I have always wanted to visit Brewerkz Microbrewery, not the place but the brew area. After many time I tried, this year at last I manage to visit them. In 2008 I visisted Paulaner Brauhaus, 2009 APB, Archipelago and Reddot Brewhouse and 2010 Brewerkz. Still got a few in Singapore I must visit. But for this year is all about the Brewerkz.

Lucky for us we are able to meet up with Scott Robertson and Kim Wong on that day and lucky for us again that they are brewing one of the top seller the Brewerkz Golden Ale. When we were there, they just finished boiling the wort with hops and just about to transfer it to the fermentation tank.

As this place is not accessible by non-authorised personnel, as you can see in the picture any non-authorised personnel will be shot. But I didn’t see anyone with a gun there, maybe they are using some automatic gun hiding some where… haha

Like all visit, we will start with the process of how the whole brewing process works.

First we were shown the ingredient used. I tasted a lot of different grain from barley to wheat, from normal dried malt to roasted malt. All the flavour linger in my mouth reminds me a lot of the characteristic of the beer came from the malt the brewer choose to use. The aroma and the sweetness of the malt can be found in the beer but a lot more subtle. We even tasted hops for good time sake. (anyone that try hops before know that you don’t eat hops pallet)

Then come the mashing tun where the ingredient are mix with hot water. As Kim pour us a cup to drink, the mix grain juice is really nice. Is very nutty, sweet, aroma and reminds me a lot of chinese hot soup dessert. I can actually drink this all day. I bet it good for health too.

This is how the mixture look like in the mashing tun. Look a lot like cereal mix that you eat for your breakfast. But it taste real good and smell nice too.

Then the mix which is the wort will transfer to the kettle to boil with the hops to get the aroma and the bitter for the beer they are fermenting later. The temperature here are crucial as what type of bitter of aroma the want the hops release is the element for the outcome of the beer later.

After that the wort will transfer to the fermenting tank for fermenting process this can take up to a week depending on the yeast and beer type, then will transfer to the storage tank for another few more weeks for the taste to blend in and the beer to mature, depending on the beer they brew.

Lastly to the dispensing tank and are ready to serve to the customer at the outlet.

The end product is the crunch thirsty drink that will really make you appreciate the process of the brewing. The beer will taste nicer, as you know the time and effort that comes out of it to brew the beer, awesome. Is always nicer to visit a microbrewery compare to commercial brewery because there’s more to see, taste, smell and more hands up as well. I would like to thank Scott and Kim for bringing us around the brewery and the hospitality both of you show are really appreciated. Thank you and cheers for the beer!

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Actually it cross my mind before producing beer using rain water, too bad this guy from 5 Season Brewery beat me to it. Watch the video and the process of filtering the rain water and make the beer.

Although I’m not a brew master, I do learn from a few brewmaster that water will effect the body of the beer, as heavy mineral will the water hard (term brewer used) and less mineral mean softer water. Is all depends on what type of beer you producing at the same time what kind of body you looking for.

Maybe I should start collection rain water for my next brew. The beer that I produce may end up have higher acidic then alcohol… haha

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Malaysia 2 big brewery, Carlsberg and GAB just reported their financial for this quarter that end on 30 June 2009. Guinness Anchor Bhd’s (GAB) net profit for its quarter ended June 30 surged 41% to RM27.39mil from RM19.49mil in the previous corresponding period. While Carslberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd posted a net profit of RM12.88mil for the second quarter ended June 30, a decrease of 21.7% from a year earlier.

From the number we can clearly tell that GAB is leading the malt liquor market (MLM) share by conquering 57.1%. With that GAB had 68.9% of the MLM industry profit pool. So much advertising on the GAB brand have push forward their company market share.

As for Carlsberg, I believe give them some time and they will be able to get back some market share. Carlsberg new subsidiary Luen Heng F&B Sdn Bhd have contribute on the imported beer market, especially Hoegaarden which become very popular in the city. From this view Carlsberg will have a better head start on imported beer which become new trend of drinking beer.

For now GAB have lead the pack of the MLM in Malaysia. I believe they will continue do so, as GAB have a lot of advertising to offer in their brand.

Again why I left out Napex (Jazbeer) is because they are still in market. They do own some market share, as Jazbeer is cheaper then the rest of the local beer. As for the brand, still need time and direction to gain more market share.

I see the growing of beer market, although financial crisis has reduce people from spending. For GAB case, their market still during this period. I guess the right promotion and marketing can really sale more beer. If you see the newspaper advert, they did a brilliant job. Until the quarter, we will analyst again who got a better MLM share in Malaysia. Cheers!

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