A Chinese beer to sip during Olympics
Cracked open a Chinese beer, Harbin Lager, the other night to toast Michael Phelps and our other lads and lasses performing in the Olympics.
Pretty good lager, tasted similar to Heineken.
The cool thing is the bottle (1 pint 4.3 fluid ounces) comes cloaked in what looks like a rice paper wrapper. All this for a mere $2.25.
I found Harbin Lager at the Wine Source in Hampden and am tracking down the distributor in Baltimore. Stay tuned.
Anybody else try Harbin Lager? It is made in the northern province of Heilongjiang.
Anybody have a worthy Chinese brew?
I have some sympathy for all the swimmers who are getting toasted by Phelps. It happened to my son.
Years ago our younger son, then 9 I think, was swimming at Padonia, in the big year-ending, best -of-the-best Central Maryland swim meet. My kid won his heat, I think it was the breast stroke, 25 meters. Like a proud papa, I began scouting the opposition.
The program listed this other 9-year old, M. Phelps, with great times. Sitting on a hill overlooking the pool, I watched this Phelps kid him swim his heat. Two distinct impressions: One, this kid seemed to swim ON TOP of the water. Two, even though the race was only one lap of the pool, he won by almost half the length of the pool.
That cooled this dad's fantasy about his kid making it to the Olympics.
The other night my son, now 23, and I toasted that former Padonia winner with a glass of Harbin lager.
Comments
Chinese beer! Given that I live near where you bought this, I bet I'll be giving it a try tonight!
Posted by: Beer Fan | August 13, 2008 12:40 PM
I picked up some Harbin a few weeks ago when I was in NoVa. It's pretty awesome stuff compared to Tsing Tsao.
Posted by: MrIncognito1 | August 13, 2008 12:54 PM
Harbin and Northern China have some of the most polluted air and water in the world. I think I'll take a pass.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | August 13, 2008 1:13 PM
I can report that many folks at these Games are partaking primarily in two Chinese beers (or so I've heard):
--Tsingtao, which seems to be more widely available and tastes a bit like China's answer for Bud... in fact, one person told me Anheuser-Busch might have a stake in the company;
-- and Yanjing, which unlike Tsingtao is a pilsner that actually brewed in Beijing (not an outer province). It's also much cheaper than Tsingtao, though maybe not as popular.
Posted by: Maese | August 14, 2008 6:32 AM
Harbin is owned by Anheuser-Busch...
Posted by: Rick | August 15, 2008 10:12 AM
I've never had any Chinese beer. I wonder how it goes with Chinese food. Perhaps some research is do.
If AB owns Harbin and Inbev owns AB it appears we have 2 or 3 mega breweries along with a "handful" of micro/craft breweries today. What's the world coming to. It makes me think that the ice house where I fill my cooler up is owned by a company in Siberia. As long as it stays cold I guess I really shouldn't worry about such trivial things.
Posted by: Jr Copper | August 15, 2008 2:46 PM
A-B distributes Harbin in the U.S. as its "premium Chinese beer." Having lived in China for a good bit of time, I can report that it's nothing special over there. With the exception of Tsingtao, the Chinese beer market is extremely regional, and Harbin happens to be the beer of (surprise!) the city of Harbin and its surrounding area. Yanjing, which was mentioned by a commenter, is the regional beer of Beijing/Hebei - and it's a little too sweet. Like most Chinese beer, it's nothing to write home about.
One of the more interesting Chinese beers I've had was "Xinjiang Black Beer" (xinjiang heipi) from out west. Think schwarzbier.
Posted by: Hunter | August 15, 2008 4:47 PM
The latest copy of Fortune has a two page item called "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" and it lists their editor's top 99 beers that trigger fond memories, were their favorites at some point, etc.
They point out each brand, the year it was first brewed, and who is brewing it now.
Since InBev now owns so many breweries, they made it simple and put a darkened circle around each of the InBev brews.
Good item to take a look at, if you have the time...
Posted by: Rick | August 17, 2008 6:20 PM
Try Snow - the number-two beer brand in the world.
The beer is actually called Xue Hua, with literally means 'snow flower.'
Posted by: alba | August 18, 2008 3:17 PM
Yikes, Snow? Xuehua pijiu holds the dubious distinction of being the worst beer I've ever reviewed... I will be moving to Shanghai in December - I'm looking forward to seeing how the beer scene in China has evolved since the last time I was there.
Posted by: Hunter | August 19, 2008 4:35 PM
Tsingtao never dissapoints when paired with Chinese food, as long as the beer is served ice cold. Hite from South Korea is a good one if you ever run into it.
BTW - I pretty sure Michael Phelps STILL holds the pool records at Padonia for 8-9 boys. I guess that was the last year he spent time swimming the local pool circuit. Amazing.
Posted by: TimD | August 28, 2008 9:13 PM
Harbin is available at P.F. Changs on Pratt Street if you want to try it with Chinese food. I found it ice cold and very refreshing!
Posted by: Keith | September 8, 2008 10:12 AM