For some of us, drinking beer is about more than just getting hammered with your buddies. For the true aficionado, it’s all about craft beer.
Held at the Marina Bay Sands, Craft Singapore was an event not to miss. With a live band and a tom of vendors, some local some foreign, this years craft brew festival had an array of different beers. With Juan Pablo you only get the best, so I will give you my take on the top two beers of the event.
For starters we have an honorary mention. Very seldom do we have a beer that has such a rich story about how it’s made that the story surpasses the taste of the beer. The creator, and brewer of the beer, Borealis actually goes out on a boat in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean and chips off pieces of an iceberg by hand and uses the water to brew his beer.
While the taste was to soft for my taste, I have to say that you really can taste the difference. It literally tastes like you’re drinking spring water from an iceberg. Now for the hardcore beer enthusiast this beer may not be for you ( I found it way to weak for my taste ), but it’s one of those beers you just have to try for the experience. It’s also pretty sweet to be able to say “I drank beer made from an ICE BERG!!”.
Now Juan Pablo’s top two are something special. After trying over 20 kinds of craft beer I settled on my two favorite. Let’s start with the second place medal. Brewed here locally in Singapore, Archipelago Kaypoh Bitter is a must drink beer. It’s a nice smooth traditional English Bitter.
What’s special about this beer is the fact that it’s brewed with a tropical and accented with Amarillo hops. The master Brewer Mario Nubes was on hand to give an explanation of what goes into the beer as well as the fact that the beers are served at their stall at a hawker centre on the second floor of Chinatown Complex on Smith street.
Now the gold medal goes to my personal favorite, Mexicali Beer. As a true red, white and green Mexican, I look for a lot on my Cerveza. It’s needs to be smooth with a small bite at the end, crisp, refreshing and have nice taste of hops that blends it all together. Mexicali had it all. What I liked the most about this beer is the fact that it has that traditional lemony aroma and a bit of taste without the wedge of lime. If you’re into Mexican beers the way I am, this is a must try and gets Juan Pablo’s stamp of approval.
The event itself is a lot of fun and my only gripe about it is the entry fee ( $45.00 YIKES!!! ). All you get with your entry fee is exactly that, entry. While the beer and food is good, this event is not for people with a light pocket. I was hoping for something other than just a yellow wrist band for re-entry.
With that said if you’ve got some extra cash to burn or are a craft beer lover this event isn’t to be missed when it comes around again. If you can remember the day after, you’ll go home with a bunch of new favorites and a little more knowledge about what the craft beer scene in Singapore has to offer.