The Archipelago Brewery is a Singaporean brewery owned by Heineken Asia Pacific (formerly Asia Pacific Breweries). It labels itself as "Singapore's Craft Brewery".

Archipelago Brewery
IndustryAlcoholic beverage
FoundedNovember 1933
24 July 2006 (re-commissioned) in Singapore
Headquarters459 Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim,
ProductsBeer
Production output
400,000 litres per annum
OwnerHeineken Asia Pacific
Websitearchipelagobrewery.com

History edit

In August 1931, with a capital of 5,250,000 guilders N.V. Archipel Brouwerij Compagnie (Archipelago Brewery Co.) was formed in Batavia (now known as Jakarta). The board was formed by the firm Geo Wehry & co. This company imported all by Beck brewery in Bremen to brew Koentji (key) beer. The first brewery was built in Batavia, it was made of steel framing, something in the Dutch Indies virtually not been done before. Wehry was a big trading company, started out in the tobacco. Wehry was later merged with Borsumij and then merged into the still existing Hagemeyer that time in the Dutch East Indies was established.

Archipelago opened a brewery in Singapore in November 1933, where it produced Anchor Beer.[1]

During World War II, the British deemed the brewery to be enemy territory due to its German ties and seized it in 1941. It was then bought by Malayan Breweries Ltd, which in 1990 was renamed Asia Pacific Breweries. In 2013, Asia Pacific Breweries merged to become Heineken Asia Pacific.

Archipelago Brewery is currently Heineken Asia Pacific's craft brewing arm. The old Archipelago Brewery was re-commissioned on 24 July 2006, with internationally acclaimed brewmaster, Fal Allen. Three variants of the Archipelago craft beers, namely Traveller's Wheat, Straits Pale and Traders Brown Ale were launched at Archipelago's flagship pub located on Circular Road in Singapore (now closed).[2]

The re-launch of Archipelago is consistent with Heineken Asia Pacific's objectives to add a new dimension to Singapore's beer industry; and to continue to grow its presence and stature locally.[3]

Archipelago Brewery produces boutique beers in small batches. In 2016, Archipelago Brewery brewed and sold 390,000 litres of beer. The Archipelago Brewery currently produces six permanent beers: Tropical Pale Ale, Singapore Blonde Ale, Belgian Wit, Summer IPA, Bohemian Lager and Irish Ale, in addition to limited edition or specialty beers.

Specialty Brews edit

Occasionally, the brewery creates speciality brews which are typically sold as limited-release products, produced in much smaller quantities than the regular brews. Previous speciality brews include:

  • Anderson Valley Brewing collaboration Pale Ale – Fresh seedless red Californian grapes were squeezed and added to boil in the last 5 minutes, along with Nelson Sauvin and Pacifica hops to give it a subtle orange and gooseberry hop aroma. After a week of cold conditioning, the beer was flushed into a separate tank containing dry hopping bags full of freshly cut and sterilised passion fruit. ABV 4.6%, Bitterness 32 IBU, Colour 25EBC
  • 1925 Archi Mango IPA collaboration – Various hops were used in the boil and whirlpool to give it flavours of grapefruit, orange and passion fruit. Fresh Mango was added on the 4-day of fermentation along with generous amounts of Centennial hops to give it herbal lemon citrus aromas. ABV – 5.55% Bitterness – 45 IBU.
  • Renku Lager – Dry hopped with Challenger (UK) and a dash of Japanese green tea which provides a clean fresh aroma of evergreen, wood and green tea tones.
  • HOPSALE – American Pale Ale with 8 types of hops added throughout different stages of the brew. 5% ABV
  • COCO's Cream – Nitrogen saturated smooth pour cream ale made with a large amount of cooking chocolate. 4.2% ABV

Awards edit

Year Organiser Winning Variant Award Category
2008 Brew NZ Samui Silver Fruit/Spiced/Herb/Flavoured Beer, Fruit and Vegetable
2008 Brew NZ Explorer Silver French and Belgian Style Ales, French-Belgian Style Saison
2010 World Beer Cup Straits Pale Silver International Pale Ale
2011 The Brewing Industry International Awards Belgian Wit Bronze Wheat Beer
2011 Australian International Beer Awards Belgian Wit Silver Witbier Style
2011 Australian International Beer Awards Irish Ale Silver British Style Pale Ale
2011 Australian International Beer Awards Summer Ale Bronze British Style Pale Ale
2011 International Brewing Awards Hickory Smoked IPA Bronze Specialty
2011 Brew NZ Bohemian Lager Silver International Lager Styles
2011 Brew NZ Irish Ale Gold British Ale Styles
2011 NZ Summer Ale Silver British Ale Styles
2011 Brew NZ Belgian Wit Bronze Wheat & Other Grain Styles
2011 Japanese Beer Awards Irish Ale Silver Irish Ales category, only medal in the category
2011 Japanese Beer Awards Bohemian Lager Silver International Lager Styles, only medal in the category
2011 Japanese Beer Awards Summer Ale Bronze English Style Summer Ales, only medal in the category
2012 Australian International Beer Awards Summer Ale Bronze English Summer Ale
2012 Australian International Beer Awards Irish Ale Bronze American Styly Red Draught
2012 Australian International Beer Awards Belgian Wit Silver Belgian Wit Draught
2012 International Beer Challenge UK Bohemian Lager Silver Lager
2012 International Beer Challenge UK Irish Ale Bronze Ales
2012 International Beer Challenge UK Sake Sorachi Bronze Specialty
2012 Brewers Guild Awards NZ Belgian Wit Gold Wheat & Other Grain Styles
2012 Japan International Beer Award Bohemian Lager Gold International – Style Lager
2012 Japan International Beer Award Summer Ale Bronze English Style – Summer Ale
2012 Japan International Beer Award Belgian Wit Bronze Belgian-Style Witbier
2014 Japan International Beer Award English Bitter Silver Ordinary Bitter
2014 Japan International Beer Award Belgian Wit Bronze Belgian-Style Witbier
2016 BeerFest Asia Singapore Belgian Wit Gold Belgian-Style Witbier
2016 BeerFest Asia Singapore Blemished Flemish Saison Silver Saison – Farmhouse

References edit

  1. ^ Lewis, Mark (1 December 2003). Rough Guide to Singapore. Rough Guides. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-84353-075-6. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Circular Road makeover to gather pace soon". Asia One. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  3. ^ "F&N Annual report 2006" (PDF).

External links edit