Craft Beer in Thailand

23 Apr, 29 Apr
After being abroad for 6 months, one thing I really miss is flavorful beer. Sure, I can walk into any 7/11 and have my choice between Chang, Leo or Tiger, but these beers are equivalent to Natty Light. Can't believe I'm saying this, but even Bud Light sounds great right about now. Flavorful, "craft" beer is hard to come by in Thailand because the law prohibits making it. "It is illegal for anyone to brew their own alcohol, or even have the equipment to do so." If an offender is caught, he can risk 6 months in jail and up to a 5,000 baht fine. If he sells the liquor, he can be looking at a year behind bars and a 10,000 baht fine. Yikes. No wonder I can't find flavorful, cheap beer anywhere. Luckily, I work with some Americans who've been in Thailand far longer than I and have made it their mission to scope out establishments that can offer more for the palette than Chang and Leo.
Last Friday, Sam, Jamethon, Greg, Mary and I went to "I Hate Pigeons", a bar and thrift store that sells flavorful, craft beer made from underground brewers. When asked why they make these tasty beers, the brewmasters simply point out that prostitution's also illegal in Thailand... At the end of the day, I don't care why these brewmasters are choosing to brew, I just care that they are!
I was able to choose from a variety of beers, so I tried Vuur & Vlam, which is an IPA from De Molen brewing in the Netherlands and Ayinger, which is a wietbeer from Germany. Both were exceptional.
My co-workers also told me about Wishbeer Home Bar, which started out as a beer delivery service. Today they have a space located off of sukhumvit 67 which Jenna, Julianne and I visited this past Friday. Wishbeer was hosting a "De Molen 12 Tap Takeover" event. I was able to try a flight of 5 De Molen beers, including a light beer with citrusy notes, a beer flavored with wasabi, a dark, smoke infused beer, a chocolate caramel stout and an IPA. The flight of beers also came with a stroopwafel, which is a famous dutch waffle. While there, we noticed the guys sitting next to us at the bar were drinking green beer. We asked about it and they told us it was a homebrew that mostly just locals were familiar with. The hops for the beer come from the North of Thailand, as well as the mineral water used in the beer. Like most drinks in Thailand, the beer is incredibly sweet. The bartender let us try some-- it tasted a lot like the mint sauce you put on lamb meat. I'm so glad to have been able to satisfy my beer cravings.