Beer Lao is one of the best, if not the best beer in Asia - that's what all expatriates say who live in Laos. Beer Lao comes in large bottles that sell for well under $US1. Drink it cold, and enjoy.
– Just a little self-promoting Laos restaurant guide and travel info
Having just returned from a week in New York, the fridge is about as empty as it's been since I moved into my wee apartment. Off to the grocery store for staples (milk, OJ, wine), a glance at the store's beer fridge stopped me. In the middle of an eye-level shelf, almost unseen behind the border of the two doors of the fridge, were bottles of Beer Lao, the official and surprisingly tasty brew of the Lao PDR (People's Democratic Republic).
Claudia spent a few weeks in Laos, and it was one of the best parts of her trip. She told me many a time that Beer Lao was good, quite good, amazingly good. Asian lagers on the whole – Tiger, Tsingtao, Singha, Chang, Lhasa, Angkor and such – are all pretty good, but the taste of each is about the same. Beer Lao, however, has some body to it, a bit of oomph. It's also not as bitter as the others, and just has this flavor undercurrent that's got some strength, but isn't bitter, and is nearly sweet, but not quite... it's just right. I'd try to come up with other ways to describe the taste, but that's just lame and pretentious.
Beer Lao is good. If I had to pick one Southeast Asian beer to knock back during some hot-as-balls, sweat-rolling-off-you Bangkok night (or in this case, Vientiane), I'd pick Beer Lao.
Go buy a bottle and broaden your cultural horizons. Can't find Beer Lao in your town? Come to Eugene and buy one – or better yet, really broaden your horizons, and go to SE Asia for a while. But that's another post, and I want another swig of this fine beer.
