41. Singha Beer

Smoothness 2
Cost 4
Piss-Factor 3
Aftertaste 4
Coolness 3

So far this has been one of the most disappointing beers I’ve drank since leaving the UK. We had been exploring Darling Harbour which is a recently regenerated area of docklands west of the CBD. Millions of dollars have been spent on the area in the last 20 years resulting in derelict land become prime waterfront real estates.

There are loads of areas of interest in this neck of the woods and it’s only about 10 minutes walk from the Harbour Bridge. Any guide book will tell you about the Casino, the Aquarium, the Conference Centre and the Maritime Museum be we were primarily there for the cafes and bars that line the east side of the harbour.

It was a scorcher of a day and our tans were coming along nicely despite factor 30, hats, t-shirts and sun glasses (as is the recommendation of the Australian Government – the only thing we were missing from the “5 Ways to Protect Your Skin” campaign was the umbrellas but I couldn’t bring myself to use one in the sun. It would make me feel too much like I was back in Scotland waiting for the next downpour. Actually, the use of the word “next” implies that there is some let-up in the rain, which there isn’t!).

Anyway, we wandered round the whole harbour and as it reached 1pm and the sun was getting too hot to bare we thought that some lunch and some beer was in order. After much deliberation, it was declared that Thai food was not ideal in this weather but we were enjoying it so much of late that it won hands down against the competition. “I Thai” was the name of where we ended up and the food was absolutely fantastic.

Since leaving home I’d put it out of my head that Thai food is full of coconut milk and oil and, instead was viewing it as a healthy option to Chinese and Indian – which it isn’t really, especially if you are eating tons of red and green curry every week. But that didn’t put me off and to go with the meal I chose Singha Beer which I’d never had before.

I guess I always feel that beers from Asia are always going to be good because they are quite rare at home and if you are drinking them then you are either on a night out where you are flush with cash or you are on holiday. So you can imagine how upset I was when I took my first mouthful and after the initial joy of cold-beer-on-a-hot-day had faded I was left with a bitter and acidic aftertaste – which didn’t go away despite eating Thai Red Curry! However, in its favour it is almost 6% and I had a nice little head buzz as we settled the bill and went off to scour the harbour further.