62. Halida

Halida

Company info:
South East Asia Brewery Ltd
(Under the supervision of Carlsburg)
Hanoi, VIETNAM

[No website listed]

Bottle size sampled: 330 mL

Alcohol: 4.5%
Standard drinks: 1.2

Cap type: Non-twist

Cost: I picked this up for AU$2.99

Label info: ‘N/A’

What the label really means: N/A

The Hell-Cat review starts here

Label: Sparkly, shiny Asian kitsch at its finest. A stencilled elephant stands with his trunk raised above his head (the film ‘The Castle’ taught me this means good luck), and ‘Halida’ is written across a bold red banner. Gold, bronze and silver dominate this label and while it may appeal to some, it’s not too pleasing to my highly temperamental, yet sharp as a tack, eye.

I give it a label rating of 5.5 out of 10.

AROMA: A twist of citrus mixed with hoppy freshness. Seems familiar.

Taste: GLASS – Halida pours out very light in colour and very fizzy in appearance. In fact, there are visible bubbles everywhere. So, I expected this to be an overly-carbonated lager. Instead, it tastes hardly carbonated (not in a flat sense) and slides back very easily. This is a little more complex in flavour than many of the lagers currently doing the mass-market rounds and I am quite enjoying each sip. I am particularly enjoying the all-mouth soft bitterness tinged with citrus. Certainly one of the better Asian beers I have tasted.

I give it a beer from glass rating of 7 out of 10.

Taste: BOTTLE – Halida tastes a little better from the bottle. I couldn’t put my finger on it before this, but from a glass the beer seems to have a slightly watery finish. Enjoy this sucker from the bottle and just like Tena absorption pads the water problem is eliminated. Now I can run, jump, and be tickled without the fear of leakage.

I give it a taste from bottle rating of 7.5 out of 10.

A word from the wife: “Sweet with subtleties of honey and apple”

She gave it a taste rating of 7 out of 10.

Accompanying food: Being another light tasting beer, I’d be silly not to suggest this as the perfect play-date for a spicy/chilli Vietnamese dish.

Best season to appreciate: This would go beautifully by a pool, in a hammock, during Summer. A quencher and a relaxer all in one.

All-nighter beer? Halida has been a pleasure to drink so I could quite easily see myself drinking this all night.

NEXT WEEK: Zywiec Porter