Chang Beer (Domestic) - Cosmos Brewery (Thai Beverage Plc.)

Onslow

Texas

2.65/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Not a bad lager, is smooth and refreshes the palate. Aroma of typical indian lagers with more rice rice maybe?... Taste is simple and plain, but doesn't hurt the beer.colour is a medium gold, some head ..differs... some better, alot worse! they do sponsor the Toffees you know!?!

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2008 13:35:08 | More by Onslow

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev +26.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clear straw with a nice white head that falls a bit too fast. Nose is cereal sweetness. Flavor is unusually sweet and quite smooth. I wouldn't say the flavor is out of balance in it's sweet edge though. Feel has a nice biting carbonation to it and the liquid is pretty firm as well. This is very easily drinkable. This should be widely available and widely appreciated. If this were widely available, it would probably be a go to beer for me.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2008 10:36:54 | More by RblWthACoz

alysmith4

District of Columbia

2.38/5  rDev -18.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Tried this beer in Thailand.. tasted very much like a Singha, I could hardlt tell the difference. The main difference is that it's usually cheaper than Singha, and the alcohol content can be higher. I heard that this beer is not regulated, so it's possible to get one with a very high alcohol content and then one with a very low alcohol content.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2008 17:28:43 | More by alysmith4

Shovelbum

Massachusetts

2.78/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours a clear medium yellow body. Head is white with large bubbles and moderate staying power--but gone by the glass's end. Zero lace. Aroma is a mixture is a light sweet malt and citric hops with a bit of booze. Taste is clean--slightly sweet balanced by a mild bitterness--overall surprisingly smooth with little bite from the booze. Finish is smooth.

This beer has a bit of a nasty reputation among the expat community I run with-- largely due to some seriously punishing hangovers that is has dealt. Rumors circulate that domestic versions of this and many other SE Asian beers contain Formaline (a preservative mixture of Formaldehyde and Glycerine), but I think the culprit is actually the heat and dehydration. The 6.4 ABV would certainly give the light beer crowd a run for their money in this climate! All that being said, Chang is a decent beer when compared next to its SE Asian compatriots.

Serving type: can

11-08-2007 10:34:53 | More by Shovelbum

vancurly

Australia

2.6/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

a) pale yellow / dark straw, white frothy head, no haze
s) grainy, nondescript, macro
f) fairly delicate, or perhaps light-on. Not too bad, no sulfurous notes or skunky attributes.... but not much else to discuss
m) fairly crisp, clean, mild to medium bitterness
d) quite drinkable in a tropical setting, or with a curry

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2007 05:42:07 | More by vancurly

brendan13

Australia

2.65/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A - Pale golden straw colour with a few centimetres of white head thats disipates fairly quickly leaving a this whisp sitting atop.
S - Slight herbal and sweet grainy aromas.
T - Taste is a sweet grainy flavour with some herbal hop notes.
M - Medium mouthfeel with a fairly high amount of carbonation.
D - I was sort of suprised. I wasn't expecting much from this beer but it is drinkable. Sure, I wouldn't buy it in lots of 6 but next time I'm having some Thai I'll match it up.

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2007 10:34:36 | More by brendan13

lacqueredmouse

Australia

2.2/5  rDev -24.4%
look: 1.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Pale yellow, lots of heavy carbonation. No head, no lacing.

Almost nothing on the nose. Maybe a little bit of spiciness, probably some sweetness, but very bland.

Taste is again flat and dull, but there is a faint greenness there; something a little fragrant or vegetative. Maybe just a ghose of something interesting, but it's a pale, pale ghost...

The mouthfeel is quite effervescent, and well suited to the style, even though the style is nothing great.

It's interesting, but it may just be that it's more interesting because of the harshness of the extra alcohol. Singha is better, this one feels like a rougher, tougher version that's more difficult to drink.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2007 04:09:49 | More by lacqueredmouse

JohnfromDublin

Ireland

2.83/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

I had a bottle of this accompanying a Thai meal in Bird restaurant, Amsterdam. The label looks the same as the one shown here on BA. It does have the word "export" in small red letters at the bottom of the front label in between "net contents 33cl and (11.15 fl.oz) Alc. 5%v/v."

