Tuesday Brews Day: Phuket Beer

Wooweee! After a cold rain spell the weather kicked up to 80+ last week. And now I’m wondering why I always start this segment with the weather conditions? Guess they call that pillow talk. Foreplay shmoreplay…let’s get some beer.

Today we’re looking at a Thai beer called Phuket. Yup. It’s name is derived from a southern island in Thailand. I can almost hear Ghost Rider checking my geography right now. 🙂

Laziest island in the world?

Although the beer originates from Thailand I was surprised to find that the ingredients and hops are actually imported from Germany. I suppose there isn’t much room for hop or barley farms on that small island is there?

I acquired this rare gem-of-a-blond in a “Beers of the World” pack that my sister gave to me. Okay, someone got me one of these last year and I found one, I repeat, one good beer out of 10(the rest I poured down the drain while covering my eyes)! Not very good odds. The others were horrid so I was doubtful, to say the least. Luckily, my brew reviewing buddy just took a trip to Thailand and mentioned this one so I decided to take my chances.  The drain was close by in case of emergency.

Cuz Phuket…that’s why

This brew tastes of crisp barley and ends with a mellow and clean finish. The body is very light, as expected from a blond. This is a simple brew and aside from the barley there really isn’t much going on. But great things often come in the guise of simplicity, which is most definitely the case here. This brew doesn’t have fruit, chocolate, or nut flavors but it sticks with the clean barley flavor and pulls it off admirably. Lots of blond beers have a habit of ending up bland or skunky. I was expecting the latter here due to the green bottle(brown bottles tend to be used more as they keep out sunlight and, in turn, keep beer fresher).  Not so. Phuket is smooth, crisp, and clean. This one would go absolutely perfect with a summer lunch or BBQ. Phuket…a rare blond that separates itself from the boring norm with a little thing called quality. That quality stuff sure tastes good!