Good ales in Bali?

no.idea

The best I can offer is the 4 cartons of Kilkenny I have at my place. You are welcome to call around and partake of a few at any time. I will share by smoked marlin and blue vein cheese. (I will also share the rollmops but do not tell Markit The Cave Man) As well as the Anker Stout you can get cans of Panther Stout and also the Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. Failing that just call through for a beer. I am in the southern section of Sanur. The draught beer is a hassle to set up in existing bars because of the room that the equipment takes up. Also, the amount of loss is considerable because the workers can not quite get the concept of pouring drinks. Stark Brewery in Lovina turn out a few interesting beers.

mugwump

Was in Carrefour today and recalling your question checked out the stout section, and found several brands, but no Kilkenny. The stock they had were available by the case so you should have a decent quantity to access. Don't know if this is of help, because it is a type of brew I don't drink. Good Luck.

KCOJ

no.idea wroteThe best I can offer is the 4 cartons of Kilkenny I have at my place. You are welcome to call around and partake of a few at any time.

Your offer may be in jest but I’ve sent you a pm to keep you honest. Thanks for the tip on Stark … I'd suggest that wheat beers are an acquired taste, unfortunately not one of mine.

KCOJ

mugwump wroteWas in Carrefour today and recalling your question checked out the stout section, and found several brands, but no Kilkenny.

Thanks mugwump, I visited Carrefour a couple of weeks ago and you’re right they do have a couple of ales. Picked up a case of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout in the big bottles … never been a big fan of bottled Guinness (too gassy for my taste) but these were surprisingly drinkable. Seems it’s brewed locally by Heineken … go figure. Also available was Anker Stout as well as a couple of Erdinger labels but these were at truly ridiculous prices. Does anyone know, am I right in assuming that the lack of say, any English ales, is due to high Indonesian tariffs?

Markit

KCOJ wroteDoes anyone know, am I right in assuming that the lack of say, any English ales, is due to high Indonesian tariffs?

Nope, it's due to crappy English ales which IMHO are undrinkable by any "normal" standards. Any beer that's best served room temperature is a clear waste of bottling.

SamD

KCOJ wroteT Does anyone know, am I right in assuming that the lack of say, any English ales, is due to high Indonesian tariffs?

Why would anybody expect, when they come to Bali, that there would be English ales for sale everywhere? Would you go into a pub in Newcastle and ask for a Bintang and be surprised that there wasn't any? Would you be asking the locals why there were no Indonesian beers available? Get real.

KCOJ

SamD wroteWhy would anybody expect, when they come to Bali, that there would be English ales for sale everywhere? Would you go into a pub in Newcastle and ask for a Bintang and be surprised that there wasn't any? Would you be asking the locals why there were no Indonesian beers available? Get real.

Whoa, that’s a little narky. This is not a case of some dickhead moving to a new country and wanting everything to be like back home. I don’t “expect” anything. I was simply asking, is the reason for so few imported beers due to high Indonesian tariffs? Maybe you haven’t traveled much, but in every other Asian country that I’ve either lived in or visited you can nearly always find a few non-local labels. You’re right that I probably wouldn’t find Bintang in a Newcastle pub, but I could certainly buy a pint of Fosters there or for that matter a bottle of Bintang in Brisbane. Anyway, as I’ve said my preference is for ales rather than lagers, so if you’d like to “get real” together over a few pints of Kilkenny in Sanur or elsewhere sometime I’d be happy to oblige :icon_wink:

SamD

KCOJ wroteWhoa, that’s a little narky. This is not a case of some dickhead moving to a new country and wanting everything to be like back home. I don’t “expect” anything. I was simply asking, is the reason for so few imported beers due to high Indonesian tariffs? Maybe you haven’t traveled much, but in every other Asian country that I’ve either lived in or visited you can nearly always find a few non-local labels. You’re right that I probably wouldn’t find Bintang in a Newcastle pub, but I could certainly buy a pint of Fosters there or for that matter a bottle of Bintang in Brisbane. Anyway, as I’ve said my preference is for ales rather than lagers, so if you’d like to “get real” together over a few pints of Kilkenny in Sanur or elsewhere sometime I’d be happy to oblige :icon_wink:

OK, sorry if I sounded rude. Can't take you up on your offer this year unfortunately. Doing the big trip back to Scotland in two weeks after a nine year absence. The kids are excited, but I'd rather be going to Bali as we usually do. I'll console myself by having a few pints of local ale, I won't be looking for Bintang or, heaven forbid, Fosters! Sam [ATTACH]2451.vB[/ATTACH]

Nydave

Im not sure if Guinness qualifies as an ale,maybe it is maybe not but you did mention it in your last post,honestly I have never seen draught Guinness in the sanur area,again I could be wrong,however a couple of years ago I bought some bottles of Guinness in the supermarket ,took it home and tried it,it was awful,im actually Irish and I have a good taste for Guinness but I can tell you that what I got in no way resembles Guinness from either Europe or the Usa,I couldn't drink it,it says something on the label about being an export quality or something like that,again not sure ,but it would be interesting to try some on draught if its available so do keep us posted if you find it,i also think it would be heavy a beer for the hot climate,many of my long time Guinness drinking friends back in Ireland will not drink it if the weather is hot,not that it gets hot too often in Ireland,

KCOJ

SamD wroteOK, sorry if I sounded rude. Can't take you up on your offer this year unfortunately. Doing the big trip back to Scotland in two weeks after a nine year absence

No worries Sam. Enjoy your trip and maybe you can pick up a case of Belhaven while you’re there and drop into Bali on your way home

ronb

The terminology confuses me. I would always call Guinness a stout. Here, you can get Anker which is I enjoy, but usually I go back to Bintangs. You talk of ale, but I get the impression you mean mostly brown ale. Being an Aussie I quite like Coopers which is pale.

