An article written by the editors of the Bangkok Beer Guide and BK Magazine.
Posted December 2024 – Link to BK Magazine’s Article
There are ways around the current brewing laws, and everyone from ex-soldiers to get-rich-quick entrepreneurs have found ways to make Bangkok’s brewing scene eclectic, inventive, and profitable. Today, Bangkok’s craft beer barons are bringing good food and better brews to nearly every district in the city. Whether they’re coloring inside the lines by brewing here in Thailand or making their lagers in Vietnam and paying to import, Bangkok’s brewers are on a roll. BK Magazine, in collaboration with Bangkok Beer Guide, is here to give you the inside on how 10 brewers are shaping the scene and your neighborhood.
12 Plato Brewing
Brewpub in Bang Nam the east of central Bangkok.The bar and restaurant opened in late 2022, but big plans were underway for 12°Plato Brewing. In October 2023, the brewing equipment was installed so that this spot could finally brew its own beer. The owners would go on to open Eight Days a Week Home bar in the Ari area of Bangkok. (BK Magazine)
Baan bangkok
Baan Bangkok is known for brewing local hazy beers with big flavors. In pre-COVID times, Baan had their own taproom, but now uses Haze in Chinatown as a sort of home location. The brewers behind Baan are Jaqc and Joyce. They brew their beers in Bangkok and without much social media. Recently collaborations include Behemoth brewery out of New Zealand and another with Sriracha Brewing. (BK Magazine)
Chitbeer
You can’t talk about brewing in Bangkok without talking about Colonel Wichit ‘Chit’ Saiklao. The Thailand craft brew pioneer has been at the forefront of the brewing scene for more than a decade. His students, such as Devanom, have gone on to change the scene in their own way. Chit’s first shop on Koh Kret has been a pilgrimage for all craft beer lovers to Bangkok. Recent expansions, Chit Holes, have opened around Bangkok, as well as Phuket and Chiang Mai. (BK Magazine)
Devanom
Founded in 2014 by brothers Nat tachai “Ob” and Teerapat “Art” Ungsriwong, over the past 10 years the brand has expanded. Devanom also produces local mead honey wine and sato, a uniquely brewed Thai rice wine that tastes like a floral Thai version of sake. Devanom has its own farm to grow hops, and recently the head brewer of Devanom took an active part at a chef’s table demonstration at EmSphere for the week-long Merai local Thai alcohol event. (BK Magazine)
Mardi Craft Brewing
A sub brand of TSI, the contract brewery that many Bangkok brewers use to legally produce and sell beer, features beers known for being easy to drink and without overly strong flavors. The Mardi Craft brand has multiple beer series, including the Thai Myth series with traditional artwork on the cans; this line offers a rice lager, a pale ale, and a wheat beer. Their Music series goes with a Bohemian pilsner, a New England IPA, and a fruit witbier. (BK Magazine)
Samata Brewing
The founding brewer behind Samata Brewing is Supachote “Chote” Chantanasuksilpa, a proud dad you’ll see at beer events around Bangkok. Previously brewed in Vietnam, but opened his own facilities in the Saimai area. The brewery’s specialty is fruity and flavorful beers: known for their session strength fruit sours, a beer that’s not very strong and relies on the fruit flavors over the sour notes.(BK Magazine)
Sandport Brewing
Sandport Brewing was founded by Supapong “Toon” Pruenglampoo in 2014. As the laws of beer production changed, Sandport Brewing was part of the multi-breweries project that opened United People’s Brewery by banding together with other brewers. Thai law states only certain production amounts are big enough to be a certified legal brewery. (BK Magazine)
Taopiphop Ale Project
The brewer-cum-politician Taopiph op “Tao” Limjittrakorn is Bangkok’s brewing legislative attack dog. He stands tall in the beer community—and literally at over 2 meters tall. He’s done time for his brewing, and he takes it seriously. Since his scuffle with the law for illegal brewing, Tao has since become a legal brewer, a member of parliament, and has tried his hand at a number of his own bars. His canned beers are brewed at TSI. (BK Magazine)
Vana Brewing / Brewing Project
Vana Breweing, formerly the Brewing Project, by Ben Chalach wins awards for both its beers and its can design. Brewed southeast of Bangkok at TSI (Thai Spirit Industry) contract brewery near the banks of the Bang Pakong river, head brewer Ben’s beers are probably the easiest to find. They brew a range of beers in modern and traditional styles, and they make sure they’re always in stock. The brand is known for working and collaborating with other brewers both in and outside of Thailand. (BK Magazine)
