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Travel Date: December 2017

On our final day, we went to check out the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.

After we finished with the Memorial, we decided to check out another craft beer pub and on our way came across a poster that seem out of place for Taiwan (not really known for its Rugby fever!)…

…Anyways, the more converts to Rugby, the better 😉

We checked out another Zhang Men Brewing location, this time in the Dongmen Station area of town. The area is well worth a look around. Many interesting shops and obviously very popular with the locals. As for the brewpub, it was smaller than the location in the Breeze Center and fewer taps.

While there were no new (different) beers to sample, it gave us an opportunity to revisit some favorites from the previous day.

Also, the do have a food menu but it is very limited as there are no real restaurant facilities on site. However, the pork belly was surprisingly good.

All in all, a great trip and might be worth a visit again if the craft beer industry continues to grow.

CHEERS!

Travel Date: December 2017

The next day, we took the train out to see Jiufen. It is an old gold mining town that was built during the time of Japanese rule.  It was up in the hills and looked down towards the coast.

A very pretty place to visit, but be warned, even on a word day, the place is heaving with tourists!

Sadly, no craft beer in the town.

When we arrived back in Taipei, we headed out to a shopping complex called the Breeze Center.

It is filled with many high end real brands, however don’t let that deter you. The building has an outdoor courtyard area (by the cinema) and there are several restaurants located here, including Zhang Men Brewing.

 

This location was probably my favorite craft brewery. They not only made a large number of their own beer, but the beers were overall fantastic. Also, it was attached to an Italian restaurant so we stayed for dinner which was also really enjoyable.

After dinner and drinks at Zhang Men, we walked over to Taipei Brewery (I did not bother linking to the website as it’s not in English).

The beer itself was nothing very interesting, however, they did have a large beer/entertainment hall on site with an evening music show. It was kind of strange as the place was pretty much empty (must have been a work night for some!). So, we walked to one of the tables nearest the stage and sat down for the show. Since we had already had dinner, we each ordered a half litre of beer and watched the ABBA tribute band for an hour. All-in-all, the band was more entertaining than the beer.

CHEERS!

Travel Date: December 2017

 

The next day, we were scheduled to take an afternoon walking tour that was to start from the Peace Park. We arrived a good two hours early to the Peace Park and used that time to look around the neighborhood…and then walk a couple blocks away to the Jolly Beer Brewpub for a few beverages.

The place was packed with people! While the food looked really good, we knew we would not have enough time to order food so we settled on the house special, their craft beer!

In order to make the start of the walking tour we knew we had to make this stop short.

So we did!

The walking tour itself was good. For starters, we were taken to an ice cream parlor. Not really our thing until we saw a couple ‘must have’ items on the menu 😉

We learnt about the Japanese period of ownership and the architectural legacy they left behind (Office of the President, National Museum Building and the Taipei Zhongshan Hall) as well as a stroll through the commercial shopping district around Ximen Station.

To our delight, the tour finished around 5PM in the Ximen Station area so we were able to check out another Craft Beer pub called Driftwood, which just happens to open at 5PM!

The craft beers at driftwood were good and the ambiance was that of chopped wood.

Afterwards, we walked up the road to a bottle shop called The 58.

 

It had over a hundred different craft beers. We picked a couple beverages and had dinner there too.

After dinner, they came around with complimentary shots of whisky.

Nice.

CHEERS!

Travel Date: December 2017

This past December, we had the opportunity to check out Taipei, Taiwan for a few days. While we were there, we took in a few of the typical touristy things such as The National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, a walking tour that took us from the Peace Park to the commercial walking district of Chengdu Road and a daytrip out to the old Japanese gold mining town of Jiufen.

All of these ‘cultural’ experiences were great to be sure, however, I was really more interested in the cultural beverages that awaited us at the various craft breweries.

On our first evening in Taipei, after sorting ourselves out at our hotel, we walked over to the Ningxia Night Market where we decided to pass on the street food and instead stroll a few streets over for an evening at Mikkeller Taipei.

While they had many taps of craft beer, the only house beers were imported from their overseas operations which was very similar to their business model in Bangkok, Singapore and Reykjavik (Yes, I have visited these too).

That being said, they do make some great food items!

CHEERS!

