Tag Archives: Guinness Anchor Berhad

Kirin launches

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Japanese lager Kirin has hit our shores officially, via GAB.

Good mix

Good mix

The launch party was awesome. And huge, taking place at Zebra Square in the city.

Party kicked off just before sunset about 7pm, the best time to start drinks.

Some welcome thing goin on

Some welcome thing goin on

There was Japanese cuisine awaiting guests as soon as we stepped in, with an outdoor BBQ goin on. A friend passed me some yakitori (meat & seafood), which went well with the beer.

 

Keep 'em comin buddy!

Keep ’em comin buddy!

The main party was actually indoors. The set-up was like a mini food street, with lil stalls serving up good Japanese stuff. Swallowed them all, ‘cept some green tea dessert shit.

Bumped into the bartender that kept us happy during my last event at Zebra Square. He did a super job this time too.

The Japanese ambassador launched it in front of about 400 guests.

Party goin on

Party goin on

We enjoyed Kirin from bottles all night. The beer is 100% malt, as many beers are. This means it’s all-barley malt, with are no adjuncts like rice or corn. Some brewers like Budweiser add those to help the beer taste lighter, and coz it’s cheaper.

However Kirin Breweries (which was established in 1869) uses only the first-press of the filtered malt, which means the malt mash is filtered only once, then the wort sent to fermentation. The first-press is usually lighter, so this makes the beer taste lighter as well. Dont panic coz alcohol content is the same at 5%.

Easy

Easy

I’d put this down as a pale lager / pilsner. Characteristics of Kirin – light start, quiet finish, no lingering taste, medium-high carbonation. Bitterness is minimal. I’d say it’s a beer you can enjoy at anytime with most meals. Breakfast included of course. Goes down easy.

There was a limited amount of Kirin draught available, which was enjoyable. Smooth.

I do think they should drop the ”ichiban” for the export market, coz itchy bun means something else in English. Cracked us up each time the MC said it! Doesn’t sound cool. I overheard some trade guys near me sayin sumtin about itchy bawah.

Kirin Ichiban Launch Event 22

I’ve always thought GAB needs a wider portfolio. As for bringing in Kirin (they have a 5-year deal), it would be facing-off with (and is probably a reaction to) Asahi from Carlsberg (CMB). Which has years’ head-start.

An advantage GAB has is CMB has done all the groundwork as far as making Malaysians try Japanese beer. So the consumer-education spend and effort will be a lot less.

However, CMB now brews Asahi here, so they price it reasonably. GAB does not have that advantage yet.

Look out for Kirin at bars and supermarkets in Peninsular Malaysia. It’s available in bottles and cans. and possibly draught in the second half of the year.

 

Brain damage: 7.5/10

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Drinking-assist app

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GAB recently launched an app called the Drink Sensibly mobile app (DS), aimed at givin’ drinkers access to info and resources to help them party safely.

The session took place at brewery’s The Tavern.

Sober chicks

The app has six features:
A Drinks-Calculator: Helps u keep track of standard drinks consumed
MyTeksi: Enables u to book a cab through the mobile phone via MyTeksi
Dial an Angel: Connects one to their “angels”  – buddies
Dial a Cabbie: Provides a list of telephone numbers of cab providers across Malaysia
DS Tips: Helps u to drink sensibly
DS website: Direct link to DS website which provides a host of Drink Sensibly information

However, it’s restricted to those above 18 and non-Muslims. Not sure why.

The app is meant to be an assistant of sorts. If ur too high, (and assuming you drive a vehicle) it connects you to others who might be able to drive you – friends or cabs. There’ re also some drinking tips.

The Drinks Calculator is just a calculator – u enter how many drinks u’ve had, and it tells u how many hours it will take your body to process them (1 drink = 1 hour. 10 drinks = 10 hours).

 

The goods

The goods

Personally i would find it useful if it had an interactive system. By which i mean that when u start drinking, u add one unit into the app calculator each time u consume one unit of alcohol. (Your liver can clear out one unit of alcohol per hour. So if u have one drink an hour, u cant get drunk.)

