Of Bangkok & Phuket & a Microbrewery

I'm just back from a long-awaited holiday to Thailand! More specifically, we were in Phuket the last week (without Bryan ..) - the trip was initially planned to be for Bangkok in order to do some really hardcore clothes-shopping to last Bryan the next 2-3 years, but unfortunately the Bangkok Shutdown occurred a day before. In face of mounting violence, we ended up re-routing to Phuket instead.



It was quite a forgettable trip, to be honest. Don't get me wrong - Phuket would have been nice for a beach holiday, but we were all hyped up for shopping instead. Shopping there was just blah. The usual touristy memorabilia - "I Love Phuket" shirts and the such. We did manage to get some pieces of clothing, but nothing as diverse as what we could've gotten at Platinum Mall in Bangkok.

On the bright side though, we indulged in a touch of compressed air after a 1.5 year hiatus! So we reached Dive #76 on this trip. We opted for Super Divers due to the good reviews (the good price doesn't hurt either!), and headed out for a day trip to dive Koh Phi Phi.

Diving was just OK - visibility wasn't great, maybe 10-15 metres, but it could have been due to the full moon that day. Our dive guide, unfortunately, wasn't a fantastic spotter either. But at least we got to see leopard sharks!

And now for the beer-related stuff. There's just 1 microbrewery in Phuket, and it was along our shopping route at Jungceylong Shopping Centre so we stopped by for a quick drink. Ambience was nice, but location was a little elusive even though they were at the Mall, since it's actually kind of hidden away behind a replica junk. They offered 3 beers on their menu - a wheat, an amber, and a lager. Of course, we tried all 3!

The lager wasn't too bad in terms of taste - clean, almost no discernible sulphur, a mild yeasty/estery note. However, it was horrible to look at, reminiscent of muddy water. I don't think they were aiming for a typical crystal-clear lager though, judging by their menu's photograph. Carbonation was too low for a lager, and the head dissipated very quickly.

The amber was ok. It was a tad clearer than their lager, with just about the right amount of carbonation and a head that persists reasonably. Aroma was predominantly caramel with a noticeable phenolic smell - water problems? The mouthfeel however was really too thin - there was no body to support all that caramel. It had good ester notes under the phenols though.

Worst of the lot was the wheat. We had no idea what they were trying to do! It was served in a goblet (??!?) and was nicely effervescent with a thick head. Phenols again in the aroma, and something else that's really quite off - neither of us could figure it out. The bittering was, in my opinion, the deal-breaker - it was jarring and harsh, and clashed horribly with the coriander which was over-powering. Very mild clove flavours in the taste, but that's about it. Forgettable, and not worth finishing.

It's pretty sad, but I really did prefer downing a bottle of Chang Beer to the offerings in this brewery.