Taiwan Beer
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Taiwan Beer (, or ) is a large-market beer brewed by the
Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL; ), is a state-owned manufacturer and distributor of cigarettes and alcohol, and also formerly (until 2002) a state-sanctioned alcohol beverage brewing and retailing monopoly, in Taiwan. Its most famo ...
(TTL). The brand, an icon of
Taiwanese culture The culture of Taiwan is a blend of Confucian Chinese and indigenous Taiwanese cultures. Despite the overwhelming traditional Chinese influence, Japanese culture has influenced Taiwanese culture as well. The common socio-political experience in ...
, is the best-selling
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
in the country.


History

The company today known as TTL, had its origins in a government agency established by its Japanese colonial rulers in 1901. The Monopoly Bureau of the Taiwan Governor's Office effectively controlled the production and sales of all
liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...
and
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
in Taiwan as well as monopolizing its
opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
,
salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
and
camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...
. In 1922, the Monopoly Bureau began brewing Takasago Beer through the Takasago Malted Beer Company producing
light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...
and
dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...
varieties. The price of Takasago Beer varied widely over the course of its manufacture, depending on the availability of imported Japanese beers in Taiwan and on the contingencies of the economy. As
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
reached its conclusion in the 1940s, matches,
petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
, and standard weights and measures also came under the Monopoly Bureau's authority. After the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the incoming
Chinese Nationalists The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Taiw ...
preserved the monopoly system for alcohol and tobacco. Production of beer was assigned in 1945 to the Taiwan Provincial Monopoly Bureau. The name Taiwan Beer was adopted in 1946. The following year, production of the beer was assigned to the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau. In the 1960s locally produced was added to the
fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
process, resulting in the distinctive local flavour for which the beer is known today. Taiwan entered its modern period of a pluralistic
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
in the 1990s. Free trade and open markets became priorities as Taiwan prepared for admission to the
World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
(WTO) in 2002. Laws went into force that year that opened Taiwan's market to competing products. On
2002-07-01 The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...
the Monopoly Bureau passed into history. Its successor, the
Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL; ), is a state-owned manufacturer and distributor of cigarettes and alcohol, and also formerly (until 2002) a state-sanctioned alcohol beverage brewing and retailing monopoly, in Taiwan. Its most famo ...
, is a publicly owned company that competes in the marketplace. TTL introduced a new brew, Taiwan Beer Gold Medal, by the end of its first year. Since then, the product line has expanded to include Taiwan Beer Draft (a lager for restaurant sales), two malt beers under the Mine label (Amber and Dark), and four fruit-flavoured beers. Taiwan Beer remains the island's best-selling
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
brand and is one of the most recognised brands in Taiwan's business world.