The calculator should be ‘live’, and time should run when you start drinking. So that when you stop, the app can tell you not only how many drinks u’ve had, but how much time has elapsed too, which means it would be able tell your BAC (blood alcohol content).

Which in turn, will tell u if you’re below or above the legal limit to drive. Then i would consider using it.

Besides, it’s near impossible to know how many drinks u’ve had after number seven.

If u want more info about drink-driving (how to handle it, the law on it, etc), i wrote about this before, here.

There seems to be a glitch when using it on mobile phones at the mo. To find it, search for DSApp.

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Arthur’s Day is back

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Yup, dats coz it happens every year.

The Guinness-inspired party kicked off Thursday at Studio Lounge in Tropicana City Mall. There wuz a cool rig parked outside.

I spent considerable time up in Arthur’s Lounge

I wonder why

This year, there are smaller gigs all over the place, and not just one large one. The full list of events can be found right here.

GAB has been pretty quiet all year.

Fixed myself the first one

The party is on from Aug 23 to Sept 30, at 11,000 bars across the country, with 600 parties lined-up. The giveaway this year are Guinness pens; look out for drink promos every Thursday too.

Ready to launch

Launch

Bison & Kenny practice their pouring at the awesome lounge

GAB Ambassadors Keith & Ben

To Arthur!

Have a great September yall!

 

Brain damage: 8/10

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Beer diva??

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Thats right. A lady who calls herself the Beer Diva made an appearance one morning at The Tavern on GAB’s premises.

To be frank, i laughed when i got the mail invitation, like how people laugh when i say i wanna be a celebrity alco.

Not for the glamour u see, more for the perks.

One day, like the diva, maybe I could be givin talks n presentations n shit. And they could pay me in alcohol.

Hmm..

Kirrily Waldhorn is a consultant, especially for beer-food pairing in Australia. She gave a short presentation about beer basics, followed by a funny video, then some food + beer.

Since this was a morning event, had to start it right

Happy diva

We didnt go into much detail with the food pairing. Lagers, being light-tasting n bland (and sometimes boring… in my opinion anyway), tend to go well with seafood.

Lager + fish fingers

An interesting team that worked is Guinness with dessert, ie choco cake.

Decent mix

It ended with that, and then we continued drinking.

I think dry, robust malts would go with sweet shit. A simple way to figure is the general rule, if thinking like wine – regard lagers like white wine, and ales as red wine. Thus, red meat would go better with ales, tho we’re unfortunately low on choices when it comes to ales (like porters, IPAs, bocks). Lagers are crisp n delicate, ales are robust and sometimes fruity.

Some say the beer-food should complement each other, while others say contrast. That’s a tough one. I’d usually go for complement, coz i cant imagine cake with lager! *Vomit* Or stout with prawns.

‘Beer experts’ advocate stronger and fruitier flavors (like wheat beers) when dining on spicy fare.

Then again, u can be experimental. In fact, u could also pair food with your DIY beer cocktails. Like Cili Haram, a spicy drink dat goes well with sumtin salty n fried. Or even creamy, for contrast, like Sid’s kick-ass blue cheese shrooms.

Speaking of GAB, it had a Christmas party recently for the Guinness brand, which went down in Malone’s, KL Sentral. There was turkey too!

Merry Guinness was launched, a nationwide campaign for December, with special events (54 of them) and collectibles: an ol skool Guinness glass.

Spot the turkey(s)

U can get it free with every six pints of draft or a bucket of FES (Foreign Extra Stout, bottles). There’re two designs, based on the acclaimed Guinness ads of 1938 & 1955, which featured illustrations by John Gilroy.

U know the hornbill on Guinness merchandise? Its actually a toucan, native to the Americas. I got him on my pillowcase.

Up for grabs

December’s gonna be heavy, as usual!

How's this for a vintage ad?? Luv d wheels!

Kirrily Waldhorn

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