OnTap Magazine

18 | Summer 2025 | ontapmag.co.za ceremonyfortheevent’ssistercompetition. This year, almost 800 beers were entered into the Asia Beer Championship, from more than a dozen Asian nations. China dominated the winner’s podium, but medals were awarded to breweries across India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam, among others. Vietnam’s 7 Bridges Brewing Co. took the top award, being named Champion Beer of Asia for their Heritage Super Dry Rice Lager. We watched the awards with fellow South African Matt Bradley, who started his beer career at Saggy Stone Brewing Company in Robertson and is now lead brewer at Hong Kong Beer Co. He and his team picked up seven medals, including a gold for their session IPA, as well as being named Hong Kong Country Champion. “I believe Asia is the next frontier for beer,” said Matt. “Brewers love experimenting with flavours in beer, and people receive it well. You just have to look at how much flavour is in the food to see how people appreciate boldness on the palate.” Lucy speaking at Brew Asia Lallemand lounge at Brew Asia Game plan at Brew Asia Award winning beer with the Hong Kong Beer Co team FEATURE BEER IN BANGKOK It’s a hot and humid Saturday morning and a coach-load of beer industry professionals are heading off to explore the breweries of Bangkok. The excesses of the city – and two days at a beer conference – are showing on a few faces, mine included. Such is the sheer size – and the volume of traffic – of Bangkok, it takes us an hour to reach our first stop. But it is worth every minute of travel to get here. I think it’s the first time I’ve had to take a boat to reach a brewery, for Chit Beer sits on Koh Kret, an island in the middle of the Chao Phraya River. This adorably ramshackle taproom isn’t just lapped by the river. Twice a day, the entire bar is flooded as high tide brings knee-high waters to all drinking within. But it all just adds to the charm of this place. Chit Beer is run by the inimitable and infinitely likeable Wichit Saiklao, better known as Chit. As well as being a colonel in the Thai army, Chit is considered the godfather of both homebrewing and craft beer in Thailand. His perpetually beaming face and infectious laughter make you want to stay all day and hear his stories. And they really are great stories. Chit estimates that he has taught more than 5000 people how to homebrew on this very spot since starting 13 years ago. The brewing system is rudimentary at