Carlsberg Royal Stout

A local anomaly, but one we should be proud of, Royal Stout is a truly Malaysian beer. Not that you'd know it.

First brewed in 1992, it was until recently known as Danish Royal Stout, this despite never being brewed in Denmark, home to parent company Carlsberg, or indeed having any links to other beers from Europe. In fact it's pretty clear that it was just an attempt by Carlsberg Malaysia to use their parent brand to create a sense of history for their new dark brew.

But our little misfit of a beer wasn't wanted by its parents. If you go to the Carlsberg group website you'll find a comprehensive list of every beer and brand they own (and I bet you didn't realise just how many of your favourite beers were owned by Carlsberg) and yet despite every other Malaysian brew being listed, alongside random beers from every corner of the globe, Royal Stout is not to be found.

An unwanted child... abandoned... an orphan *sobs*.

So in the recent re-branding Carlsberg Malaysia stuck two fingers up to Mum and Dad and swiftly scrubbed out the word Danish, leaving the beer randomly royal but proud nonetheless.

Though it's clearly hard to leave behind those Danish ties that bind, as the Carlsberg Malaysia website still states:

"Royal Stout is a premium Danish stout brewed to honour the great feat of Danish Kings in the 19th century."

Exactly what great feat is being honoured is left unsaid. The mind boggles. I hope it had something to do with dragons... or a badger.

As well as the unsuccessful attempt to remove Danishness from the beer, the 2016 re-brand had one other major change in store for our plucky outcast. A devalued abv, dropping from a Kingly 8.8% to a relatively tame 6.8% in a part of the world where stouts are normally brewed at pant-shakingly high volume.

The most likely cause of this is the eye watering duties placed upon alcoholic beverages by the Malaysian Government. The higher the alcoholic volume, the higher the tax leading to both Carlsberg Malaysia and Heineken (formerly Guinness Anchor Berhad), the country's only two brewers, to re-assess all of their higher volume drinks. Many beverages subsequently found  their abv dropping considerably, an understandable if frustrating decision.

Royal Stout itself is deep in colour, almost black with a pale foamy head. A dry style stout, when at 8.8% it was slightly sweet with a chocolate toastiness, but this is lost in the newer 6.8% version which has a more bitter, coffee edge; more refreshing, but less rich.

I've been told by many that they prefer this newer version, whilst I stand by the older one. However, Royal Stout is still an extremely good regional stout. Not a world beater perhaps, but of the many strong dry stouts available in almost every corner of South East Asia, Royal Stout is amongst the best. It would certainly be interesting to try it afresh if Carlsberg ever decided to offer it on tap.

If you've never tried it or it's been years since you have, give it a go. With so much attention placed upon generic pilsners and lagers in Malaysia, we should celebrate a true Malaysian original that's just a bit different and doesn't care if you know it.

If you like Royal Stout, when not check out these beers.