Overall an okay brew to wash down a Thai meal with. It is a macro brew with all the characteristics. Pours a clear straw brew with a thin head. Slight hops to smell, taste just a shade above blandness. Not the worst.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2006 08:44:55 | More by JohnfromDublin

joecast

Australia

2.28/5  rDev -21.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

unassuming bottle. bworn glass with gold label. states gold medal at the '98 australian int. beer awards. 5%abv. best before 8/06. better hurry.

holds a heard fairly well. typical golden color. medium carbonation. thin white foamy head. little lacing.

malty heavy aroma. slightly flowery, but mostly sweet. maybe a bit of stewed apple?

just a step above bland for taste. some maltiness, but little bitterness or hop flavor. again some sort of apple. probably suffering a bit from age, but at only 2 months past bb date, this couldnt have been much better fresh.

decent carbonation gives it an ok mouthfeel but fails to cover up for the rest of the beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2006 09:40:24 | More by joecast

Globetrotter

Virginia

3.7/5  rDev +27.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Hand-carried from Bangkok to Moscow (thanks, Meroe!), my can is gold and blue, with the same two elephants under some kind of tree as depicted on the bottle. Pretty much everything on the can is written in Thai, but I can confirm the 6.4% ABV for this product. 12/26/05 is stamped on the bottom, but I'll hope that is the canning date. I opened it on 3/19/06.

Starting from low expectations here, the first impression is a confirmation. Clear pale gold liquid under a 1.5 finger white head that fades quickly to film and collar. No lace. On the pour, the nose is strong of skunked malt, but it settles into a nice grainy impression with a distinct undertone of floral (carnation, really) spice. The mouth is very - almost painfully - prickly and quite light. The taste, though, is a very pleasant surprise. The requisite sweet bready malt opens, followed by a smooth flowery bitterness that lingers as it tickles the back of the mouth. Peppermint notes emerge later, leaving a sweetish, but quite pleasant impression. This was worth having.

Serving type: can

03-20-2006 18:54:04 | More by Globetrotter

Sigmund

Norway

2.93/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This beer seems to need a split in the BA database - my 330 ml bottle (in France), simply named Chang Beer, was a typical standard pale lager at 5.0% ABV, and can’t possibly be "the same beer" as the 6.4% beer? Anyhow, my beer pours with a golden colour and a large head. "Neutral" lager flavour, not offensive, moderate sweetness. Okay with a spicy Thai meal.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2006 17:02:46 | More by Sigmund

jarmby1711

Australia

3.2/5  rDev +10%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pretty plain pouring beer. A light golden colour without depth or character Thee is little head retention , so it doesnt excite
The smell also is plain ,having abitter hop aroma
The taste is a surprise or at least was to me. There is a succesful combination of biscuity malt that blends to a hop bitternesss (albeit one where the hops add no particular flavour).
It refreshes and has some depth of flavour that make this an enjoyable drinking Lage well suited to a warm climate .
It doesnt seem the sort of Lager that would loose its appeal after a few of them.

Serving type: bottle

12-18-2005 10:23:35 | More by jarmby1711

Marty

Maine

2.73/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Just had one of these again for the first time in about two years. When my sis and I were in Thailand, this is all we drank, not because it's cheaper than Singha (which it is) but because it's actually better. Most Thai beers don't look like much. Pale pale pale golden hued, and better off left in the bottle. Pretty sure it's brewed with rice. Lots of rice. Doesn't have much in the way of an aroma.

This beer, however, is maltier and more complex than Singha. Overall, the best of the crap beers available in Thailand, excluding Heineken and some other imports that are sometimes available. But why drink a Dutch beer when you're in Thailand??

