Taiwan Beer
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- For the SBL basketball team, see Taiwan Beer (basketball)
Taiwan Beer (台灣啤酒, Táiwān Píjǐu, or 台啤, TáiPí) is a beer brewed by the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (formerly the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau before privatization). It is currently the most popular beer in Taiwan with a marketshare of almost 80%.
Taiwan Beer was first brewed in 1920 upon the completion of the first brewery in Taipei. Following the end of World War II, Taiwan Beer was brewed by the newly formed Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau. [1]
Taiwan Beer is said to be best served very cold with local Taiwanese cuisine. It is generally agreed that Taiwan Beer has a rather distinctive taste said to be the result of penglai rice added during the fermentation process. Taiwan Beer has gone on to win several awards abroad including the International Monde Selection in 1977 and the Brewing Industry International Awards in 2002.
The entry of both the Republic of China (under the name Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu) and the People's Republic of China into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2002 allowed the import of beer manufactured in mainland China. Nonetheless, foreign labels accounted for just 18 percent of Taiwan's NT$45 billion (US$1.3 billion) market in 2004, with Taiwan Beer taking the other 82 percent.
Despite attempts at export, Taiwan Beer remains relatively unknown outside of Taiwan and various overseas Taiwanese communities. A political incident occurred in 2004 when the People's Republic of China refused to allow importation of Taiwan Beer citing a law banning the use of county or regional names in commercial products (an interesting argument given that the chinese Tsingtao Beer itself is named after Qingdao, the coastal city in Shandong province) This was perceived by many in Taiwan as an insult and led to calls to boycott beers from the PRC.[2] To this day, Taiwan Beer outsells every beer from mainland China in Taiwan[3].
[edit] References
- ^ Ting, Chen (2004). Taiwan Beer, potent at age 84, ferments cultural effervescence. Panorama. Government Information Office, ROC Executive Yuan.
- ^ Wu, Debby. "Boycott of Chinese beers promoted", The Taipei Times, July 10, 2004, pp. 3.
- ^ Taylor, Michael. "Taiwan vs Tsingtao: Beer wars", Asia Times, March 25, 2003.
