First, how did you get into beer brewing?
I was working at a bar in Seattle where they sold micro-brewed beer. I tried home brewing and started to pester the local brewer. He gave me a job pulling the bungs out of kegs. I moved to keg washing, keg filling and then to cellar operations and eventually, I got to make beer.
We heard you ploughed through places like Geylang sniffing out stuff to make beers with. What is your fondest smell?
I enjoy the wafting aroma of durian. Seriously, I do! It is an aroma unique to Southeast Asia and a flavour like no other. It is too bad that I cannot make durian beer. It would never sell. Many believe durian and beer when combined causes death, which is not true. I have tried durian and beer together several times and I am still here!
Is getting tipsy part and parcel of your job?
Not really. Drinking beer is part of the job, but one learns how to drink without getting tipsy!
The legal drinking age is 18. Do you think this should be so?
Eighteen is a reasonable age for young people to be able to buy alcoholic beverages, but people should be allowed to try these beverages at an earlier age while they are in the company of their parents. Parents should teach children about responsible consumption and the dangers of abuse. Eighteen is reasonable age if you had guidance when young. Otherwise, 40 is probably a good age!
Do you ever think that you’re increasing the number of alcoholics in the population by producing such yummy beers?
No, in fact it may be the opposite! I focused on quality not quantity. It’s always been about enjoying the flavours, not getting inebriated. I think the more one knows about and appreciates something, the less likely they are to abuse it!
