PretendPint

Which beers sold as foreign are brewed in Britain, and what to buy instead

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Work in progress. We are still reading cans and settling where listings disagree. Seen a beer whose small print contradicts its label? Tell us.

What to drink instead of Kingfisher Premium Lager

Kingfisher Premium Lager is sold as Indian and brewed in Britain, at Hartlepool, County Durham, at 4.5%. If you were buying it for an Indian lager, these are the beers on the same shelves that are brewed in the country on their label, or are British and say so, within a point of its strength.

Where Kingfisher Premium Lager is really brewed, with the pack wording and the sources.

The same style, genuinely imported from elsewhere

  1. Sapporo Premium Beer
    Imported from Japan · 5.0% · sold as Japanese
    Genuine import Verified

    Brewed in Japan. 5.0% here.

  2. Tsingtao Premium Lager
    Imported from China · 4.7% · sold as Chinese
    Genuine import Verified

    Brewed at Qingdao, Shandong in China. 4.7% here.

  3. Chang Classic
    Imported from Thailand · 5.0% · sold as Thai
    Genuine import Verified

    Brewed at Cosmos Brewery Co., Ltd, Ayutthaya in Thailand. 5.0% here, the same as at home.

  4. Budweiser Budvar Original
    Imported from Czech Republic · 5.0% · sold as Czech
    Genuine import Verified

    Brewed at Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic. 5.0% here, the same as at home.

  5. Peroni Nastro Azzurro
    Imported from Italy · 5.1% · sold as Italian
    Genuine import Verified

    Brewed at Rome, Padua and Bari in Italy. 5.1% here, the same as at home.

  6. Heineken Silver
    Imported from Netherlands · 4.0% · sold as Dutch
    Genuine import Verified

    Brewed in the Netherlands. 4.0% here, the same as at home.

How this list is made. Nobody here has tasted these side by side, and no beer pays to appear. A beer is listed when the record says it is the same kind of beer, is either imported from the country on its label or British and sold as British, is not itself brewed under licence in Britain, has at least one source we trust, and sits within a point of the strength of Kingfisher Premium Lager. Beers from the country on the label come first, then the same style from elsewhere, then British beers. Where an import is weaker in Britain than at home, the card says so.

Every beer sold as Indian · The full list of what to buy instead · Alternatives for other beers