First, the guys from Brewerkz started following us on Twitter!

What’s the big deal? We know someone’s reading this blog! Well, we’ve been diehard fans of Brewerkz for almost 10 years now. I read a feature of one of the partners a few years back and absolutely admired their grit when starting Brewerkz. But most admirably, they make some of the best beer we’ve ever tasted! My personal fav is the Golden Ale or maybe the Wheat Ale, damn I’ll have both, enjoying beer shouldn’t be about choices!

Next, a new microbrew is opening in Singapore! Tawandang Microbrewery from Thailand will open their taps at Dempsey on 3rd July. We’ll do a field report and let you know how it rates.

A lot of friends or people we meet overseas ask us where’s the best beer pub in Singapore so we’re taking this opportunity to list the microbrews here.

Of course, the first place we recommend is Brewerkz. Absolutely crazy happy hour prices, huge TV screen for sports and free WIFI! Despite having expanded, the best location is still Riverside where reservations mean everything on Friday and Saturday nights.

Here’s the others in no order of preference.

The Pump Room – At Clarke Quay and Great World City. Our pick: Scottish Ale.

Red Dot BrewHouse -  The other microbrew at Dempsey Road and it’s opened by a Singaporean who had a dream, we salute you. Our pick: Monster Green Lager.

Archipelago - Setup by Asia Pacific Breweries, who brew Tiger beer. Our pick: Explorer, which you can only get at Duty Free at Changi Airport.

Paulaner Brauhaus – Part of the Paulaner chain which you’ll find in numerous other cities. Our pick: Oktoberfest beer.

In Tokyo, I’ve found Japanese to be extremely friendly once you get past the niceties and even more helpful will be the language of kanpei! Dry Dock in Shimbashi, Tokyo, is one such pub that truly brings people together. I was introduced to this pub several trips ago by a local friend and I’ve made it a habit pitstop here each time I’m in town. Despite this infrequency, the staff know my name and I occasionally bump into regulars. And without fail, I’ve always made new friends at this pub who’ve introduced me to their other favourite places.

If you’re looking for a local experience, this is the place to be. I’m always the only foreigner in this cramped, tiny watering hole. No more than 40sqm of floor space is spread across 2 floors, with regular tremors caused by the Shimbashi railway tracks just above it. Sato-san, the resident bartender, speaks good English, very friendly and extremely knowledgeable about beers. He’s got a technique at pouring draft beers, a third head, that makes the beer extremely smooth. I’m sure he can make any beer taste like gold.

This is one of the rare Tokyo pubs I’ve been to that carries local microbrews or ji biru. I’ve had the opportunity to sample so many special beers there, I don’t even know where to begin describing. And through the hospitality of Sato-san, I’ve even had the privilege of sampling some of his reserves including sakura (cherry blossom) beer out of a plain aluminium can that wasn’t even labelled! Highly recommended if you’re searching for a friendly, local pub and not intimidated by small spaces.

If you are up for it, a map is found on their site at http://www.shimbashi-dry-dock.com

On this night, I was led straight into the den of Drunk Bears, a pub in Akasaka, Tokyo. There are tons of restaurants and bars in this area serving the legions of office workers in this area. Drunk Bears is located right on ground floor of the Prudential Tower but what makes this different from the rest is its menu of about 100 different beer bottles.

Drunk Bears at Akasaka

What impressed me was its truly international selection of bottles. Most pubs that I’ve been to with similar boasts typically stocked up on British, Belgian and German beers. But Drunk Bears really searched the corners of the world to create their menu. There were labels from Russia, Peru, Cuba, Greece, Jamaica.

It’s been surprisingly difficult to find Japanese microbrews in Tokyo even though there are over 120 labels around. So I started with a sip of Japanese history by selecting the only local microbrew beer on the menu called Meiji Ishin (in reference to the Meiji restoration). significant social and economic reforms. During this time, industries like beer brewing, dairy production and Japan’s first railway system were introduced. This beer in particular featured a man on the label – Toshimichi Ohkubo, one of the great personalities of the Edo and Meiji era. Other nuggets of history on the label showed that this man, was famed for defeating his political rival, Saigo and was eventually murdered at the age of 48 in 1878.

It was during this period that set Japan on course to being a developed country.

Strangely enough, I think beer and politics have had a long association. When I was in Philadelphia last year, I learnt as much about the Pioneers as I did about their love for homebrews! I’ll save this for another time…

Moving into modern times, the next label I had to try was Maccabee, from Israel. I’ve seen Jewish drink on television but I’ve never pilsner but wasn’t that memorable in taste.

Finally, the last bottle I tried was Bohemia, from the same Mexican brewers as Dos Equis. I had to try it as one of my buddies, Mike Hoban, once raved about Dos Equis and I gave the beer credibility by association to help filter my selection process!

Its an easy beer to drink, pilsner style beer but not one I would have ended my night with. In retrospect, I should have started with the Maccabee, followed by Bohemia and then the Meiji Ishin. Still, I’m 3 beers closer to sampling every beer in the world!

Mexico's Bohemia Pilsner - light and goes down easy