Cheap cheap good good — the mantra is as Singaporean as chicken rice and pointless queues. When it comes to booze though, you can usually only pick one. Cheap means watered down San Miguel in a dive bar; good means possibly putting off that wedding for another year. Fortunately, there’s a way around this dilemma. Bottle shops allow you to enjoy some of the best brews in the world at a fraction of their bar prices and from the comfort of your own home. Here are our five favourites:
99 Bottles
#02-08 TIDES, 217 East Coast Rd., 9430-2750. Open Fri 6:30 — 9pm, Sat — Sun 1 — 8pm, Mon — Thu by appointment.
Opened by Daniel Goh of The Good Beer Company and Daniel & Esther fame, 99 Bottles doesn’t do itself justice. At last count they had closer to 300 bottles on offer (granted, that doesn’t make for a very good name). You have the reliable Americans (Anderson Valley, Magic Hat, Rogue, Stone and Victory), the off-the-wall Danes (Mikkeller and To Øl), Dutch (De Molen), Norwegians (Nøgne Ø) and Scots (BrewDog), as well as tried and tested classics from Belgium, Germany and England. Add to that a ton of limited releases and oddities – Revelation Cat “Take My AdWeisse” anyone? – and you can’t possibly start stocking up your fridge anywhere else.
Brewers’ Craft
#01-191, Blk 354 Clementi Ave. 2, 9815-2613. Open Mon — Tue 1 — 6:30pm, Wed — Fri 11am — 6:30pm, Sat 11am — 7pm, Sun and after hours by appointment.
What 99 Bottles is for Singapore’s East, Brewers’ Craft is for the West. In addition to most of the names mentioned above, they have an impressive collection of beers from Italy’s Birra del Borgo, brews from 11 different Japanese producers and new Belgians Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck and Brouwerij Verhaeghe. On top of the bottles, they also have a rotating cast of kegs tapped and ready to pour when you visit. If you’re really starting to get into craft beer and want to try making it for yourself, Brewers’ Craft is a short walk away from homebrew specialists IBrew.
East of Avalon Wines
281 Joo Chiat Rd., 6440-0504. Open Mon 3 — 9:30pm, Tue 3 — 10:30pm and Wed — Sun 11:30am — 10:30pm.
There’s nothing like the original, so while ciders and British beers are everywhere these days, the place to find them is still East of Avalon. From its unassuming shophouse it’s seen Joo Chiat evolve from shady to swanky in the four years it’s been open. What they promise is a comprehensive list of ciders from the UK (Aspall, Brothers, Thatchers and Westons), Australia (Coldstream and Pipsqueak) and New Zealand (Weka) to go with every distinguished bitter, ale and stout you could want from the likes of Badger, Fuller’s and Greene King.
The Outpost Trading Co
71 Joo Chiat Place, 6345-6457. Open Tue — Thu and Sun 2 — 10pm, Fri — Sat 2 — 11pm.
Located next to Smokey’s BBQ, the idea here is simple. Eat your fill of ribs and wings and then take the party back with you. The heavyweights like Stone and Magic Hat are represented alongside a few less common labels like Deschutes, Gordon Biersch and the Danish-American joint venture Evil Twin. The Outpost specialises in all things American from snacks to wine and if you’re after something a little stronger, check out their Bourbon and rye whiskeys.
Thirsty The Beer Shop
Liang Court #02-34, 177 River Valley Rd., 8307-1995. Open daily noon — 10pm.
Topping the list with over 400 beers from 20 countries, this Liang Court establishment is the Choose Your Own Adventure of bottle shops. While Thirsty carries a wide international range, it’s with the American beers that it really stands out. So, you’re well acquainted with all the big names? How about Acme, Alaskan, Alesmith and Avery? We don’t even have to go beyond the letter “A” to prove our point, but we will. From Bear Republic to Blue Moon, New Belgium to Ninkasi, Dogfish Head, Firestone, Lost Coast, Maui Brewing and Oskar Blues, you’d struggle to find a better selection Stateside. And if you don’t have time to visit, you can order from their online store.
Photos: Facebook
Read Also:
6 tasty savoury cocktails to try
Where are Singapore’s top sommeliers going to be on New Year’s Eve?
