Despite the obstacles thrown in their way by 2020 homegrown independent brewer Brewlander have started installation work on what will eventually be Singapore’s largest independent brewery.
The construction of the new facility was delayed by an uncooperative landlord who forced the team to look for an alternative home for the brewery at the last minute as well as the onset of the coronavirus and Singapore’s subsequent ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown period.
The 30 hectolitre brewhouse and fermentation tanks were delivered to the new facility in late June and installation is currently underway. Brewery founder and Head Brewer John Wei is hoping to start trial runs if the brewery in October with the first commercial brews sometime around November.
When fully operational the brewery will be able to produce 1.5 – 1.8 million litres of beer per annum with expansion space available to produce an additional 1 million more. This, combined with state of the art rotary bottling and canning lines which can fill 2,500-3,500 bottles/cans per hour respectively, will ensure they will be well positioned to meet the growing demand for craft beer around the island and oversees.
Explaining the decision to invest heavily in their packaging capabilities (they have also opted for centrifuge over filtration) John observed “I decided to invest a little more in terms of quality and reliability and ordered our fillers from Italy”, he continues this would ensure they deliver a shelf stable product and “a brewery fresh experience to our customers”.
He is excited with the possibilities that opening their own brewery will bring. Not only will they be able to brew their core Brewlander range at last in Singapore but the team is looking forward to expanding its ‘special projects’ with plans for wild fermentation, mixed fermentation and barrel aging to be carried out at the new site.
Until now Brewlander has had to brew most of their beers overseas and import them back into Singapore due to the lack of a suitable contract brewing facility in the island nation.
With this in mind, although the main focus of the new facility is to brew Brewlander’s beers, they are also willing to offer a limited amount of space to gypsy brewers of a ‘similar philosophy’ to them who may not yet have their own facility.
John explains how he started off as a gypsy brewer and “understands the challenges and key issues that really matter to a fellow brand owner”. He is hoping his experiences can be helpful to new brewers looking to gain a foothold in the craft beer industry. “I believe people know that I’m very seriously when it comes to processes and quality, and I believe our investment in this state-of-the-art brewery enforces that. More importantly, I’d like to think that there are other inputs outside of production that we can offer contract brewers that is equally important for success as a brand owner”.
With estimates of the craft segment of the Singapore beer market currently sitting at between 1.5-3% Brewlander is investing in the potential for a bountiful future in the island state as well as regional growth. In comparison, small and independent breweries in the USA reached 13.6% market share by volume (25% by value) in 2019. Singapore has a long way to go to realise its potential in this premium market.
When fully operational the new facility, located with Tuas Link MRT station on its doorstep will offer brewery tours and a tasting room readily accessible to the public. John hopes this will add to the growing interest around craft brewing in Singapore and “help create some buzz and collectively with our peers take the standard and offering of local craft beers in Singapore up another notch”.
