Beer Ranking: Pearl River Delta

May 18: From the Park 'N Shop Supercenter at Marina Square South Horizons, the Pearl River brand is available in three options (from left to right, cheapest to most expensive): 1. Pearl River Lager Beer (635 ml, green label, $5.90HK). 2. Pearl River Lager Beer (635 ml, gold label, $6.90HK). 3. Pearl River Draft Beer (600 ml, also lager, $7.50HK).

Here’s a little history of the beer, courtesy of Guangzhou Zhuiang Brewery Group. The company “was established in 1985 and is a large state-owned enterprise which is deals mainly in beer and its relative products such as label, carton, crate, etc. The group is national civilization enterprise and friendly environment enterprise. Now, with the capacity of 15 million heliolater, the group is the biggest wine making center in the whole world. Zhujiang beer is one of three national beer brands and in the second places of the national brands sale, and underling its national leadership status in brewers as ‘Zhujiang Brewery at South’.”

Some of those sentences don’t make sense. “National civilization enterprise”? What? Whoever is writing their copy (or translating the text) has been spending WAY TOO much time with the brewmeister. And I have doubts about the “biggest wine making center in the whole world” claim. However, I’ll put faith in the company’s claim to be #2 of three national beer brands. Pearl River beer is, after all, dirt cheap (although not the cheapest).

I’m no beer expert, and my ranking is far from scientific. I decide to start with the middle-priced beer (#2) and then go to the most expensive (#3) before finishing with the cheapest (#1).

Pearl River Lager Beer (635 ml, gold label, $6.90HK): I like it. Very okay. But something is uneven about it.

Pearl River Draft Beer (600 ml, also lager, $7.50HK). I like it better. More smooth. Puts Budweiser’s Natural Light and Milwaukee’s Best to shame. Maybe comparable to Rolling Rock, the cheap pilsner equivalent in the States, but this is a much better bargain.

Pearl River Lager Beer (635 ml, green label, $5.90HK). No 3. It’s less expensive than the $7.50HK draft beer, but it tastes the same. And my desensitized taste buds don’t taste any of the funny flavor from the gold label (Here’s where my science is falling apart. I should have opened all three beers simultaneously to compare flavor, but I didn’t want them to get warm while I drank).

The verdict. Buy Pearl River Draft Beer (600 ml, also lager, $7.50HK) if you are most concerned with taste and your only option is the economical Pearl River brand. HOWEVER, if you want to drink more than one beer, you might as well buy the green-labeled Pearl River Lager Beer. It’s bigger, and if you buy three, it’s the same price as buying two of the more expensive draft beer (Still, for good cheap beer, I prefer the cheaper versions of Tsingtao).

GA YAU, YUM BEH JAU!

加 油 飲 啤 酒!