343 days later

Yes, it has been that long. July 24th will mark our first anniversary of selling the new Archipelago beers. One year. Whoa ! It has been a pretty good year, we have released our three main beers (Traders Brown, Traveler's Wheat, & Straits Pale) at first only on draft and now in bottles too. We have brewed several new beers (both traditional styles and spiced), we have done a lot of interviews and events, and we've made a lot of new friends.

On the new beer front we crafted Ming; made with Goji berries and orange peel. Keeping our beer line diverse and interesting (we don't want to do just spiced beers) we brewed a couple of very traditional beer styles; we made Java, a traditional Bavarian Dark Lager (cold fermented with 60 days of lagering), and the Pilsner Gold was our version of the world's most brewed beer style (it sold out quickly so it must have been tastier than most). Blending tradition with a touch of innovation we brewed our Saison Sayang for the Crystal Mirror dinner theatre in the Padang. It was a traditional southern Belgian farm house ale style with a hint of the east (we blended in star anis, coriander and lemon zest). It was so popular we brewed a second batch. If you have not tried any of these beers and would like to, head on down to one of our two Archipelago flagship outlets.

For our first anniversary we have created a special new beer, we named it Samui (after Koh Samui in Thailand - hoping to capture some of that relaxing-laying-on-the-beach feeling). Samui is again a foray into our concept of blending European brewing tradition with the Asian cooking tradition. Samui is a sparking light beer made with a small percentage of wheat, to that we have added Kalamansi lime and a touch of Pandan leaves. The resulting beer is light and citrusy, with a hint sweetness form the Pandan, a beer that is refreshing in a way like no other beer we know of. And the aroma - wow ! Drop by one of the Archipelago outlets after July 6th onwards.

We are having promotions and events all through July so keep an eye out (we are even giving away 2 trips to Koh Samui !!) For more details on the event and our flagship outlet locations check http://www.archipelagobrewery.com/.

In the future we promise to continue our exploration of flavors. What can you expect ? Well, nothing is final until it's in the bright beer tank, but I am very interested in discovering more about Pandan leaves, we are planning to brew a British style Pale Ale (for all you Anglophiles out there), we like the flavor of the Queen of fruits - Mangosteen (although it is seasonal and hard to work with - so we'll see) and, Spiralina is still on the table, as is Kewra (an Indian pandanus fruit extract), maybe a Chinese mushroom beer or something with curry leaves, Porter is out there on the horizon somewhere, and maybe we'll bring back the Pilsner (who knows, people liked it). We'll all just have to see what the next 343 days brings.