#TheFNBTribe: Meet John Wei
Beer Jedi & Chief Rocket Scientist of Brewlander & Co.
“Why have the notion that if it’s local, we have to do it lesser and tone it down?”
John Wei is the harshest critic of his own beers.
A well-known character in the regional home brewing scene, he’s also the founder and Head Brewer of Brewlander & Co., a home-grown craft beer company that’s pushing boundaries and changing perceptions of Singapore beers.
To John, there’s nothing more unforgivable than serving bad beer.
His mission: to brew world-class beer, not just ‘good local beer’.
“One of the things I feel very strongly about is the notion that Singapore beers are lighter, easier to drink, bland, non-offensive, and if anyone wanted a good IPA they have to buy imported beer.
Why have the notion that if it’s local, we have to do it lesser and tone it down?
I want people to say, ‘This is a good beer’. Not ‘this is a good local beer’ — that to me is not a compliment.
Don’t put us in another bracket or classify us as ‘safe’ just because we’re local. Judge us at the same standard as any international beer.”
On the craft beer culture in Singapore:
“I think we are a little behind.
10 years ago, we were probably ahead of many other Asian countries in terms of craft beer, except maybe Japan and China. We had guys like Brewerkz, RedDot, The Pump Brew doing more hop-forward, flavourful beers by the standards in those days.
Even 4–5 years ago, countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea only had a very small and almost non-existent craft beer culture. But within the last few years, they have overtaken us.
It all comes back to us being a little too comfortable, and being more food-centric than about the beverage, focusing more on ‘F’ rather than ‘B’ in F&B. That’s another reason why I wanted to start Brewlander as well.”
His standards are sky-high.
“Even right now, people have been supportive and tell me that our beers are good, but I’m still always finding ways to improve on our current range.
And I don’t think twice — if it’s not good enough it goes into the drain. If we have to incur that loss, we will.
At the end of the day, our measuring stick is very simple — if I can’t drink the beer myself, I’m not going to ask other people to do it.
I think it’s an attitude, whether it’s brewing or whatever you do. It’s a reflection of a person’s character.”
Not as glamorous as it looks.
“Some people confuse us with a pure contract brewery, which means you get somebody else to brew the beers for you or design the beers for you [and put your own brand on it].
But we are a gypsy brewery. This means that we rent tank space in a brewery, and we do everything ourselves.
We buy our own malt and hops — only the best ingredients — and I fly there [to the brewery in Cambodia] to brew, 3 weeks at a time.
It’s not as simple as just brewing the beer in 1 day and hope that magic happens.
There are things that require my attention, and a process I go through every day. For example, I taste the beer and do minor fixes if fermentation is not going according to its usual behaviour.”
Brewers are very OCD people about their craft.
“The brewery I brew at has always been a 1–2 beer kind of brewery, the kind that doesn’t do craft beer at all.
At first, the brewmaster couldn’t figure me out — I look very young and he has over 30 years of brewing experience. So when it came to my first brew, he tried to babysit me, but within the first 20 minutes, he said, ‘You seem to know what you’re doing, just don’t kill yourself!’
We’re very good friends now, and I thank him for entrusting me with his brew house. Brewers are very OCD people, because anything that goes wrong will screw up all the other beers. It’s very sensitive to contamination.
We get along great now. We support the same football club!”
He has an affinity with Saisons.
“Before Brewlander, I don’t think anyone else has brewed a Saison. It’s a Belgian farmhouse beer and one of the styles that is lesser known, even to brewers.
It’s a beer that I love to drink, and it’s also one of the first few beers that I brewed and turned out well. So along the way, I did more and more and got better at it. Likewise, I’m a little crazier when it comes to our yeast selection and fermentation schedules.
So in a sense, I became known as ‘The Saison Guy’. I share recipes and tips with other home brewers who want to brew Saisons.
When we launched our Saison, people told me not to do it. It’s still probably the beer that doesn’t sell as well as the others, because people don’t understand the style.
But Brewlander has to be a reflection of what we’re trying to do differently. We want to create something and educate people.”
What’s the way forward for Singapore craft beer?
“Beer should not be exclusive. It should be inclusive. I want more people to drink craft beer than mass-produced beer.
In my interviews, I don’t talk a lot about Brewlander or our beers. I always talk about the homebrew community. Asia beer. Singapore craft beer. And it’s something we try our best to do — help build up the community.
We have a responsibility not just to build a sound and solid ship, but the tide as well. There are many talented home brewers here. We hope that they can look at us and be inspired, and hopefully we’ll see more and more good Singapore beers.
If we raise the bar for everyone, we raise the bar for ourselves too. That’s the way forward.”
Experience a Brewlander beer for yourself at their stockists or events. Better yet, try their Saison!
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