Beer Is Good – Harbin Lager

On the Friday before the Lunar New Year, I stopped by Kin Wah Chinese Restaurant for dinner. For the New Year, they had a special on Harbin Lager. I had never tried one of these before, so I gave it a shot. There was no indication of size on the ad, so I was initially shocked by the 600ml size. Flavor-wise, I was expecting a vile, overly-hopped, Pilsen-esque Heineken clone along the lines of a Tsingtao, but was pleasantly surprised with something wonderful. The initial mouth feel was dry not unlike a Japanese lager, but with more bittering hops. This gave it more of a Pilsen-like first flavor, but the middle had a distinct, full malt flavor like a Bavarian lager. The finish was clean. This was a good, refreshing, easily drinkable beer. I later called Fabio to tell him about it, and he stunned me with the revelation that Harbin fell under Anheuser-Busch ownership in 2004. Oh man… well, I guess if that wasn’t the case, I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to try it in the States!