(From left) Liew, Gerner, and Wong introduce 1602 Craft Beer’s selection of Pale Ale, Wheat, Lager, and Extra Dark.
KUCHING (Feb 8): Sarawak’s first domestically produced craft beer selection — Wheat, Pale Ale, Extra Dark, and Lager — will be officially launched tomorrow.
Global Sales and Marketing Sdn Bhd chief financial officer Wong King Wei explained the year 1602 was when one of the earliest maps of Borneo was first published based on the travels of a voyager who anchored on the island.
“We see that is a very cool spirit, not because of the difficult voyage, but a beautiful island called Borneo was able to be made known to the other parts of the world through the voyage, and because of the publication (of the map), the world knew that there is a place called Borneo,” he told reporters during an introduction for 1602 Craft Beer here yesterday.
According to him, 1602 Craft Beer would reintroduce Borneo, prove that Sarawak could actually produce its own beer, and mark the state as among the brewers of the world.
“1602 is very meaningful, eventful, and historic to the island of Borneo and we want to make a beer that belongs to Sarawak and also Borneo,” Wong said.
He revealed that 1602 Craft Beer is handcrafted by brew masters Malaysian Randy Liew and Hans Gerner from Bavaria, Germany.
For the past few years, Liew has been a consultant for breweries and travelled the world, mostly in Southeast Asia to set up different kinds of breweries according to brands and identity based on client requirements.
“I recently had the opportunity to get to know Dato Sri Vincent Lee (Ki Lung), who does brewery in Malaysia and I thought it was almost impossible here but once I found out it is legitimate, I jumped on board because as a Malaysian, I would like to contribute back to Malaysia.
“After all these years of doing craft brewing all over Southeast Asia, I have never done anything for Malaysia, so this is my opportunity to contribute,” said Liew.
Gerner comes from a family related to beer-brewing since 1308, with his father, grandfather, and great-grandfathers also in the trade.
“Over the years, there is always a bit of difficulty as getting a licence to start a brewery is not as easy as the western countries but I eventually received an invitation from Liew to start brewing together with him in Sarawak,” he shared.
Wong stressed Lee has been in the beer industry for quite some time.
“He dreamt about being able to manufacture our own beer, so he started by brewing industrial beer, but at the end of the day the industrial beer has been in the market merely for the demand.
“When it comes to the quality of an industrial beer, which comes in a bottle or a can, it has poorer quality as compared to craft beers where the brewing method is the most original to produce better fragrance and taste.
“Lee then changed the whole idea from manufacturing industrial beer to craft beer, and that is why he approached the two brew masters,” related Wong.
Liew added Gerner came all the way from Germany to work in Sarawak — two different cultures blending together.
He explained that 1602’s Pale Ale and Extra Dark are more like English and Irish style beer, while the lager has undergone traditional German lager brewing by using a traditional yeast strain for fermentation.
“We made it into our mission that we are not going to be a copycat just to make one style that everyone else is selling.
“We also would like to showcase that we can do more and there is supposed to be more so that is the reason why we see popular industrial beer brands that have been around for years yet they only have one or two types of beers, while 1602 Craft Beer has been in the market for less than a year and we have four,” said Liew.
1602 Craft Beer is currently available on tap at several eateries, entertainment centres, and mini marts in Kuching and Sibu.
It will soon be available in Miri and Kota Kinabalu, as well as Kalimantan Barat.