PS: Rumor has it that Beer Chang bottles' %ABV tends to fluctuate wildly (+/- 3%) from bottle to bottle. I can't confirm this. I can, however, suggest that most tourists to Thailand probably end up dehydrated on occasion, and a parched tourist would naturally be more prone to getting sloshed off a single beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2005 04:10:52 | More by Marty

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

2.73/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

BeerChang, in a can, flown in fresh for me from Thailand. Ain't I a lucky duck?

Crystal clear, pure golden yellow, with a good, fuzzy white cap, though swift to diminish. Looks the part.

Aroma: grainy and sweet, traces of honey and herbs. A hint of alcoholic harshness peeks through.

Grainy and a bit rough on first taste, as well, missing that sweetness found in the nose. Seems rawer once in the mouth. Light in body, with a somewhat gritty texture. Sweetness butts in halfway through, and messes around with the malt. Finish is dry, empty.

The taste and mouthfeel leave much to be desired, it's not terrible for a malt liquor-style brew (6.4% for a beer this thin? malt likka, baby!). The strength does start to insinuate itself at the rear. This is one to get next to when you're really tying one or two or three on...or so I hear...

Serving type: can

10-11-2005 04:45:09 | More by feloniousmonk

Wintermute

Ontario (Canada)

2.13/5  rDev -26.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

330 ml bottle, Beach Tango Café, Ko Chang, Thailand

White head of large bubbles. OK head retention, or at least better than the others of its type.
Pale golden colour, very clear.
Clean smelling, no DMS. Mildly lagery with mild hops smell.
Light bodied.
Very clean tasting. Sweet with little bitterness throughout and very little bitterness left on the tongue. I found it very clean tasting with very little to offend the palate. I found this made it much more drinkable than the other products of its type.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2004 03:12:23 | More by Wintermute

bark

Sweden

1.35/5  rDev -53.6%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

The colour is clear, golden yellow and the head is white. At first, the foam is quite large, but soon it shrinks to a very thin and smooth layer.

The smell is quite discreet, but I noticed an almost musty flavour of malt and corn.

The carbonation is poor and almost flat. Maybe I shouldn’t have poured it the way I did to get that head?

The taste is at first relatively strong with an unpleasant chemical body with hints of wormwood. Then, the taste develops into a flat taste with notes of sweet peas, lime and… Maybe some kind of detergent?

I have drunk other beers that tasted boring and uninspired, but this one was simply disgusting.

The beer is marked as "The most sold beer in Thailand". Poor Thai.

Serving type: bottle

08-09-2004 20:58:08 | More by bark

moulefrite

Massachusetts

2/5  rDev -31.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

What in the flying hell is this? The pour is so light in color that I can see my entire hand and all its features through the glass. There is no head. Aromas are of rotted sweet corn that has been re-warmed. The flavors are no better with adjunct written all them. This beer is simply a slap in the face to beer lovers, and perhaps only a catalyst to a cheap buzz for the average joe. Stinky frickin nasty can o suds.

Serving type: can

08-09-2004 00:01:10 | More by moulefrite

Bourre

France

2.23/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 2 | smell: 1 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Watery pale golden color. I couldn't get head with this one... Nasty smell. What's the deal with thai beers? I just had a singha who smelled exactly the same...

The taste is a bit more complex than singha's. You can almost feel that they used malt to brew this beer...The refreshing aspect of pilsners is clearly missing. You can feel the alcohol, more present than in Singha. Hops are predominant. Leave a thick mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2004 20:38:19 | More by Bourre

Naerhu

Japan

2.3/5  rDev -21%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

malt, hops, rice
pale yellow, with pure white head that soon disappeared.

nice malty sweet aroma.

Slightly fruity and overly sweet. Taste of apples. Caught next to no hops.

This was the sweetest asian lager I have had to date. Might go with spicy food, but not with my delicious hamburger.

Why is this beer labeled Chang Lager. In Japan, it is only referred to as Chang Beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2004 14:52:53 | More by Naerhu