Singha, Pete’s Strawberry Blonde, and Henry Weinhard’s Blonde

I went camping over the weekend, and brought an assortment to sample. In order:

Singha: Tried this one because, well, I was curious. Expectations were low. Expected a somewhat boring, not-very-fresh-tasting-considering-it-came-from-Thailand lager, and that’s what I got. Not bad, not something I’d turn down. Just unlike some of the finer Belgians, not worth getting on a plane and traveling for. Or even driving to the liquor store for, for that matter.

Pete’s Wicked Strawberry Blonde Lager: I didn’t read the label before I tried this, and first thing I noticed was that it smelled, and tasted, like real strawberries. So I looked at the label. Duh. It’s called Strawberry Blonde not for its color, but because it’s flavored with actual strawberries. Seems kind of gimmicky, but it actually tasted pretty good. One of those like Raspberry Wheat from Wasatch that isn’t particularly manly, but if you drink beer for fun and not for what it says about you, this one is good once in a while. I’d get sick of it every day, but it was good.

Henry Weinhard’s Blonde Lager: Nothing spectacular about this beer, but nothing not to like either. Weinhard’s used to sort of be a regional craft brewer, but they couldn’t hold market share against the big brands and were eventually sold to SABMiller. The original Portland brewery remained in operation for a while, then was closed, with production moved to the Olympia brewer. Since its closure in 2003, Weinhard’s is now brewed under contract by Full Sail.

The thing I like about Weinhard’s (and Full Sail for that matter), is that they are quality beers at a great price. Weinhard’s sells for about a buck a bottle at the liquor store, a few cents less than Full Sail. They’re not knock-your-socks-off good like Epic’s Sour Apple Saison, but I can’t afford $7 a bottle beer every day, either.

As far as every day beers go, they taste great. There’s nothing spectacular about this blonde lager, it just goes down easy and has plenty of flavor. And the price is on par with Budweiser. That combination is hard to beat, and that makes this an awesome beer.