Tasting

What does Beerlao taste like? Beerlao Original is pale gold, light, dry and barely bitter, with a subtle sweetness and a hint of grain. Many tasters describe it as clean and refreshing, without much character of its own, but with a soft finish. A touch of rice is more sensed than tasted.

Four beers from Lao Brewery are worth trying. Beerlao Original shows the base style, the one you'd order with Laap by the Mekong. Beerlao Dark at 6.5% ABV brings roasted malt and cocoa notes and is bolder. Beerlao Gold, according to the brewery, uses a particularly fragrant rice variety. Lanexang, on the market since 2008, is a separate brand from the brewery at 5% ABV.

In Laos, Beerlao is often drunk with ice cubes in the glass. This might strike Europeans as odd, but it has a practical reason: in this heat, the beer stays cold longer this way. The melting ice dilutes it gradually, which matters little in a beer at 5% ABV with lean bitterness.

Beerlao comes in bottles of 330 and 640 milliliters, with the large bottle usually shared. The glass is a simple tumbler or a plain stemless glass, without handle. Anyone wanting to try it without ice should drink it chilled from the glass, at around 4 to 6 degrees Celsius.

When pouring, tilting the glass helps keep the foam from overflowing. Beerlao has a medium head that collapses quickly, especially when ice sits in the glass. Dark beer is best poured without ice, so the roasted aromas remain intact.