Two alcohol products dominate the market in Laos and they are
a rice wine known as Lao Lao and Beerlao the beer produced by
Lao Brewing Company since 1973. Lao Brewing claim to have a 99%
share of the local market and produce three Beerlao products as
well as producing Carlsburg locally under license alongside
bottle drinking water.
Beerlao can be found outside Laos across the Asia Pacific and the UK
in many specialty retailers. Another product many people outside of Laos
may be familiar with was 33 Export, it too was produced by Lao Brewing
Company specifically for the export market but production stopped in the
late 1990s. Confusingly Vietnam’s 333 export beer was also known as 33
export prior to 1975 but still continues today as 333 with a similar
label to the previous Beerlao 33 export.
Beerlao Larger
Often called Beerlao original as this is the
traditional beerlao product before the light and dark products
were launched. its a light, crisp, refreshing beer with a golden
color and not much of a head. its a 5% beer sold in 330ml cans
and stubbies as well as 640ml "king brown" bottles.
Beerlao Light
Spun off to be similar to the original larger
product, Beerlao light is a low alcohol beer at 2.9%. The
"Light" name is taken from other low alcohol beers particularly
in Australia and the UK , not to be confused with the low carb "lite"
beers of the USA.
Beer Lao Dark
This is Beerlao's 6.5% beer and is more of an
amber color than what a traditional dark beer would be. Beerlao
dark could be described as moor of a macro larger. Along with
Beerlao light its only sold in 330ml stubbies and is probably
hard to find outside Laos or Cambodia.