[Beer Review] Samata Brewing Made Thailand's National Dessert The Mango Sticky Rice A Sour Beer, We Taste Test It!

The Thai craft beer scene is among the most vibrant and localised in Southeast Asia, yet remains deeply rooted in grassroots culture, with much of its landscape arguably thriving in the subversive underground. And maybe that's exactly what it takes to eke out creative expression. Malt, water, yeast, counterculture and tropical fruits are arguably the recipe for Thai craft beer-making, the last of which being optional.

For decades, beer brewing in Thailand has been pretty much an industrial scale activity. Yet the past decade, many aspiring brewers have pushed for a relaxation of legislation to allow for craft brewing to exist alongside the nation's oligopoly of mega producers. Changes have been incremental, yet sufficient to put a foot in the door so much so that a number of Thai craft brewers have emerged. Without getting into the logistical details of how they've made it happen, what's been most impressive about the whole thing is the resilience and perseverance of these craft brewers who have not only managed to put their beers in the fridges of Thai bottle shops and taprooms, but in the decade since, have even grown a regional brand for themselves, with even a national identity beginning to emerge - all of which, pretty much from under the carpet. That's a whole lot that's been achieved with very little to work off on, made possible only because of their passion and resourcefulness.

Whilst there have been numerous craft brewers from Thailand pushing forward that frontier, at least one of them stands out as a name that really ought to be household for any discussion of Southeast Asian craft brewing - that is, Samata Brewing.

Established in 2016 by Superchote, affectionately known as Chote, Samata Brewing has become known for its confectionary-style pastry sour beers, which increasingly take on beloved Thai flavours - from internationally renowned favourites such as Mango Sticky Rice and Thai Milk Tea, to more local treats like Lod Chong and Farang Buay, the former an icy dessert of green rice noodles ladled with sweetened coconut milk and palm sugar, whilst the latter is a street snack of crisp green guava slices steeped in a salty, tangy Chinese plum brine.

Chote during his visit to Singapore at Smith Street Taps.

Yet, Samata Brewing, whose name was coined by Chote's wife and comes from a combination of both their first names, didn't immediately find its localised signature. In fact, in the early days, like many other craft brewers, Samata had mostly focused on producing IPA's. Chote, a graphic designer by trade, had studied in America where he was first exposed to the hoppy IPA's that ignited the American IPA boom in the early 2000's, which became his first foray into craft beers, showing him that beers could showcase so much variety and detail. He would eventually visit a friend in Switzerland, only to find out that her husband had brewed his own beer right in their basement with his very own small scale 40 litre wood-fired copper kettle, which deeply inspired Chote to learn about beer brewing when he had returned to Thailand. Chote would come to find out that the several places best known for teaching craft brewing in Thailand each had a 7 month wait time, and so would eventually figure that a three week course in Chonburi would make more sense. He would eventually learn the basics of mashing and even make his very own wheat beer, eventually picking up his own electric kettle.

"My own first batch: the beer wasn't good, but you've got to drink it to know!"

By then Chote was hooked on brewing his own beers and would eventually enter a local Thailand Homebrew Competition, and much to his surprise, would place second. With time, he would graduate from wheat beers to IPA's, and once he had gotten started on using hops, there was no looking back. At the time, hazies had just popped off, and so Chote with his fascination for the beer's appearance, would devote himself entirely to the style, which proved to be what Samata Brewing was first known for!

Yet, Chote's world was about to turn on its head once again when a friend had returned from overseas with fruited sour beers in stow. "Because, to be honest, hoppy beers were just about changing the label. Whoever makes it, if they use the same yeast and buy the same ingredients, it comes out the same. There's no differentiation, no clear signature of your own. Plus, at that time I had a lot of free time. I had the chance - friends and younger folks who brought beer back from abroad - and I got to taste a style called fruited sour. They poured me one and I was like, whoa, what is this? It was thick, really thick, like a fruit smoothie. And I was baffled - what the hell is this, is it really beer? It is beer. And how do you even make it? That sort of thing. Once I'd tasted a bit, there happened to be a friend who'd bought loads of them and wanted to offload some, so I took the lot - 30 cans. And that's it: with all that free time I sat there sipping, sat there picking them apart, thinking, how do you do this? Until I started going out to find suppliers to work with." recounts Chote.

