Your guide to Bangkok’s microbreweries
It's all legal at these places. Isn't that something?
One of the co-founders pouring a fresh one. / Photo courtesy of Albert, but I was there with him, so—
About 12 years ago, I found myself in one of the strangest settings I could have imagined at the time.*
My wife and I were in a German beer hall in Bangkok, drinking dunkels and lagers, while a preteen girl entertained the room by balancing a chair on her chin. Minutes later, someone was belting Beauty and the Beast showtunes. Then the variety show changed again, and there was a chugging competition, where members of the audience were brought on stage to suck down pints of beer through straws.
This was my first trip to Tawandang, Thailand’s beloved German-style Brauerei. It would not be my last.
Tawandang offered such an animated experience that I started to frequent the Ramintra branch, way out in the city’s suburban sprawl. Before long, I discovered the branch south of the central business district in Sathorn and became such a low-key regular that I briefly held a membership card that gave us 10 percent discounts.
Likely because of the raucous performances and full-flavored food—German pork knuckle, sea bass steamed in lime and soy sauce, even fried duck beaks, of all things—I overlooked an obvious fact all those years: Tawandang was a licensed microbrewery. The place had made its own beer since 1999, and it was pretty damn good.
A decade ago, the very thought of running a brewery in Thailand seemed so removed from reality that I never imagined it could be done. Of course, things have changed.
In recent years, a wave of new microbreweries has overhauled Bangkok’s drinking landscape. By law, they can’t package and distribute their beer, but they can serve it on-site, making it worth your time to visit them all. And, as I wrote last week, the quality of the beer hitting the taps at these places continues to improve, too.
While the following may amount to an incomplete list—if it isn’t incomplete now, it will be soon—here is a rundown of Bangkok’s legal microbreweries and what you can expect from them.
12 Plato
A tropical sour on tap at 12 Plato.
Founded by the folks behind highly regarded homebrew label Charmyai, 12 Plato occupies the ground floor of a brand-new space in Bang Na. There are 21 taps, and by the end of the year, at least one of them will feature the brewery’s very own beer.
For now, though, it’s still worth the journey for the Western-style bar food, live music, and select samples of Thai beer on tap, especially the Charmyai IPAs.
Also germane here: the brewery is owned by great people. In fact, read more about them and their journey from homebrewing to business ownership here.
Bootleg Brothers
See above, people.
EmQuartier has a microbrewery? EmQuartier has a microbrewery.
Since 2022, Bootleg Brothers has occupied a quiet corner of Escape, the tropical-themed, al fresco rooftop bar on the fifth floor of the luxury mall in Phrom Phong. It’s perhaps an unusual pairing. Escape is the kind of venue where white linen wardrobes wouldn’t be out of place and the house-centric DJs have been known to be accompanied by live flautists. But space is hard to come by in downtown Bangkok.
There aren’t a ton of beers on tap. Usually, they pour their Peak A Brew IPA, and Island Hopper, their pale lager, both of which they’ve bottled and sold in supermarkets previously. Sometimes, though, you can try something off-piste, like the roselle sour I had earlier this year.
Brewave
Last year, my former colleague Milk wrote a wonderful piece about the three cousins who started Brewave. If you haven’t read that story, please do so now.
Anyway, Brewave boasts a sizable space west of the river on Kanchanaphisek Road. For spoiled residents of central Bangkok, it’s kind of far out there. Fortunately, the MRT takes you almost all the way to the brewery now—a joyous development.
If you’re looking for the latest imports, you can find them on draft here. But you can also sample the deep cuts of Thai craft beer. This includes Brewave’s own beers, like their Say Hi IPA.
Call Me Papa
In December 2022, Call Me Papa joined the craft beer party in Nonthaburi. Just north of Bangkok city limits, this area has become the heart of the microbrewing movement. It’s grown so rapidly that you can go on a relatively seamless** bar crawl from one brewery to the next.
Call Me Papa is best known for their hazy milkshake IPA. Fruitier and less lactose-forward than your standard milkshake IPA, it’s a smooth, highly enjoyable product that you can buy in tallboy cans, courtesy of Thai Spirit Industry (TSI). But if you go to CMP headquarters, you can also try it fresh, as well as several other beers brewed on-site, like their double dry-hopped hazy IPA and black pepper lager.
