Craft Brewery Spotlight: Archipelago Brewery Company

Region: Singapore

Note: Our Spotlight articles break down how each producer's unique process results in the distinctive flavour profiles of their drinks and spirits. Click here to learn all about the basics of craft beers and why they are a big deal.

In this consumerist culture, what does it mean to patronise a brand? As we browse the store for the latest Adidas runners or take a sip of a bright orange fizzy Fanta, we’re probably more concerned about what else to buy next than the historical origins of these iconic brands. Yet, behind the sanitised logos of the brands we see in our daily lives, there are usually a few unexpected connections or oil spills in the Gulf.

Don’t get me wrong: this isn’t a post about boycotting brands! A modern-day Volkswagen employee surely doesn’t support the ideology of the brand’s Austrian founder. But the funny thing about brands is that as relatable or modern they may seem, they could well be really, really old. Brands can outlive the unusual periods when they were founded and keep on going into the modern age. If you peer into the history of a couple of familiar brands, you might have a fascinating window into the political realities of another time.

Older generations of Singaporeans fondly remember Archipelago Brewery Company, a company known for its employee welfare and healthy work culture. Back in the 1960s, jobs at “ABC” were well-paid and highly sought-after. Millennials of the 2000s know of a very different Archipelago. They see it as Singapore’s earliest craft brewery, one of the breweries that set the stage for Singapore’s very nascent craft beer scene in 2006.

Yet as I sipped on an Archipelago Summer IPA and browsed its history out of curiosity, I realised that Archipelago Brewery’s origin story brims with intrigue and some unexpected connections. In fact, the Archipelago name can be traced into the depths of Singapore's brewing history. Its 92-year journey from founding in 1931 to its present-day status as Asia Pacific Breweries’ modern craft brewery is a story of surprising cameos and plot twists. Sit down for this one because you’ll enjoy this slice of history.

Picture this: It's the early 1930s, and a group of German investors, including the renowned Beck's Brewery, set their sights on a sunny archipelago in Southeast Asia. They establish Archipel Brouwerij Compagnie NV in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta), aiming to quench the growing thirst for quality beer in the Dutch East Indies. (“Archipel Brouweriji” is Dutch for “Archipelago Brewery”.) A first brewery was set up in Batavia in 1931. A second brewery was set up in Singapore in 1933, which began producing beer for British Malaya. German brewing techniques and practices are employed, imbuing the product with an air of European sophistication. Among its early creations is Anchor Beer (or Anker Bier in Dutch-speaking places), a popular German Pilsner-style lager.

The public record from that period is unclear, but it appears that ABC Stout is another one of Archipel Brouwerij’s early creations. The brand proclaims to be Singapore’s first stout brand, and makes reference to “a German heritage”.

Now, here's where things get interesting. In 1939, following the German invasion of Poland, the UK declared war on Germany. The Colonial British government of Singapore begin seizing control of “enemy-owned assets.” Archipel Brouwerij, with its German connections, finds itself caught in the crossfire of global conflict and was annexed as enemy asset by the British.

The upheaval was the perfect opportunity for major beer producer Malayan Breweries Limited. Malayan Breweries was a recently-formed joint venture between Fraser & Neave and Heineken, and it already produced Tiger Beer, another popular commercial beer brand in the region. Acquiring the only other major beer brewery would help it consolidate the local beer market. In 1941, Malayan Breweries Limited purchased the brewery from the British and changed its name to an English one: Archipelago Brewery Company (1941) Limited.

The newly-purchased Archipelago Brewery continued to operate under Malayan Breweries’ control. But before the ink on the sale contract could try, Singapore fell to Imperial Japanese forces within less than a year.

In 1942, the British forces ceded Singapore to the Japanese, and the brewery was once again swept up in the tide of history. The Dai-Nippon Beer Corporation, the same company behind Sapporo and Asahi Beers, took control of the brewery, primarily producing beer for Japanese troops. The brewery now finds itself entwined with the Imperial Japanese rule.

With the end of World War II, Singapore was returned to British control in 1945. Archipelago Brewery Company resumed operations under Malayan Breweries Limited and expanded rapidly in the 1950s when an additional plant was added and processes became mechanised. The brewery consisted of a small brew master building with a pyramidal roof at the front, a larger building housing brewing equipment, and a bonded warehouse on the other side of the road where beer is bottled and kept.

Throughout the following years, Archipelago Brewery Company expanded its product range and distribution network, both within Singapore and across the Southeast Asian region from the 50s’ to the 80s’. The brewery was eventually closed in 1990 as brewing operations were shifted from Alexandra to a modern facility in Tuas, the West of Singapore. Incidentally, Malayan Breweries Limited rebranded itself to Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) in the same year.

The name “Archipelago Breweries” slipped under the radar over the next decade. It wasn’t until 2006 that the name was revived by APB and a team of craft beer brewers.

Re-commissioned with a new focus on craft brewing, the brewery embarked on a journey to create unique craft beers to add variety to APB’s diverse brand portfolio. Its tagline was “Singapore’s Craft Brewery”. In a very nascent Singaporean craft brewing scene in the 2000s, the modern incarnation of Archipelago Brewery became one of Singapore's first craft brewery (with Brewerkz being established in 1997). Archipelago was re-launched on 24 July 2006 with the help of renowned brewmaster Fal Allen who had experiences in the famous Anderson Valley Brewing Company from California.

Inspired by the diverse flavours of the region, Archipelago’s beers experiment with native Southeast Asian spices to create a distinctive flavour profile. With barley, hops and Asian herbs and spices the likes of calamansi, pandan leaf and coriander, a highly-localised beer has become Archipelago’s calling card; a beers that quench and intrigue local palates.

Notable Brews from Archipelago Brewery

Archipelago Brewery has a solid range of core beers available all year round that are highly focused on drinkability. A handful of its beers appear to have an unusual and distinctive Southeast Asian twist, with some interesting flavour profiles brought out by the addition of Asian herbs or spices.

Perhaps the most distinctively “Singaporean” beer in its core range would be the Singapore Blonde Ale, made with traditional Pilsner malt, Hersbrucker hops, with the addition of crushed calamansi lime and pandan leaves blended in late during fermentation to impart a certain Southeast Asian flavours seen in grilled meats and spicy salad dishes.

The Belgian Witbier is a delightfully smooth and wheaty Belgian-style beer with added orange peels and coriander to give it a very mild kick.

The rest of Archipelago Brewery’s lineup are inspired by traditional styles popular with most craft beer enthusiasts, including the well-balanced and fruity Tropical Pale Ale, the bold and hoppy Summer IPA, the more robust Pilsner-style Bohemian Lager, and the rich dark Irish Ale that combines six different malts to deliver a toasty caramel and chocolate flavour.

Limited edition brews are also available on tap at select Singapore taprooms (such as The Tuckshop) on a quarterly basis.

It's been over a 90-year journey and today’s Archipelago Brewery no longer resembles the Archipel Brouweriji of the 1930s’. But the next time you raise a toast with Archipelago’s craft beer, remember that you’re not only celebrating their tasty and uniquely Singaporean brew. You’re also revelling in the hidden depths of Singapore's brewing history from the 1930s’, with its blend of German roots and unexpected twists during World War II. The 90-year-old name of Archipelago Brewery remains despite the ups and downs of history: a testament to the resilience of the people of Singapore and their pursuit of both a better nation and better brew. So cheers to that and cheers to a lesson in Singapore’s history!

@CharsiuCharlie