Taiwan Beer

Taiwan Beer (Chinese: 台灣啤酒; pinyin: Táiwān Píjǐu, or 台啤; TáiPí) is a large-market beer brewed by the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL). The brand, an icon of Taiwanese culture, began as a monopoly product but has remained the best-selling beer on the island country in the era of free trade.

The company today known as TTL had its origins in a government agency established by Taiwan's Japanese rulers in 1901. The Monopoly Bureau of the Taiwan Governor's Office was responsible for all liquor and tobacco products sold in Taiwan as well as opium, salt, and camphor.

In 1922 the Monopoly Bureau began brewing Takasago Beer through the Takasago Malted Beer Company. Light and dark varieties were produced. The price of Takasago Beer varied widely over the course of its manufacture, depending on the availability of imported Japanese beers in Taiwan and on the contingencies of the economy. As World War II reached its conclusion in the 1940s, matches, petroleum, and standard weights and measures also came under the Monopoly Bureau's authority.

After the end of World War II the incoming Chinese Nationalists preserved the monopoly system for alcohol and tobacco. Production of beer was assigned in 1945 to the Taiwan Provincial Monopoly Bureau. The name Taiwan Beer was adopted in 1946. The following year, production of the beer was assigned to the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau.

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Wikipedia