Nobody gets used to lockdowns, even at the third time of asking, so the good folk of Singapore’s Good Luck Beerhouse took it upon themselves to pull together some of the island nation’s brewers for a bit of community support.
The Haji Lane taproom invited six of Singapore’s new generation of brewers Singapore breweries to embark on a collaboration project that saw the release of a “Come Together” beer pack.
This pack, explains Allyson Chin, Brand Development Manager for the Good Luck Beerhouse, was more than just your standard ‘6 pack’ bottle offering. It included 6 freshly filled and delivered 640ml bombers (one from each brewery), an exclusive Come Together Beer glassware for purchasers to enjoy their beers out of at home during the food and beverage outlet closures in July and then a free pint of Come Together Beer at Good Luck Beerhouse once the collaboration brew was ready and outlets opened again.
Allyson explains “We invited six breweries to COME TOGETHER and do what they do best, BREW! While we committed to list, represent, and sell the freshest beers from the participating brewers during and after this third lockdown.”
The beer pack went on sale last month with the collaboration brew itself officially launched on August 29th.
The 6 brewers were split into teams to decide on the Malt, Hops & Yeast that were to be used in the brew
The brewers had gathered in mid July at Good Luck’s sister production facility, the General Beer Company. Wanting to produce a light, refreshing beer yet jam packed with fruity hoppiness the brewers wanted to give themselves a technically sound challenge that will still appeal to most palates. They settled on brewing an India Pale Lager (IPL), a style not found in any of the six’s current repertoires.
They then proceeded to split into 3 teams, each tasked with a different aspect of the brew.
Daryl Yeap (Off Day Beer Co) and Ross Goh (Rye & Pint) formed Team Malt, Team Hops consisted of Mark Chen (Niang Brewery Co), Qing Yang and Ryan Yue (Alive Brewing), and Team Yeast saw Singapore’s own ‘Yeast Whisperer’ John Wei (Brewlander) join forces with Tyrell Foster (Civilization Brewing). Together, each team decided what went into the brew and how things were done.
Rising to the challenge, Team Malt chose to go with plenty of Pilsner malt with a touch of light caramelized malts and dextrin malts to give the collaboration beer a crisp, grainy profile with enough sweetness to serve as a stage for the hops to shine.
Team Hops then selected 6 hops to create a balanced flavour/aroma profile that leans on the tropical-fruity end of the taste spectrum. They were: Azacca, Cashmere, Ekuanot, El Dorado, Loral, Sabro! Incidentally the hop selection was also influenced by the team’s sentiment of having 6 hops to symbolise 6 breweries coming together, each complementing one another.
Lastly, Team Yeast responded to the grainy malt profile and the tropical-balanced hop profile with the use of a German Lager yeast “to create a neutral and clean tasting beer that allows for the hops to shine.” Treating this like the Germans do their lagers, traditional maturing techniques were followed to coax the beer to a crisp and refreshing finish.
The campaign has been met with a great show of support from Singapore’s craft beer faithful. The Come Together Beer Pack proved to be a top-seller through the Good Luck Beerhouse webstore and the collaboration brew launch last Sunday was well attended by taproom regulars and industry friends.
Despite the disappointments of the last 18 month and the tough market conditions they have been facing the craft brewers of Singapore are determined to push forward together to create their craft beer paradise on the tip of Southeast Asia.
The launch of the Come Together Beer at Good Luck Beerhouse was well attended by taproom regulars and industry players
