

Last one for the night and fest. Draft Bitter from Grand Ridge. Good tase and value microbrew from Australia.

If you’ve come this far in the post, I suspect that you like beer as much as us. And you’ll feel our pain when we tell you that we bulk bought a mixed batch of beautiful craft beer from Grand Ridge during the beer auction for a great price but lost it in the back of the cab after we got off. That almost ruined Beerfest Asia 2010 for us. But thanks to this post and the photos we didn’t lose, we were able to relive those FIVE glorious days again and share them with you now. Well done SPHere Events for organising this. My special heartfelt thanks to Mandy and her super trooper team who made everything so enjoyable via their hospitality. Can’t wait 360 days to the next one. Cheers to that!

With this in mind, we really hope Carlsberg will do well in marketing and pricing when they release their Jacobsen beers here. As romantics, we particularly like the fact that Carlsberg has so much heritage and has a wonderful story to tell with their Jacobsen beers. Their Jacobsen beers are produced by the Jacobsen Brewhouse, named after Carlsberg’s founder JC Jacobsen and located in original historical buildings of the Carlsberg brewery.

Even with a historical background, these beers seem to be targeted at the increasing number of us, beer drinkers, who appreciate niche beer with good food. Check out their website and you’ll see what we mean.

Saaz Blonde - we think it's a sexy blonde disguised in a sexy bottle

We sampled the Jacobsen Saaz Blonde, with an ABV 7.1% – steam! This blonde is brewed according to Belgian traditions for light, top-fermented beers - “Blonde” is the traditional French word for light-coloured beers. When we poured it into a glass, the colour was an interesting orange amber with good head -  blondes and good head – what more could we ask for?

And it continues to be tantalizing with a sweet aroma, very smooth and tastes of sweetness and spices. Very drinkable beer and although we only had Cheezels as snacks, we suspect this with might actually pair well with a Brie, if not just call for a pizza margherita!

If you want to sample this, checkout Beer Fest Asia 2010.

T for Tequila?

This week, the 175proofers were lucky enough to continue to sample more of the yet-to-hit-the-shelves specialty beers from Carlsberg, courtesy of it’s Singapore marketing head, Anto Setiadi. This time its the Tuborg T-Beer Mexicana. This light bodied, almost headless brew has the taste of beer but with an added twist of lemon (yes, its there) AND tequila (supposedly). You can expect to sample this at the upcoming Beerfest Asia 2010.

Classified as a flavoured beer, the taste and body is very much reminisce of your familiar Mexican varieties such as Sol and Corona or less common Estrella, sans fresh lime wedge. And it definitely not of the Bohemia (read full bodied) variety. Instead, the Tuborg T Beer Mexicana has its citrus taste pre-mixed. And if there is supposed to be a tequila flavour as well, I sure found it very mild, almost non-existent. The only indication that it might contain some of that wicked agave cactus plant goodness is the slight cats-tongue finish.

With a 4.9% ABV, it’s not exactly your mid strength variety so it’ll still pack a punch if you go thru a 6-pack. Although the packaging has a image of a cactus on our sample bottle, other countries may carry variations of the bottle design – let’s see. I guess I was expecting more of a tequila kick or taste in the beer when I saw the cactus motifs on the label – that got me really excited. But then again, its hard to make an easy drinking refreshing summer beer if it packs too much of a donkey’s kick in it, eh? Plus with the sun beating down on you perched on your deck chair beside the pool or beach, anything more than a light beer will quickly wrestle your sobriety down to the hot sand after a few. No fun. Now I know why many Mexican beers taste the way they do – light & refreshing but full strength – built for the desert.
The taste reviews from Ratebeer.com gives it pretty low scores, but then again, like wine, many alcoholic beverages are subjective. I’m sure the ladies wouldn’t mind nursing a light, fresh tasting beer in a trendy, colourless & slim clear bottle while out and about in Singapore’s perpetual summer climate. While in other countries Carlsberg markets the T Beer as a ‘summer brew’, our take is that this kind of beer is gonna be always welcome all year round here in good ‘ol Singapore.

According to Carlsberg’s website, T-Beer is Tuborg’s easy to drink, low flavoured pilsner beer. With it’s transparent bottle and easy-to-drink flavour it attracts the attention of consumers having fun in the summer time. And there is also a press release that states that ’5 million bottles of T-Beer produced and sold in Turkey since April 14, 2006′.

Various packaging in different geographies - this is the Turkish version

I’ve always thought “probably the best job in the world” would be to work at Carlsberg and have an endless flow of free beer. But the Danish brewer recently tightened employee benefits, primarily drinking during work, by removing beer fridges that have always been located across the work space.

Instead, Carlsberg workers are now only allowed to drink during lunch hours. But truckers are exempt and they’re still allowed to carry 3 cans of beer for the road as they normally don’t have time for lunch on-site! It was no surprise that 800 employees went on strike and 250 walked off, resulting in delivery delays around Copenhagen.

Fact: Both Helipad and Café Del Mar listed on the sites are in Singapore. And Singapore is not in Malaysia. Just to be safe, Singapore is not part of China either, it’s a sovereign state.

Carlsberg needs geography lessons