{jathumbnail}

On Saturday, December 10, during an afternoon boat ride up the Mekong River, Phnom Penh Post 7Days Editor Kyle Sherer conducted a blind tasting test with six beer brands, local and international.

For each beer brand, six glasses were filled and consumed by six judges, all affiliated with The Phnom Penh Post, including investor and board member Bill Clough, Post English Editor in Chief Alan Parkhouse, Post Khmer Editor in Chief Kay Kimsong, Business Reporter Don Weinland, Business Development Manager Jesse Gage and Chief of Staff Cheang Sokha.

Sherer said everyone was surprised that Cambodia Beer won the competition as the clear winner on flavour and aftertaste.

“I assumed that one of the big name brands would come out on top, but I think Cambodia Beer had a distinctive flavour and that was what surprised everyone.”

The six judges each filled out a paper after tasting each beer, without knowing the brand, choosing to circle the numbers 1 through to 5 according to four criteria:  appearance, aroma, flavour and aftertaste.

Sherer said everyone was surprised that Cambodia Beer emerged as the clear winner in both taste and aftertaste categories.

“It was as scientific as I could get,” Sherer said, adding that the reaction to Cambodia Beer as the winner of the competition was met with “shock and applause".

“I hadn’t drunk Cambodia Beer before the competition, but I do now – and I look forward to finding Cambodia Beer on tap in more places.”

Ending up tabulating the results from 36 sheets of paper, Sherer himself was surprised at the results.

“I think our test was pretty accurate,” he said, “and people know what they like.”

Phnom Penh Post publisher Ross Dunkley, who was not present at the competition, said the results were not surprising.

“With a sixty million dollar state of the art brewery it is not surprising drinkers voted Cambodia Beer number one,” Dunkley said.

“The Phnom Penh Post and Cambodia Beer are two winners together – helping give Cambodia international prestige,” he said.

"The Phnom Penh Post has won six international media awards and we're happy to have conducted this taste test that emerged with a clear winner," Dunkley said.