Month: June 2018

Sometimes called ‘Asia Light’ due to the fact that it is clean, methodical and some might argue too sanitized. It make for a good introduction to Asia for first time visitors to the region.

Food wise, Singapore has always been a city of delights thanks to its multi ethnic inhabitants. Over the past few years, several craft brewery locations have popped up to offer beery libations to accompany the food and to help cool one down from the constant 32C humid weather.

A couple years back, a microbrewery pub opened in Changi Village. It tends to be a place that I visit straight after arriving from a flight due to its close proximity to Changi International Airport. The name of the place is called Little Island Brewery Company.

They have a great menu and specialize in slow cooked smoked meat!

The beers are all good. However, I am not a fan of the serving method. One puts money on a card and then you serve yourself from the taps with the money being deducted from your card as you pull. You can latterly watch the card run out of money with every pour. Not exactly great for business when people have to keep seeing themselves drained with every financial pint! In addition, because the customer pours their own beverage, there is very little interaction with staff which makes it more difficult to create a personal connection with the place. It vexes me that someone would go to the trouble and financial effort to create a good product, yet completely let themselves down on the customer interaction experience.

 

Over in town, there is a long standing microbrewery pub on Clarke Key called Brewerkz.

It is a great place to have a couple pints while walking the touristy area in the evening. My advice would be to check their website for when they have happy hours as it can save you a fair amount per pint. As a side note, I went to their location in Jakarta last summer. It was underwhelming since the beer is imported from Singapore and they were out of a number of their beers. Hopefully they will get the supply chain logistics corrected.

In China Town, there is an interesting food hawkers complex which plays host to Smith Street Taps. This is a tiny establishment that serves over a dozen craft beer on tap. The complex is multi-level and is worth a look around, or also a fun place to grab in inexpensive bite to eat. The proprieties of Smith Street Taps are outgoing and knowledgeable about their rotating product.

Worth an evening stop when checking out the streets of China Town.

Singapore is also home to Level 33, as the name implies, it is located on the 33^rd floor of an office tower. It has its own elevator in the lobby to quickly get you to the premises.

 

The beer prices for Singapore are fairly reasonable. The food prices, are rather expensive. However, the views from the wrap around balcony are priceless!

I think the best time to go is before sunset as you’ve got a better chance of scoring outdoor seating. As the sun sets, the change in colour of the skyline is breathtaking too. This is a must stop location for any craft beer lover!

One final point on the food at Level 33. Don’t order the Fish & Chips! lol…

 

Another interesting location to check out is called the Alchemist Infusion Beer Lab.

They don’t make their own craft beer. However, they tend to take craft beer that is made in Singapore and infuse it with different ingredients. Maybe a more correct term is that the craft beer is steeped in different ingredients for hours at a time before being served.

Interesting and flavourful with a lot of experimentation going on to always find new winning combinations.

CHEERS!

Due to less expensive airfares flying home to North America from Europe, often means a stop in Oslo, Norway. That being said, it is also home to a few microbrewery pubs that often offer some great beers.

All of the places we trekked to were easily reachable by the city’s public tram system. There is so much history to take in…it makes you thirsty! 😉

The downtown waterfront district made for a great walking experience and there were many architectural delights to see.

I would only caution against eating here because it is very touristy and the restaurant prices reflect that fact. It might be worth your time to be a little savvier and head to one of the microbrewery pubs located just outside the main tourist walking area to experience a meal and a craft beer that is a bit lighter on the budget 😉

A couple time we’ve been to Oslo, we’ve grabbed lunch at ‘AB’ Amundsen Bryggeri & Spiseri. They burgers are great and they have a solid selection of their own craft beer on tap too! This place is well located fairly close to the waterfront district.

 

Another place we visited was called Oslo Mikrobryggeri. It is a few minutes from the downtown area (behind the Royal Palace) and also offers a decent menu of food and house crafted beer.

Another fun one to visit is called ‘Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri’. You will probably want to take a tram to this one as the walk would take around 20 minutes from the center of town. It is located downstairs in the cavern of a building. A very cool atmosphere and is usually just staffed by a single knowledgeable server. The food menu is very limited so don’t come hungry, but do come thirsty!

After finishing up at Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri, we usually like to do the 10 minute walk (summer, not winter) to Crow Bar.

Crow Bar & Bryggeri is located on a lively eclectic street and can be spied by the black crow above its front door.

They have an extensive beer selection and in the summer, they open up the front garage style door to the outside where they have sidewalk seating.

Upstairs, they have a small kitchen that makes a pulled pork wrap. It is filling, delicious and a great price.

One is more than enough, but you might find yourself going back for seconds 😉

CHEERS!

In December 2016, we had the opportunity to fly up to Yerevan, Armenia for a few days of holidays.

If you are wondering what the temperature would be like, I can sum it up for you as bone chillingly cold! However, it did have a few microbrewery pubs so we know we could come in from the cold 😉

We started out walking around the Christmas Market, but soon found the wind chill encouraging us to find a haven from the cold.

 

So our first stop was Wine Republic. While they did not brew their own beer, they had a great food and wine menu.

It also allowed us time to become more oriented towards the other places we wanted to see so that we would not spend a huge amount of time freezing outdoors!

Our second stop was the Beer Academy. They brew their own beers at this location. All of them were interesting to try, but no real stand-outs.

The next stop was called the Green Dragon Distillery. To get to it, you have to enter the Enoteca EVN Wine Bar and Shop. From there, it is located hidden away downstairs in a cozy room. Their home brewed alcohol was seriously potent…and worked to keep the chill at bay!

