Joyful pleasures with Bintang
Indonesia, as such, is not a bad place to be. Even though a lot of things do not work as we mere mortal Westerners might think they should work and other things do not work at all there are small miracles that make you cheer and happy to be here. One of those is “Bintang Zero”, a “non-alcoholic malt” of “international quality” (or so the label says) which even the brewery does not dare to call “beer”. “Zero” gets raving reviews on ratebeer.com. Reviewers note that it is “not unpleasant as such, but very, very unusual” and analyze the aroma as consisting of “rotting pineapple with stale butter”. Others are less enthusiastic, remarking very wittily to be “glad [they] did not swallow it” or calling it simply “perhaps the worst beer in Indonesia, even cold”, which is probably true.
Small wonder I recently developed a knack for it. Lucky I am that the Oakwood Ranchmarket just opposite to our building has the drink in stock. Basically as the only non-alcoholic beer-like thing. The market for such things seems to be small in a overwhelmingly Muslim country where beer and wine is plenty. I shall not wonder.