Travel Date: December 2017

Kuala Lumpur is NOT a city known for its selection of beer. Yes, the international brands are available in many places. However, if you are arriving after having visited Thailand, you might cringe at how much more the beer costs after crossing the border. If craft beer is what you fancy, your options become few and far between. That being said, over the past few years I have been to Kuala Lumpur several times and I always made time to head over to Taps in the Bukit Bintang neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur.

They sell 14 craft beer on tap and have a large number of bottled craft beer as well.

The food in general is really good. The Satay is great and the chicken satay pizza is also a winner.

In Kuala Lumpur, this is my go-to craft pub and without a doubt, I will be back.

 

CHEERS!

Travel Date: December 2017

During my holidays in December, I had the opportunity to check out Ted Ahn’s Changwon Express second location called Changwon Express at Flow House.

It is off Sukhumvit on Soi 26. One word of caution, the traffic can be a bit of a challenge so taking a taxi can result in a lot of car time. In order to escape the gridlock, I took a motorbike taxi which was able to weave in and out of traffic with ease. The benefits of motorbike taxi services are they are very inexpensive, much faster than a regular taxi and they are exhilarating. Of course the downside is the lack of air-conditioning and the inherent danger of being on a motorbike.

Changwon Express at Flow House is located at an outdoor lifestyle mall called A-Square. There are a number of restaurants and other retailers located here and in the evening the place comes alive. As for Changwon Express, it is located on the upper floor of the complex looking down on Flow House, which is a cool place that teaches people to surf!

The staff are knowledgeable about the craft beer and there is live music on Saturday evenings too.

On tap, Changwon Express rotates 30 craft beers. In addition to serving a number of craft beer from around the world, Ted also dedicates taps to local craft brewers and his own product (which up to this point must be made outside Thailand and imported).

When I arrived, they had started to serve their new sample flight on a surfboard designed tray.

I thought it would be rude to not try it 😉  However, be warned, these are not small samples!

While I probably won’t be heading to the surfing tank anytime soon, I will be back to Changwon Express at Flow House to surf their ever changing craft beer selection.

 

CHEERS!

If 2017 was a boat race, we’d quickly be approaching the last beer!

Over the past few months, I’ve focused on microbrewery pubs in Phnom Penh, HCMC (Saigon), Bangkok, Lebanon and Kiev. As well as a microbrewery with a tap room in Palawan and a craft beer festival in Bangkok.

I am just about to take off on another microbrewery tour through South East Asia that will take me from Bangkok to Phnom Penh to Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to Taipei. I am sure there will be some interesting stories to post!

In early 2018, I will get stories, maps and pictures posted of microbrewery visits in Germany, specifically Frankfurt as well as Bavaria.  Also, I will post about the craft beer scene in Whistler, Canada which has seen incredible growth over the past couple years.

As always, feel free to drop me an email with any questions or comments.

So, for this time of year, I welcome you to enjoy your double bocks with family, friends or alone!

Happy Holidays.

CHEERS!

Travel Date(s): April 2016, April 2017 and August 2017

Less than a year after my evening at Cerevisa Craft Brewhouse, Erich and his crew had taken over the beer taps at Botanico Wine and Beer Garden, a small restaurant set up… in a garden setting.

Over the course of the past couple years,  I’ve had the pleasure to visit Botanico several times and the craft beer on tap not only carries Cerevisa’s beers, which range from Ales, IPA’s, Red Ales, Stouts, Porters, seasonals and experimental beers. But, they also have guest tap product from other Cambodia microbreweries!

 

The food is also great and they often have live bands which adds to the feel of the place as you spend the evening drinking a pint and talking to a friend or two.

As always, looking forward to my next visit!

CHEERS!

 

Travel Date: April 2017 and August 2017

Over the past year, a purpose built microbrewery pub has opened in Phnom Penh called Hops Brewery and Craft Beer Garden. The building is U-shaped. It is compartmentalized into a couple different bar areas and all the walls facing the courtyard are glass.

In the courtyard, the set-up is comprised of long picnic benches (think German beer garden) for communal seating and a large BBQ are for grilling to order.

Hops produces four standard beers that consist of a Pilsen, Wheat, Stout and IPA. They also have seasonal beers on tap.

 

The beer quality and consistency is very good and the location makes for a fun evening out with friends.

CHEERS!