Category Archives: Travel

Ping River Pilsner | 5% ABV

Key Tasting Notes: Nut, Honey, Whole Grain

Ping River Pilsner was released in 2018. The concept of this beer is straightforward, an easy-drinking beer. To us, it is fun to create beers that are unique and somewhat stand out from the mainstream beers like a lager or a pilsner. Nonetheless, we could not disagree that the simple crisp, and clean pale lager is the world’s most popular kind of beer. Although it looks like a basic brew, bringing the best out of it is actually one of the most challenging missions for us and many brewers worldwide.

Ping River Pilsner is a Czech-style pilsner. We stick with tradition and as a result, only high-quality malted barley and the “Noble hops” are selected as the ingredients for the brewing. This pilsner is smooth on the palate with a medium body. It has a honeyish sweetness that does not linger for too long and balances out mild bitterness really well. A “noble” thirst quencher it is.

It was awarded a silver medal at World Beer Awards 2019.

Its smoothness and beautiful touch of nostalgia make us think of the good old days when we used to chill out with our families and friends on the bank of Ping River.

The image on the label depicts a scorpion-tailed boat cruising along Ping River. Even though we rarely see this kind of boat nowadays, there used to be so many of them sailing back and forth across Ping River back in the past. The scorpion-tailed boat is native to the northern region of Thailand. They were used to transport goods and sometimes people on long journeys. In the background, we can see “Khua Lek” or the Iron Bridge, one of today’s most famous landmarks of Chiang Mai City. However, let it be noted that the current iron bridge is built according to the design and using the steel parts of the original one situated nearby (Nawarat Bridge, which was rebuilt a long time ago to suit the present-day lifestyle). Why so? Probably because we want to remember the past as it helps make us who we are.

Blossom Weizen | 5% ABV

Key Tasting Notes: Ripe Banana, Clove, Whole Wheat Bread

Our second beer on the list is Blossom Weizen. It is made to counter-balance Red Truck Red Ale. While the red ale is bitter and bold with hops and caramel malt, Blossom Weizen offers a mellow and refreshing touch of wheat malt along with a floral aroma from a special yeast strain.

Since Thailand is located in the tropical zone, barley and wheat which belong to a cooler climate are hard to grow naturally. However, there is a rice research center in Samoeng District, Chiang Mai Province (http://smg-rrc.ricethailand.go.th/), that puts a lot of effort not only into the development and the cultivation of wheat and barley in Northern Thailand but also the education on the related subjects.

We firmly believed that it would be an important small step for the Thai craft beer industry if we could use their pristine produce to make beer. With that in mind, after so many attempts, we successfully added raw “Fang-60” wheat into the brewing process of our hefeweizen. We were so proud of it that our first version of the label featured the very wheat field from Samoeng Rice Research Center. We named it “Chiang Mai Weizen”.

Chiang Mai Weizen was well-received and quickly gained popularity due to its easy-drinking nature. The beer also won the title “Country Winner” in World Beer Awards 2017.

A special attribute of Chiang Mai Weizen was its floral notes from an authentic German hefeweizen yeast. Since our clients commended us a lot for that aspect, we went on to highlight it by renaming it “Blossom Weizen”.

The yellow orchid on the label is “Uang Kham” (Dendrobium chrysotoxum – also known as the fried egg orchid) which is native to the north of Thailand, especially the greater Chiang Mai area. The background features the peak of the famous majestic carbonate mountain called “Doi Luang Chiang Dao”. It is a UNESCO’s biosphere reserve and the third most visited ecotourism site in Thailand. Besides the abundance of distinctive flora and fauna, this region is also diverse in ethnic groups, as well as the ancient Lanna culture.

Red Truck Red Ale | 5% ABV

Key Tasting Notes: Lychee, Caramel, Biscuit

“Red Truck” is our first beer. Just like most rookie craft beer brewers, we were so much into the charming hoppiness and our first kind of beer had to be an IPA unequivocally. Because why not? The distinctive aroma and intense bitterness from the hops led us to the world of craft beers.

We wanted to tell our stories through beer, so we developed a beer recipe that we believed would convey the right messages to the world. A reddish IPA was the first idea because one of our common childhood memories about Chiang Mai is riding in the back of a red truck along the ancient brick walls and gates of the old city.

Red Truck IPA. Back then the Thai craft beer industry was still an underground scene due to Thailand’s prohibitive laws and regulations.

With such a concept, we used a bit of crystal malt to add amber color to the beer. For aroma, we used a combination of hops; Motueka, Centennial, and Chinook, to create tropical fruit notes. The finished beer was medium-bodied and well-hoppy. Its overall aroma reminded us of freshly baked biscuit and lychee, our favorite fruit which is grown mostly in Chiang Mai and adjacent provinces.

After launching our beers in 2015, we found that the unapologetic bitterness of our IPA did not suit the palates of the beginning craft beer enthusiasts and the locals in general very well. So we decided to adjust the recipe and recategorize it as an American-style amber ale, or a red ale.

After the change, we received a lot of compliments from our customers and so we knew we were on the right track. Red Truck Red Ale eventually won the title “Country Winner” from World Beer Awards 2017 and also a bronze medal from Asia Beer Championship 2018.