Beer

Taiwan Beer is an amber
lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
with a distinct taste produced by the addition of locally produced ''ponlai''
rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
("Formosa rice" 蓬萊米) during the
fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
process. Like all large-market beers, the original Taiwan Beer brew is filtered and pasteurised. It is served cold and best complements
Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...
and
Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and other ...
, especially
seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
dishes such as
sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...
and
sashimi is a Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means "pierced body", i.e. "刺身" = ''sashimi'', where 刺 し = ''sashi'' (pierced, stuck) ...
. Taiwan Beer has won international awards, including the International
Monde Selection Monde Selection is an annual non-competitive award open to food, drinks, and cosmetics products, created in 1961. It is run by the commercial company, International Institute for Quality Selections, Brussels, Belgium. Consumer products are tasted a ...
in 1997 and the Brewing Industry International Awards in 2002. Taiwan Beer is mass-produced at the Taiwan Beer Factory in
Wuri District Wuri District () is a suburban district in southern Taichung, Taiwan. Both of the two north–south freeways (National Freeway 1 and National Freeway 3) pass through Wuri. Wuri is also home to a large military training centre, Chengkungling, as w ...
,
Taichung City Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Tai ...
. It is also brewed on site at the Taiwan Beer Bar in
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
. Three lager-style brews bear the label Taiwan Beer. The ''Original'' brew is sold in brown bottles with a cream-coloured label and in white cans bearing a blue and green design. The ''Gold Medal'' brew, introduced in April 2003, is sold in green bottles and cans that reproduce the white, red and green label seen on the bottle. ''Original'' Taiwan beer is 4.5% and ''Gold'' is 5% by volume and are regularly seen in Taiwan's convenience and grocery stores. The newest lager, Taiwan Beer ''18 days'', bears a signature solid green bottle with no paper label; was sold in cans at a later date. Draft appears most often in bars and restaurants, where it is available on tap or from refrigerators. The brew, designed to be sold fresh, is less often seen in stores due to its expiration just 18 days after production. In 2013 more stores began to stock the brew as ads and labels trumpeted its early expiration date. Taiwan Beer began selling a malt brew in 2008 bearing the ''Mine'' label. Brisk sales of Mine, an amber, led to the introduction of ''Mine Dark'' two years later. Mine malts are 5% alcohol by volume. Both malts are regularly stocked in Taiwan convenience stores. Bottles wear paper labels whose designs are repeated on cans. Mine sales have reportedly fallen since the launch of the new summer fruit beer brews. In 2012 Taiwan Beer introduced two new brews with tropical fruit flavours added:
mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...
and
pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...
. With 2.8% alcohol content and sweeter flavour, these proved popular with summer drinkers. Two new flavours,
grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...
and
orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
, were introduced to the line in 2013. The fruit-enhanced brews, like all Taiwan Beer brews, are made available in bottles or cans. With the increasing popularity of
wheat beer Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...
such as Kronenbourg Blanc and
Hoegaarden Hoegaarden () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Hoegaarden proper, Meldert and Outgaarden. On January 1, 2006, Hoegaarden had a tota ...
in Taiwan, Taiwan Beer launched a wheat beer of their own, Taiwan Weissbier Draft, in late 2013. It is sold in 600ml bottles and 330ml cans in most convenience stores.


Culture

The iconic status of the Taiwan Beer brand in Taiwanese society is reinforced by TTL marketing strategies. Ads feature celebrity endorsements by popular Taiwanese figures such as
A-Mei Kulilay Amit (, born 9 August 1972), better known by her stage name A-Mei, is a Taiwanese Puyuma singer and record producer. In 1996, she made her singing debut and released her album, ''Sisters''. Her albums ''Truth'' (2001), ''Amit'' (2009), ...
. A
basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
named ''Taiwan Beer'', popularly nicknamed 'The Brew Crew,' is sponsored by the company. The Taiwan Beer Bar and Beer Garden is a popular
restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
/
brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...
in
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
. Restaurants and nightspots are also proliferating at the Taiwan Beer Factory in
Wuri District Wuri District () is a suburban district in southern Taichung, Taiwan. Both of the two north–south freeways (National Freeway 1 and National Freeway 3) pass through Wuri. Wuri is also home to a large military training centre, Chengkungling, as w ...
,
Taichung City Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Tai ...
. The Factory, near the Wujih station of the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the high-speed railway of Taiwan consisting of one line that runs approximately along the west coast, from the capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. With construction and operations managed by a pri ...
, is the site of an annual Taiwan Beer Festival (台灣啤酒節, ''Táiwān Píjiǔjié'') held every summer.


Competition

Taiwan Beer leads its namesake market. Its main large-market competitor is Long Chuan, owned by the Taiwan Tsing Beer Corporation and brewed in
Kaohsiung City Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiu ...
. Long Chuan launched a range of fruit beers in 2012.
Microbrew Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
s, handcrafted beers and other limited-distribution beers represent a separate category. Leading Taiwan artisan beers include Three Giants Brewing Company (巨人啤酒) with a range of Lagers, Pale Ales, IPA's, Wheat Beer and Dark Lager, Redpoint Brewing, which produced the island's first
IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners ...
called 台PA, Formosa Bird Beer and Lychee Beer (both by North Taiwan Brewing) along with the house brews served in two locally owned restaurant chains, Jolly Brewery and Restaurant (operated by Great Reliance Food & Beverage) and Le ble d'or.


References


Bibliography


Lin, Jackie. "Beer fight is about politics: TTL." ''Taipei Times'', 2004-07-02."2008 Taiwan Beer Festival." ''Taipei Times'', 2008-08-01.


External links


Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL) - Official SiteTaiwan Beer - Ads and Features (YouTube)
{{Taiwanese cuisine Beer in Taiwan Taiwanese brands