EST. 33
Yes, it’s owned and operated by Singha. Don’t @ me.
If you’ve spent any time in Bangkok, you’ve probably seen Snowy Weizen in 7-Elevens around the city. That’s an EST. 33 beer. Not my favorite beer, but also not the worst ever made.
At their taphouses at the Crystal Design Center (CDC) and The Nine—both northeast of the downtown core—they pour a couple other beers, including Kopper, an amber-colored lager made with a germinated brown rice called gaba. Sometimes, you can try other experimental brews. Once, they even tried their hand at a hazy IPA.
The Londoner
A fresh, tasty Londoner pale ale. / Photo courtesy of Albert (again).
Those who appreciate nostalgia will just want to take a moment to remember when The Londoner used to exist on Sukhumvit Road, in an easily accessible basement space on the corner of Soi 33. At the time, the bar would serve just three beers: a pilsner, a bitter, and a “splitter,” which combined the two. All were tasty. RIP.
The good news is The Londoner still exists, and they still make their own beer, but now in a larger venue on Phattanakarn Road.
At The Londoner, now you’ll find a pilsner, a British-style pale ale, and a wit. Even better? They offer their beers in towers. That’s just one reason why this newer, multi-level space has become a weekend favorite for many—and a weeknight favorite for those who live in Bangkok’s eastern suburbs. The others involve the live sports and music, the hearty Sunday roasts, and the variety of wine and spirits you can have, too.
Mitr Brewery
There’s that hand again.
I wrote about this venue last week, and I’m not sure there’s more to add to that story. While it certainly requires a trek to get to the place, it’s worth your time to go, especially when there’s an event.
There are up to 20 beers on tap, depending on the day, and they run the gamut from entry-level hefeweizens to sours, hazy IPAs, and smoky stouts. I should also note that the food is excellent. The fried rice with kor moo yang (grilled pork collar)? *chef’s kiss*
Tawandang German Brewery
This is an incredibly old photo, but I wanted to show that beer races did in fact take place at Tawandang.
What do you get when you cross a cavernous German Bierhalle with decidedly Thai entertainment and then mash the two culture’s cuisines together? Tawandang, it turns out—one helluva Frankenstein’s monster.
You get three types of beer here: lager, weizen, and dunkel. All three are tasty. If you aren’t sold after the first glass, order more. By the time the underage acrobats take the stage and you start wondering if you’re witnessing a serious breach of child labor laws, you’ll be glad you did.
In all seriousness, I love this place and take visitors to it whenever I can. Thank you for being a light in times of darkness, Tawandang.
Underdog Microbrewery
Erawan “Oo” Wanithanont and Sira “Ohk” LawSup co-founded Underdog, Samut Prakarn’s first microbrewery—and so far only legally operating microbrewery, as far as I can tell—way back in 2017. I’m not certain they’ve been legal this whole time, but it’s all good.
Anyway, those who haven’t visited the bar—it’s on the MRT Yellow Line!—will recognize Underdog for its crisp helles lager or raspberry Berliner weisse. Both were canned and sold citywide. But they have a lot more going on than just those two beers.
Underdog pours 18 guest and house beers, ranging from red ales, helles bocks, and goses to London porters. And here’s a fun one: they have a pre-paid self-pour tap.
United Peoples Brewery
Gratuitous beer shot from the jam-packed grand opening party in May, 2023.
Founded by the good folks behind booze distributor Group B Beer and the brewers of Sandport and Yod Beer, the United Peoples Brewery just celebrated its officially official grand opening in May. The brewery technically has existed since late-2022. But now, after lots of elbow grease and grit, they’re finally able to make their own beer.
You can get 12 beers on draft, including some long-timers like Sandport’s Broken Sword red ale, plus lots more in cans or bottles in the fridges. And remember that brewery-slash-bar crawl I floated above? This would be a fine place to start.
*It should go without saying that, no longer wet behind the ears in the world, I’ve enjoyed far stranger experiences since then—in Thailand and elsewhere. (Looking at you, Kyrgyzstan.)
**For greater Bangkok.