The final location we visited was a microbrewery pub called Dargett Craft Beer. They brew a number of different style beers.

All were well received and the food to match was also great. In fact, we went back two night in a row to ensure we sampled all the beers on offer. Nothing disappointed!

An honorable mention goes to a great little deli called In Vino. They wine selection was great and they make ham sandwiches to eat while you drink your beverage!

All in all a fabulous city. Looking forward to returning again either in the Fall or Spring and would be happy to give a Winter trip to Yerevan a pass 😉

CHEERS!

In the summer of 2016, we had the opportunity to plan a trip to Iceland. As research into the costs started to become clear, it was decided to jam as much ‘fun’ into two nights in the country.

As an example, we stayed at a bed and breakfast in Reykjavik. Our room and two additional guest rooms SHARED one bathroom and the coast was more than staying on the club/executive floor of the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur! Plus, the cost of dining out was expensive too. So expensive in fact that we had one too many meals at a hot dog kiosk. Besides, the money saved there needed to be spent at the different microbrewery pubs in town! 😉

The bus transportation from the airport makes a stop at the Blue Lagoon. You are able to de-bus, put your luggage in lockers and spend as long as you like floating around in the outdoor thermal pool. The price of admission also comes with a free drink at one of the swim-up bars.

Once you’ve finished at the Blue Lagoon, you can continue your journey into town on the next available bus. As aside note, some people make the stop on their way to the airport from town. Either way, it is a great time saver to experience the attraction this way.

We happened to arrive on the day the national soccer/football team was being honoured for beating the England team 2-1 in the 2016 Euro Cup. It seemed like the entire country attended!

We even took a moment to pose with the team 😉

We also went on the ‘Golden Circle Tour’ which took us across some fairly imposing landscape which has played backdrop to the TV programs Game of Thrones as well as Vikings.

Along the tour, we stopped at the Geysir Geothermal Area.

Then it was on towards the breathtaking Gullfoss Waterfall.

While in town, the evenings were spent walking from craft brewpub to craft brewpub. A funny sad fact, in Iceland, beer only became legal in 1989! It is a good thing they have made up for the time with a number of fun places to enjoy a craft beer.

We went to a very small pub called the Micro Bar for happy hour where beers started at 4USD

We also stopped at Mikkeller and Friends.

Kaldi also had a great pub location that served its beer at happy hour prices (5USD) from 4PM-7PM.

Skúli Craft Bar had a number of great craft beer on tap. However, they did have wine too, if one was getting ‘beered-out’.

We saved the largest microbrewery pub for last which was Bryggjan Brugghús. There beer was made on site in a beautiful building close to the waterfront.

No surprise that when we finally left Bryggjan Brugghús after midnight, the sun was still up!

A great trip to a rugged country built for Vikings.

CHEERS!

Nha Trang: Pool, Beach and Craft Beer!

A few years back (2015) we had the chance to head to Nha Trang. The main reason for the destination was to check out a uniquely located microbrewery pub, the second, was to see a different part of Vietnam 😉

Nha Trang is home to the Louisiane Brewhouse and Restaurant and Resort.

Its location is stunning and combines a few unique features. Not only does it brew its own beer, it is has its own pool and is located on the beach!

They tend to have four of their beers on tap. However, when we were there, they only had three on tap and the brew master was out of the country. That being said, nothing beats a dark lager on a hot summer day, or a cold Pils.

Unfortunately, the beer at the time was not particularly outstanding, however it was better that industrial product sold everywhere else.

If anything, head there for breakfast by the pool and spend the day, there are a lot worse things to do with your time!

CHEERS!

I made the mistake of going to the East West Brewing Company after visiting Winking Seal Beer Company.

Unfortunately, my photos are a little out of focus and really do not capture the grandeur of the establishment.

When you walk into East West Brewing Company, the first thing that captures your attention is the impressive brewing equipment. There has been a lot of CAPEX lavished on this brewery and the investors want you to see it, as well as taste it!

They brew at least twelve of their own beers which run the gambit from Ales, IPAs, Pils and Stouts.

The place was busy when I was there. Not only is the beer fantastic, the kitchen turned out great food as well.

I will be revisiting East West Brewing Company again in June and will make sure to get some better pictures in order to do this establishment the justice it deserves.

CHEERS!

On my travels through Ho Chi Minh City, I wandered over to Bai Craft Artisan Ales. In fact, I took a scooter taxi over from the riverfront because the afternoon traffic was so slow (pretty standard in HCMC on a work day).

The establishment offers indoor air-conditioned seating, or a nice outdoor covered patio with fans to keep the temperature at bay.

The list of craft beer on tap runs to +50 so there is more than enough selection to find something to your taste. Of the beers, several are made by Bai Craft while over 40 are guest taps from microbreweries all over Vietnam.

It is open from 11AM to 11PM and makes for a great place to also grab a bite to eat after spending the morning touring around the city.

CHEERS!

I had the opportunity to check out Pasteur Street Brewing Company. To be more specific, I had the choice of four different locations, all I am sure has its own unique characteristics. However, because it was my first time, I decided to go to the aptly named ‘The Original Tap Room.’

The entrance is unmistakable and leads to the fun of finding this tucked away location.

They have been brewing for a number of years and have produced some fine beverages. As luck would have it, they are open seven days a week from 11am – 11pm.

Some of the stand outs were the Nitro-German Chocolate Cake Imperial Stout, the Coffee Porter and Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout.

Of course my favorites show a leaning to darker beers, but fear not! Pasteur Street Brewing Company also makes some other enjoyable varieties too. I am heading back to HCMC near the end of June and will make sure to expand my sampling at that time.

 

CHEERS!