Tsingtao varieties?

pdebarra

A friend recently brought two bottles of Tsingtao back from China. I have no idea if they're different varieties, or if they're just the same one repackaged. Does anyone know?

pdebarra

*bump*

Anyone any ideas? Do I need to post better pics? Or do we simply not have enough Chinese speakers around here?

I should have mentioned that both bottles claim to be ~ 3.7% abv.

BeerPal, RateBeer, BeerAdvocate... All drawing blanks. The brewery's own website is navigable without Chinese (but with patience), but is not helpful.

RateBeer has two brews at 3.7%.

I guess my best bet is to ask a Chinese friend to translate the labels.

Victor McDade

I got my Chinese wife to check that, it seems the bottle on the left is the "gold quality" recipe, hence the golden bottle. The one on the right is a cheaper brew, and might cost less to buy. Both are similar beers, but the golden bottle one should taste lighter. The Chinese characters on the front both simply translate to "Tsingtao beer".

She said if you can post a clear photo of the labels on the back of the bottles she can give more info.

pdebarra

Super, Victor, thank you.

Here are the rear labels. Gold brew on the left.



As I went to take better photos, my batteries died. And the spares are also empty. And the spare spares. Will replace these with better images as soon as I can.

johnnyskeleton

I've been in lots of different parts of China, and each one has their own variant of Tsingtao. I rarely saw the same bottling twice and I never saw the bottling that you get here at all (although there were similar ones in bigger bottles).

The level of alcohol varies greatly, from under 2% (i.e. unlikely to make you drunk no matter how much you drink) up to about 4.8% (they don't have any over 5% that I could see).

The taste varies only slightly, which suggests that it's all the same stuff, but some of it they just boil off more or less of the alcohol depending on the region.

I also think that in politically sensitive regions e.g. Tibet, they don't use the Tsingtao label at all, and use a local name instead e.g. Lhasa beer. Still tastes similar though.

Never saw a fancier version of it, but then again it's a while since I've been there.

Victor McDade

pdebarra
I got herself to look at the pics, it seems the writing on the grey label is pretty much the ingredients, nothing special. Wheat extract 11P. I t goes on to say the best before date is on the cap or the bottle, and that drinking too much can be bad for your health :eek:. Store between 5-25C, manufacturers contact numbers and address. Made in Shanghai. Volume 296ml

The gold label (red print) talks about how it's the special brew, based on 100 years of brewing knowledge, it's their best recipe, the beer has a "gold" colour, and tastes very good. The black print is the ingredients and made in tsingtao city. The bottom red bit is the contact details etc.

Hope that helps!

pdebarra

Many thanks, gentlemen.

I save the labels off any new brew I drink, so I like to be sure I'm not duplicating anything

These will be worthy, and unusual, additions to my little collection.

Xie xie

Trampas

Memories of my holiday in China