Craftier Than Before: An Inside Look Into Bangkok’s Exploding Craft Beer Scene

Behind Door Number One…

The event was on the roof and two elevators were taking eight people heavenward at a time. The event invitation had promised 1,000 free beers, one for each of the first 1,000 people to arrive. Like a contestant on The Price is Right, I waited for the elevator doors to open to the disappointingly familiar sight of a Thai woman in a Chang bar skirt holding a tray of the seaweed-green bottles.

To my surprise, when the doors opened, the trumpets sang and the doves were released. I saw brewers standing alongside their creations, one hand resting on the tap handle like it was their best friend’s shoulder. I hopped in line with the polite urgency of someone who wanted nothing more than to ruthlessly push their way to the front, were it not for the respect I had for others who had come to pay their respects to the deities of ale and brew.

Shockingly, the free beer handed out with the purchase of beer coupons was on par with those being sold mere meters away, calming the nerves of anxious and skeptical early comers. The sun was setting over the city and the day wasn’t quite as hot as those that had preceded it. I walked around, half-full plastic cup in hand, letting my fear of disappointment wither and die.

The event had promised food and I found it among popular food truck vendors that had had a much easier time migrating from hip western cities to Southeast Asia than craft beer. The free beer paired well with a juicy, in-n-out style burger from Daniel’s Thaiger Burger, and I knew I would need food in my stomach before what was to come.

Ryan Farley / Own Work