From there Chote would begin toying with his newfound love, finding that the fruited sour style provided a better canvas to localising Samata's flavours, thus allowing the brand to etch its own signature. This would ultimately push Samata even further ahead, not only being amongst the first to bring the fruited sour style to Thailand (and much of Asia), but to be the first to tackle head on his own homeground's most beloved flavours. "But the era when things really changed, when I properly started making sours was during Covid. At the time so many people were making hazies, and I felt I was getting bored of it. When I got the chance to line up at Brewlander in Singapore, at that time [even though Chote had wanted to focus on sours proper] I still had to make an IPA too, because I was worried people didn't quite get sours yet. Back then it wasn't a core thing at all, but people were starting to know us from making fruit beers. Still, there wasn't much love for it yet, and it was still Western in style. Raspberry cheesecake, piña colada - still Western. Until about three or four batches in, near the time we were opening our own brewery. Once we opened our own place we'd experimented a lot and started to get the point: hey, doing it this way is better, it's more fun, it suits us, it fits our cue. Once we'd done a lot of Western-style stuff we got bored of it - it's like just throwing fruit in, it doesn't build into a menu, people can't take the idea any further," says Chote as he reflects on the turning point.

Mango Sticky Rice, a Thai national treasure!

Chote goes back even further to say, "from the very beginning, at first we didn't know we had to use puree. We only knew that a fruit beer needs fruit in the beer to help the fermentation, so we'd buy fruit, peel it, scrape it, take the flesh without blending it and put it in at fermentation, that’s in the early days. But being a chubby kid who loves eating, I wanted to put desserts in, or things I liked. So in the end I had to talk to my girlfriend at the time, who was studying pastry. I'd drop her off and had her learn with a chef, and the chef drank beer too. He suggested, hey, there's this one - egg, cheese, fruit flesh, that sort of thing. So I thought, interesting, let's give it a go. It was tricky at that point, but it went far. When I made it, we were wowed by the result. We didn't think cheese could work together with fruit and beer! Simply put, we were trying to do what they [the Westerners] were doing. But in the early days, we were just following them - it was all Western stuff, chocolate, ice cream, this and that. But as I kept making it, the turning point was that we wanted our own signature, so people would know, hey, if you're drinking this it's got to be Samata's. So we brought in Thai desserts."

The Thai flavoured fruited sour ultimately became Samata's calling card, and has put the emerging incredibly innovative Thai brewery, now based in Bangkok, on the map, establishing it as one of the leaders in Thai craftbrewing, and perhaps most impressively one that has helped to carve out a distinctive national identity for the country's craft beers, all whilst simply trying to find its signature. And so if you're ever in Thailand (or even Singapore, Hong Kong or China), definitely look out for Samata Brewing and get started on discovering the vibrance that is Thai craft brewing - it is proud of its heritage, subversive in its embrace of counterculture and one that ultimately ropes you into the country's rich history and evolving craft brewing story.

With all that said, it's time to try Samata Brewing's flagship Mango Sticky Rice fruited sour!

Beer Review: Samata Brewing Mango Sticky Rice Fruited Sour, 4% ABV

Mango, Coconut, Salt.

"Considered the gem of Siam, mango sticky rice has over 300 years of history. Honoring the time-tested recipe, with a twist, this fruited source introduces a burst of sweetness and aroma from pure Nam Dok Mai mango and smooth texture from coconut milk with a touch of salt to finish off the elixir. Every sip will bring you through a journey through the history of Thailand." reads the back label.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Butter Yellow

Aroma: Bright and tropical! Super fresh and juicy aromas of ripe mango nectar and pomelo zest that jumps out at you. I also get a bit of yoghurt milkiness, oatmeal and coconut cream notes reminds me of a mango smoothie. 

Taste: A nice citrusy pomelo twang to kick us off, before you’re smoothly transitioned into flavours of plush mango pulp, coconut milk and a bit of malty butterscotch biscuits. Gradually, some malty oatmeal and digestive biscuit notes emerges. It’s all combines together to be quite plush and rounded on the body, and it feels like you’re taking a giant bite out of a mango creamsicle.

Finish: Medium with a lingering mango gummies, vanilla yoghurt and rice starch notes. 

Our Thoughts 

Another hit from Samata! Super approachable sessional flavours that is perfect for enjoying on a sweltering afternoon. Very fresh tropical flavours with bold mango sweetness and a nice restrained coconut milkiness helping to add dimension to the overall beer. The maltiness in this beer is quite subtle, but when it shows up, adds a really delightful buttery smoothness to the beer. It leans more confectionary and sweet, so skip your dessert, and just drink this instead!

@lotusroot518