Perhaps you’ve asked yourself how Singha gets its unique lager taste. Well, things that come in threes always seem to signify something special. A three ring circus, a hat trick, the original Star Wars trilogy, the elusive NBA three-peat, the three stars that make up Orion’s Belt… and the three hop varieties we use to brew our beer. We source all three of our hop varieties from various parts of Europe depending on the season to make sure we get the best hops available.
The hops we use are Saaz, Perle and Hallertau. The Saaz hops are part of a group of hops known as “noble hops” which were first cultivated for brewing in Central Europe. Why the “noble” label? Because the four hops that make up the “noble” group have been used in beer brewing for centuries, in the case of Saaz hops, they have been grown and cultivated for beer brewing in the area now known as the Czech Republic for over 700 years. Saaz hops have a very mild, herbal and spicy characteristics and is not a very bitter hop. In comparison, Perle hops are a relatively new variety of hops used in the beer brewing world. Perle hops were originally grown in Germany and offer a clean, slightly minty taste with great aroma. And lastly, we have the Hallertau hops, another member of the “noble hops” group. It’s a delicate hop to grow with a low yield and is the preferred hop of Bavarian style brews. In fact, the Hallertau area in Bavaria is the largest continuous hop-planting area in the world. Germany provides about 1/3 of the world’s hops, over 80% of which are grown in Hallertau. We like the Hallertau hops for its floral aroma and slightly fruity and spicy characteristics.
So next time you pop the top of a Singha, see if you can taste each variety of hops we use. But if all you want is to get to a point where your three sheets to the wind, then know that we picked out this specific trinity of hops to make sure the journey is as pleasant and refreshing as possible.
Cheers,
Mr. Singha