Editor: Ever wondered what's the difference between an IPA and a lager? Never tried a sour beer before? Check out this craft beer appreciation workshop running in Singapore starting from August this year on selected late afternoons and evenings. 

The office is unusually quiet. Most of the senior management have already left. I've been keeping my fingers crossed. Please, no last minute "please fixs", or "could you do this ASAPs" or "client needs this". Ideally not on a Friday. Definitely not at late Friday afternoon. If all goes well, this would be the first Friday evening to myself in a long time. I check the clock at the corner of your screen. "5:55 PM". Screw it, I'm leaving for a beer. 

If your free Friday evenings are as scarce as mine, you might as well get a slightly better drink. Grab a cold one from the craft beer bottle shop around the corner in Shenton Way by Singapore's Central Business District.

Ang Mo Liang Teh (or 紅毛涼茶) is a Singaporean bottle shop that specialises in local and imported craft beers at very affordable prices. The phrase "Ang Mo Liang Teh" comes from Chinese dialect, and literally means "cooling tea of redheads". 

The early Singaporean Chinese had the hilarious misconception that all Europeans were redheads. (In fairness, Singapore was a colony of Britain, a country which has some of the highest percentages of redheads in Europe.) Refreshing beer is then analogised to Chinese cooling tea or "liang teh". This is probably how beer came to be metaphorised as "the cooling tea of redheads" in Chinese dialect.

Ang Mo Liang Teh was started by a passionate but surprisingly approachable and down-to-earth Singaporean craft beer enthusiast, Jerry Yang, who shares our passion for educating the general public about craft drinks.  

A former digital marketer, Jerry got into the world of craft beers after getting bored of the typical commercially-produced ones. Hoping to take others along in his journey of discovery, he founded Ang Mo Liang Teh – a retailer of a wide range of local and imported craft beers at affordable prices that would interest new drinkers of craft beer. 

Ang Mo Liang Teh's bottle shop is located at Eon Shenton building, along Singapore's Shenton Way.

In a bid to help drinkers learn more about craft beer, Ang Mo Liang Teh would be running 1-hour long craft beer appreciation workshops starting from August this year. Attendees would learn the most interesting aspects of craft beers including the ingredients involved, the process of beer-making and the different styles of beer (eg, lager, IPA, porter, stout, etc).

During the workshop, attendees would also get to taste 4 imported craft beers of different styles.

These are the four delicious beers we got to try (*this menu would change according to seasonal availability):–

1. The Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale 5.0% (first from right in photo) is a crisp and refreshing American Pale Ale that has a straightforward single-hop character and smooth maltiness.

2. Heretic Brewing's Make America Juicy Again (second from right) is a hazy New England-style India Pale Ale (NEIPA) that has a thick mouthfeel with fruity notes of tropical fruits and a very gentle hoppy-bitterness the result of using dry hops.  

3. The Briney Melon Gose (third from right) is what they call a sour beer which typically has a distinct tart taste acquired by wild bacteria and yeast. As its name suggests, the Briney Melon Gose is refreshing, tart with subtle watermelon flavours, balanced with and a mild note of sea salt.   

4. Heretic Brewing's Caramel Moo'chiato is a milk stout which had been brewed with milk sugars that do not get eaten by beer yeast. Lends a subtle milky sweetness to the dark notes of stout, leading to distinct notes of milk coffee and milk chocolate.

These beers have been selected to expose the attendees to a wider range of styles, and to also recommend friendlier and more refreshing flavour profiles that would be happy accepted by a new drinkers of craft beer. 

Each attendee would also be given a complimentary door gift of one bottle or can of craft beer. I took home a bottle of Singaporean brewery The 1925's iconic Lychee Pale Lager.

Our Take

The ambience was laid-back and casual. The workshop was well-structured with just the right level of detail for most folks someone who don't know much about craft beers. 

Most enticing were the craft beers that were refreshing, complex and certainly something we cannot find in the typical Harry's pub or local grocery store.

Each workshop session requires a minimum sign-up of 4 persons, with tickets priced at S$69.00 per pax.

Well worth checking out if you're in Singapore from August through year end!

Click here for further details, available dates and to grab your tickets!

@CharsiuCharlie

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Ang Mo Liang Teh

70 Shenton Way, Eon Shenton

Singapore 079118

IG: @amltsg | Facebook | Mobile: +65 9025 3388

Ang Mo Liang Teh is a bottle shop that specialises in craft beers at affordable prices.