Taking place from 17 to 20 August at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre, the 2017 edition of Beerfest Asia is the biggest yet (they say this every year) with over 100 different new beer labels like Krušovice Imperial, Erdinger Sommerweis, Pressure Drop Wu Gang Chops The Tree and Guinness Bright making their debut.
The 100 beer labels forms part of the selection of the 500 beer and ciders available – reason enough to buy the three-day ticket – with brews like the oddly interesting Tiger Radler Orange & Mango, and Grand Kirin JPL already familiar to some. If you do the math, that’s close to 200 beers tasted per day.
Another highlight of the festival is the bespoke beer options, thanks to 1925 Brewing Co (fun fact: it’s owned by one of our 2017 A-Listers), Brewlander & Co and Archipelago. The former will be releasing four beers ahead of its retail launch later in the year, so put Ah Ka Ji Craft Lager, Tok Kong American IPA, Ki Siao Brown Ale and the Sibeh Ho Witbier on your sample hit list. We’ll leave you to guess what they could taste like by their Hokkien monikers.
The organisers have included something new this year, which are the daily beer workshops with sessions led by Brewlander on home brewing (17 August) and Brooklyn Brewery sharing about barrel-aged brews on 18 & 19 August. Also beer yoga – yes, this IS a thing – led by Dawn Sim from Trium Fitness on 20 August. Finally, a non-judgmental space where you can thrown down a Downward Dog with a cold stubby by your side.
As with all festivals, food and entertainment is crucial. There’ll be grub from Beirut Grill (try their hummus chicken shawarma roll), Handle Bar (and their signature barbecue ribs) Easyeggs by JAR (mentaiko quail eggs) and dessert by Creamier (a craft raspberry and rose yoghurt float); all of which have been pre-paired with certain brews.
Music wise rock out to local favourites Reverie Acoustic, The Day Trippers, SweatShop Jam and Supersonic, also hang around for Deadbeat’s high energy ‘drumDJ’ – think live drums with an eclectic cross-genre mash-up – and an all female DJ set from Altra Mgmt – yes, cheesy but by then the beer goggles should have already kicked in.
Beerfest Asia 2017, 17-20 August, Marina Bay Cruise Centre. Tickets available from $28 (inclusive of 1 beer) here.