As a Wisconsinite I feel obligated to love three things: Beer, Dairy Products, and the Green Bay Packers. Because of these three things, my time in Kazakhstan has been tough.
I did not see one single Packer football game in the 2009 season. This season I was fortunate to have attended a preseason game in Lambeau this summer. I streamed a Monday night game, two play-off games and the Superbowl. That’s five games of twenty-four and I consider myself lucky.
As for dairy products in Kazakhstan, they are subpar. The milk is especially yucky. I never imagined that milk could taste so bad and often wonder what they do to it (or to the cows).
The beer here is a different story all together. It’s not that Kazakh beer is bad. It’s not that I can’t get a variety of beers here. It’s that I come from Central Wisconsin and my standards are so great.
I have tasted beer from over two dozen lands. I have been to Germany twice. I have drank hundreds of varieties of beer in my life and let me tell you, nothing compares to Central Wisconsin Beer!
It’s an art form really. Take the deep rich flavor of Central Waters Mud Puppy Porter. The thick flavor hits my mouth like a deep, cold, river of dark chocolate. Satin Solstice Imperial Stout, also from Amherst Wisconsin, hits you like a liquid coffee bean; strong and creamy.
New Glarus Road Slush is bitter and sweet at the same time. The tastes of Oatmeal and Mocha hit your mouth in perfect harmony.
Even Plover’s own Oso’s Night Train is a force to be reckoned with. It’s flavor is complex; smoky and bitter but, oh, so pleasant.
By now you’ve figured out what kind of beer-man I am. I need the darkest and richest blends that most would find "too strong". But outside of Central Wisconsin I have never found such a blend.
Even living as far as I could possibly get from my hometown, two Wisconsin beers can be found a hundred yards from my apartment. The little store under my complex sells two Miller products, MGD and Miller Midnight (A beer unheard of in The States). Miller midnight is one of my favorites here, but it does not come close to satisfying the hunger I have for amazing Stouts and Porters.
So what could moving to China possibly do to aid me in my cause? How could alcohol brewed in Asia come close to matching the Germanic rooted beers of Central Wisconsin? Surprisingly there is an answer. While my father’s grandparents were leaving Germany for the States in the early 20th century, other German’s were fleeing to China!
Tsingtao Beer is China’s largest brewery and claims 15% of its market. Men with names such as Jurgen and Heinrich founded the company about one-hundred years ago and it has been a national treasure ever since. The beer has been seen in many films. Harrison Ford’s character, Deckard, was seen sipping the beverage in the futuristic world of Blade Runner. Even Clint Eastwood tasted the drink in Gran Torino.
Most of Tsingtao’s beers are Pilsner’s (good, but not what I’ve been looking for), however one variety known as Tsingtao Dark Beer promises the taste of the stouts and porters that I’ve been missing.
I look forward to the day that I can sit in a Chinese bar and toast my neighbors with the phrase “To Booze and Friends!”, but moreover I yearn to be home, sitting on a barstool in Guus, sucking down a tall glass of Mud Puppy Porter.
The big ship here in Shekou, the Minghua, is also a german micro-brewery and has some good dark brews. One teacher who doesn't like beer at all came up with a way to remember Tsingtao - This Shit Is No Good Try Another One. The regular Tsingtao is like a Baltika but I have heard the other ones are pretty good. I am actually going to be in the city of Tsingtao next week, and will be sure to report back on the varieties.
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