Battle of the beers

Charlie Papazian

Beer Examiner Charlie Papazian is the author of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, founder of the Great American Beer festival, the American Homebrewers Association and the Association of Brewers. He works, lives and still enjoys making homebrewed beer in Colorado.

January 16,

by Charlie Papazian, Beer Examiner

Tasting these beers was like being in
a battle

There’s no Great Cambodian Beer Festival that I know. So I threw my own, sort of; in a very non-scientific way, I meandered into a mini market and bought just about every kind of beer I could find. I marveled at the prominent placement of Thomas Kemper Root Beer and Vanilla Creme.
I walked out with a bundle of beers several from Cambodia and some of the others I couldn’t find a country of origin. As it turned out I would understand why no country would want to claim them, from what I tasted.

I tasted 3 stouts and 7 lagers.

Three Stouts

• ABC Stout, labeled “Archipelago Brewery” from Singapore was brewed and canned by the Cambodian Brewery under the supervision of Asia Pacific Brewing Company (Singapore). Seems like no one wants to take complete credit for this pretty good stout. Fruity and roasty aroma with a substantial hop and roast malt bitterness. Quite a bit of astringency throughout the experience of this medium-heavy bodied 8% beer. A good buy.
• Angkor Extra Stout – The bottle was dusty and looked abused. I had my reservations, but this 8% stout survived in reasonable condition. Ale fruitiness with either a roast malt or burnt caramel character in both aroma and flavor. Significant hop bite that became assertive after a few sips. I marveled that it was clean and not oxidized. Not quite smooth enough for my taste but a good stout in a country with few choices.
• Black Panther Stout – “Feel the power of the black panther,” the label explains. Foreign Extra Stout at 8% brewed and canned by Cambrew (which I take to be Cambodia Brewery). Not as sweet as I anticipated. Pleasant roast aroma and good hop and roast malt bitterness. Marvelously clean with a good aftertaste. Medium body. Bitter bite is refreshing in a world of sweet.

And the winner is: Black Panther Stout.

Adventure of 7 lagers.

• Gold Crown Beer brewed by Cambodia Brewery at 4.5%. No hop or malt character whatsoever. Mostly a sweet carbonated beverage. Clean, light tasting, fresh. Not goosing my fancy.
• Mittweida “German Lager Beer” proclaims the can. Mysteriously brewed by the SMBTL in Thailand? Who? Sadly this beer was old and oxidized. Aroma of fruity wine and wet paper. Some malt character is still there. Nice hop bitterness underlies the potential of this beer if fresh. But this one was not.
• Klang Beer brewed and canned under the supervision of Cambrew. “Extra strong” at 6%. “Brewed to perfection for that wholesome, satisfying taste…very strong beer but take the challenge! After all it’s specially brewed for you.” The label is worth reading. Medium body, slight chill haze, a refreshing hop bitterness. Nothing really special, except the emerging and refreshing hop character.
• Bayon “Pilsener” brewed by Cambrew. Bayon means “lake.” “The Cambodian Beer since 1963.” Clean, fresh and very light. Very low hop character resulting in a tangy aftertaste. Mild but not quite insipid.
• You-Beer “Special Lager.” “Original Lager.” “You-Beer is ready for you…” Brewed under the supervision of Thong Imex Import/Export Company. Where in the world we don’t know. But it does say that they use Krones and Huppman German equipment to brew it. Erroneously claiming that these are brewing companies. Winey, wet paper over the hill aroma and flavors. Awfully oxidized.
• Here’s a gem: Usa Naale Beer (also on the label “U.S.A.” and the word “Unadulterated.” Right, and I’ll sell you free beer for $5. On the can there was an essay almost unreadably tiny about the “history” (more of a fable) of ale not worth repeating and not making any sense. The beer was simply old, oxidized and beyond description. No country to claim origin listed on can.
• Myanmar Lager Beer – brewed in Burma. Clean, low flavor profile, refreshing, fresh, adequate and refreshing hop bite, but minimal.

And the light lager winner is: Klang Beer.

So there you have it. This is Charlie Papazian thinking he’s reporting from the first ever Great Cambodian Beer Tasting.