This August I revisited Bangkok after several years, catching up with friends and visiting old favourites – and some new venues.
Brewing and alcohol laws in Thailand are complex and have changed (for the better) a fair amount in recent years. I believe until recent law changes only a brewpub and a mass production license were available. This resulted in illegal brewing, or legally brewing in a neighbouring country with brewers then having to import their beer into Thailand to sell it. Duties and taxes are still high, but there are now more legal routes to brew and distribute in-country. There is also a large import market and lots of craft beer venues, but the duties and taxes keep prices very high. The most expensive beer I saw on this visit was about £14 for 350ml – an imported 8.9% Vault City & Overtone collaboration. The cheapest local craft beer was around £4.50 for a similar measure. Local lager can be found for around £2 (or more, or less – depending on where you are).
My first stop after landing on a Saturday afternoon was Hair of the Dog in Phrom Phong. They were founded in 2015, and have 2 locations just off Sukhumvit. Their first bar was my local when I lived in Phloen Chit in 2017. Their Phrom Phong bar opened a year later and is slightly larger with a gin bar mezzanine floor. They offer 13 taps of craft beer at each location – all recently kitted out with Czech side pour taps. Both bars also offer cocktails and a large beer fridge for drink in and takeaway. Canadians Mike and Pete originally worked in Bangkok’s Mikkeller bar, the first international craft beer bar in the city before opening Hair of the Dog.
I also visited Duke of Beerington, a small bottle shop with 3 taps in Thong Lor, opposite a Japanese isakaya which you can order food from. Since my last visit I was pleased to notice that Japanese breweries appear to export and can far more than they did several years ago, and that those cans are making it out of Japan. Duke often has a full fridge of UK beers from breweries like Verdant and Track, alongside a lot of American beers and more recently the legal Thai brews and Japanese imports.
I had a start to my Tuesday evening which turned out to be controversial with at least one friend – visiting a house bar called Om’s Living Room. It turns out it may not be the most licensed of establishments – though as mentioned, Thailand’s beer rules haven’t always been the easiest to work under. Om serves exclusively Thai beer and, as the bar style and name suggest, is literally the ground floor of a residential building.
I moved on to Finger Heart (named for the finger and thumb heart gesture I believe was popularised by K-Pop) – a small bottle shop offering a mix of local and imported beer, including impressively priced (for Thailand) bottles of 3 Fonteinen.
I then visited a Chit Hole for the first time. Chit started out as Thailand’s most infamous home brewer, often being shut down by the authorities for short periods. His original bar is located on the artificial island of Pak Kret in the Khaopraya river which can only be visited by boat. I didn’t get a chance to make that journey on this trip, however there are now a series of bars named the Chit Hole across the city, often cohabiting with a restaurant or other business. These bars serve exclusively Thai beer, and I enjoyed Chit’s own Hipster IPA (7.2%) and Top Hill (6.5% Porter).
On Wednesday I rejoined my former quiz team at an ‘English’ style pub, the Royal Oak on Sukhumvit Soi 33 – where we won the quiz! Beers in here are the often found local lagers, as well as Guinness and Punk IPA.
On the following Saturday I arranged to meet with old friends to visit a couple of bars in Chinatown, after meeting for lunch and visiting a couple of coffee shops along the way we ended up at Tai Soon, a very nice old building full of exposed brick and concrete, with a high entryway adorned with Chinese lanterns. Fully half the taps were Thai beer so I tried an amazing Yuzu mead (Sanghok brewing, 5%) and Humble Flow (Lollihops brewing, 6.4% IPA) among others.
We then took a short walk up the road to a brand new bar in the rear grounds of an old mansion, Two Palms taproom. About half their taps were Two Palms beer, and they offered flights so I made significant inroads into the menu with 2 flights of various Two Palms, Maalstroom and Sunrise brewing beer – all Thai brewers. We then took a long and traffic jam hindered Grab taxi back to Sukhumvit, and a final beer (ok, several final beers) at Hair of the Dog Phrom Phong.