KCOJ

Nydave wrote I have never seen draught Guinness in the sanur area,again I could be wrong,however a couple of years ago I bought some bottles of Guinness in the supermarket ,took it home and tried it,it was awful,im actually Irish and I have a good taste for Guinness but I can tell you that what I got in no way resembles Guinness from either Europe or the Usa,I couldn't drink it,it says something on the label about being an export quality or something like that,again not sure ,but it would be interesting to try some on draught if its available so do keep us posted if you find it

Yes Nydave, I also haven’t spotted any draught Guinness, which is odd as in Jakarta most of the places that serve Kilkenny also have a tap for Guinness alongside. Your comments as an Irishman on the bottled Guinness available here are well made, maybe because the stuff that’s sold here is in fact brewed locally by Heineken. It’s certainly not too smart but still beats bottles of Anker Stout although maybe that’s setting a pretty low bar. Will let you know if I find any draught.

davita

Both you guys have bamboozled me...I always thought Guiness was lunch or dinner...depending on what time of day it was chewed.

davita

There's a renovated Italian pub/resto (Il Buku?) just opened on Jl Semer, Kerobokan, about a Km back from Plumbers Arms towards Jl Kerobokan, which advertises Kilkenny.... and the Capt Cook pub, also on Semer, is waiting for it to be installed...according to the new Ozzie owner.

Nydave

Yes Davita I agree with you,in my younger days back in Ireland the bars had strange opening hours on a sunday,they opened at 12 noon,closed at 2pm,reopened at 4pm and closed at 10pm,many of my friends would be waiting for the noon opening and drink down as many pints of Guinness as possible in the 2 hours,then go home and eat dinner,now that might sound strange calling it dinner in the middle of the day but that's how it was back then,anyway I could never do that because if I drank a couple of pints of Guinness there is no way I could possibly eat for hours after it,so I just settled for the Guinness and ate later in the evening like at proper dinner time,for me its a very filling drink,but that's just me,

davita

I lived in UK in those dark days and can understand your post with clarity...except where I came from it was 'brown and mild' or 'pint of bitter'. Same principle.... drink as if life depended on consuming as much as possible before 2 pm and last orders, then kill or be killed by drunk drivers. Queen (or should it have been King) Maggie Thatcher changed all that.

KCOJ

ronb wroteThe terminology confuses me. I would always call Guinness a stout. Here, you can get Anker which is I enjoy, but usually I go back to Bintangs. You talk of ale, but I get the impression you mean mostly brown ale. Being an Aussie I quite like Coopers which is pale.

Sorry for any confusion Ron. My understanding of the formal distinction has always been that ales are brewed with a top-fermenting yeast while lagers with bottom-fermenting yeasts. Of course there are so many different styles of each it’s hard to generalize taste-wise, but I’d say lagers have a very crisp and clean quality to them whereas ales tend in taste to be stronger and more pronounced or complex. That said, there's nothing too complex about Anker. So of the beers you mention, you’re correct that Guinness and Anker are both stouts which are a type of ale. Coopers, both pale and sparkling are also ales. Whereas Bintang is most definitely a lager. Hope that helps to clarify what I meant without sounding like a total beer-nob. Personally I think these sorts of weighty conversations are best had following 6-7 pints of either.

KCOJ

davita wroteThere's a renovated Italian pub/resto (Il Buku?) just opened on Jl Semer, Kerobokan, about a Km back from Plumbers Arms towards Jl Kerobokan, which advertises Kilkenny.... and the Capt Cook pub, also on Semer, is waiting for it to be installed...according to the new Ozzie owner.

Good man davita, those are both new to me so I shall take a look, thanks.

ronb

KCOJ wroteSorry for any confusion Ron. My understanding of the formal distinction has always been that ales are brewed with a top-fermenting yeast while lagers with bottom-fermenting yeasts. Of course there are so many different styles of each it’s hard to generalize taste-wise, but I’d say lagers have a very crisp and clean quality to them whereas ales tend in taste to be stronger and more pronounced or complex. That said, there's nothing too complex about Anker. So of the beers you mention, you’re correct that Guinness and Anker are both stouts which are a type of ale. Coopers, both pale and sparkling are also ales. Whereas Bintang is most definitely a lager. Hope that helps to clarify what I meant without sounding like a total beer-nob. Personally I think these sorts of weighty conversations are best had following 6-7 pints of either.

Thanks for your patient and informative response. You've got me interested to try again the local ones (Anker and Guinness). I note that wiki says

In Indonesia, Guinness is brewed to 4.9% ABV by PT Multi Bintang (a subsidiary of Asia Pacific Breweries), and is distributed by PT Dima Indonesia.

. I guess the 4.9% is because Indonesia treats over 5% differently. I recall that some people here are very disparaging about the local Guinness - but at least it's affordable.

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