Craft beer continues to rise in Singapore. Currently, there is a 4% market share, and the new brewers are looking to get beer drinkers away from the dominant market leader, Tiger beer, with innovative flavours, sustainable offerings, and attractive new-age packaging.
“I think what drives the craft beer business is to talk about flavours because flavours are easy to associate with,” said Mark Chen of Niang Brewery. Chen is known for Confection Cure, a pale ale inspired by Cheng Tng, a local dessert made with red dates and longan, which he recommends pairing with local roasted pork.
“I have observed that there are many non-beer drinkers who may not necessarily like classic beers made with the four core ingredients,” said Qin Yang of Alive Brewery, “so we innovated to come up with beer products that even non-beer drinkers can enjoy.”
Alive Brewery introduced the Berry Smoothie beer with a heavy dose of raspberry and morello cherry pulp to attract a younger market and also cashed into the chocolate beer trend with The Chocolate Bomb, an imperial stout made with “ridiculous amounts” of premium Belgian chocolate.
To entice new customers, Clive Tan of Sunbird Brewing Company creates seasonal and festival-themed beers, such as the Ondeh-Ondeh Porter, which was modelled after a local pastry treat made with Gula Melaka, coconut, and pandan.
Ondeh-Ondeh Porter — An honest treat infused in perfect harmony. The oozy liquid of Gula Melaka combined with aromatic coconut and pandan are carefully re-created from scratch through hours of roasting and dedicated brewing for the specialty malt to open-up, and produce distinct roasted, caramel flavours.
On the other side of town, the Crust group, which fights food waste, repurposes apple peel and bread to make their range of artisanal brews and draws inspiration from regional flavour of Kaya toast to make their best-selling Kaya Toast stout. Kaya is a luscious jam created from coconut flesh.
The craft microbreweries mushroomed during the pandemic and tapped into the broad spectrum of beer styles and colourful pop-culture labels to grab consumer attention.
“Today, you see so many imported brands in the supermarket, and there are probably over 30 Singapore craft beer brands,” said Wee-Tuck Tan of the Easy and Light Group, which owns Brewerkz Microbreweries, the oldest craft brewery in Singapore.
“Not only have craft beer brands increased, but so has the number of channels. There are many more e-commerce platforms now, and you see lots of restaurants, hotels, and bars offering craft beer instead of commercial beers.”
SOURCE: The Drink Business
PHOTO CREDIT: Niang Brewery and Sunbird Brewing Co.