Lone Wolf Gin Comes to Malaysia!

A few of us had a sneak preview of this lovely gin, which has recently pounced its way into the Malaysian gin market - making us their first market in Asia to enter. Yeay!

MyBeer (of Taps Beer Bar fame), who is likely one of the largest importers of craft beer in Malaysia brings this in. Why is a craft beer importer bringing this in? Because: they bring in BrewDog and BrewDog makes this gin.

With so many gins in the market, what sets this new product apart is with the brewers at BrewDog’s distilling their grain spirit from scratch (50% wheat, 50% barley) - unlike some gin brands that outsources their grain spirits.

The botanicals include juniper, Thai lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaf, coriander, pink peppercorn, almond, fresh lemon peel, mace, fresh red grapefruit peel, and Scottish pine needles.

Bottled at 44% ABV, the higher than industry standard 40% ABV packs just a right punch to allow its botanical to shine especially when gin is married with it and even upon dilution with melting ice.

Creamy with citrus on the nose and spiciness in the end, this gin is delicious.

Lone Wolf will be made available on retail .... soon. We're keeping an eye out for the Lone Wolf tonic as well, which is formulated to pair with their gin like ketchup on fries. There's even a canned G&T at 8.8% ABV - which FA approves:

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A post shared by Fireangel (@fireangel80) on May 26, 2018 at 4:15am PDT

There are other planned canned booziness too but we'll have sit tight and watch out for it.

- Jon

An Evening with Hawkers Beer at Taps Beer Bar

Image: MyTipsyTurvy

Australian-born Hawkers beer is actually a standard offering from Taps. a group of us got to spend an evening with founder Mazen Hajjar to taste more of his ‘fucking good beer” (his words) with him and to get schooled on what makes a beer good.

Hawkers' name was inspired by the early immigrant colonial street vendors in Australia that saw trade expand in cities across the country. Craft beer distilleries did nothave budgets for marketing or channels of distribution, thus can't fight the big boy companies for sales volume. Many also through trade word of mouth and door to door sales.

Fireangel thinks he's kinda cute. Image: Taps Beer Bar

According to Mazen, the best food to pair with Hawkers beer is with… hawker food. Well, think of it this way. The biggest volume of sales by the big beer boys come from our kopitiams. Hands down, any good beer just tastes superb with some good street chow.

According to Mazen, “If a person says s/he does not like beer, that’s only because they’ve been introduced to the wrong fucking beer to start off with".  Which is why, if you visit Hawkers' website, https://hawkers.beer/, you'll see that they have quite a variety of beers. From the light lagers to the heavy stouts and limited edition barrel aged, there is a beer for everyone and every occasion.

Image: Taps Beer Bar

More of Hawkers beer will be featured at Taps Beer bar in future, but for now, the ones that are already available have been fucking good. Pardon my Ozzie.

- Jon

Taste Almost 50 types of Whisky And Spirits at Whisky PLUS!

Whiskyphiles, block 28 July 2018 on your calendars for the upcoming WhiskyPLUS 2018.

What is it:
A whisky and spirits tasting event, organised by the TEG Media Group. Whispers tell me that this could be Malaysia's answer to Whisky Live Singapore!

What can you expect:
About 50 brands of whiskies and spirits to try including: the Arran, Balblair, Bruichladdich, Benromach, Bunnahabhain, Bushmills, Chivas, Deanston, Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, Hazelburn, Kilchoman, Ledaig, Longrow, Maison Du Whisky, Mars, Monkey Shoulder, Nikka, Octomore, Paul John, Port Charlotte, the Glenlivet, SMWS, Ancnoc... and these are just the whisky brands. Check out the full list here: http://www.whiskyplus.my./#brands

Format:
There are 2 sessions to choose from (12pm - 4pm & 5pm - 10pm) and number of tickets for each session is limited for crowd control so hurry!

Pricing:
Ther are 2 ticket types are available -  Gold (Standard) or Black (VIP).

1) Gold passes vary from RM135 - RM188, depending if you're bulk buying (cheaper) and if it's the 1st vs 2nd (the longer and therefore pricier) session.

The Gold ticket gets you:
- access to the main tasting floor, with unlimited sampling of whiskies and other spirits
- light bites provided by the hotel
- a Glencairn-style whisky tasting glass to bring home
- complimentary F&B vouchers for Hilton KL restaurants
- a free cocktail by guest bartenders

2) Black passes go for RM268 and RM298 (in additional to the gold ticket access, you get other exclusives like the cigar lounge access, VIP premier tasting room, and an upgraded goodie bag) (sold out!)

BONUS! If you are a Dram Full - Malaysia member (why aren't you already?? tsk tsk), you get discounts ranging from RM10 to RM40, depending on the session and the type of pass chosen. CLICK HERE.

More: 
- Purchase-by-the-dram whiskies at the Collector’s Corner to sample private collectors’ rare and expensive bottles.
- Discounted promo codes for MULA e-hailing rides home

- Selected bottles for sale at discounted prices.

For more details on #WhiskyPlusKL2018 and ticket purchase, visit www.whiskyplus.my.

Don't say I bojio!

P/s: I am running a Facebook giveaway contest for a pair of tickets worth RM270!

How to participate?

1. Share this post on your Facebook.
2. Include this in your post "l want to go for #WhiskyPlusKL2018 with (tag your friend) because...."
3. Comment below so I know you're participating. Make sure your FB profile is public otherwise I can't keep track. If I can't see your profile, you're automatically disqualified okay! :)
4. Get the highest number of likes on your post.
5. Win 2 tickets!

Contest ends this friday, 5pm. good luck!

Go go go: https://www.facebook.com/ang3ltini

Guiness Malaysia’s Perfect Pour Masters 2018 - Finale

Take a Guinness pint glass.
Hold it at a 45° angle.
Toggle stout lever until pour reaches the golden harp.
Stop.
Upright the glass and let it sit for about 119.5 mins until the cloud of gas (aka the surge) settles and the liquid calms to a ruby red (it looks black on the naked eye, but try holding it up against a bright white light and you'll see it!).
Top up the stout till the frothy head reaches the rim of the glass.
Stop.

This is Guinness's perfect serve, also called the ‘two part’ pour.

It takes more than 2 minutes for a perfect pint to be poured and the best of establishments make you wait for your pint. If your stout comes out too soon, especially in a busy establishment, you can be sure that it's not done the right way, and you should send it back.... or never go there again :p

 Bartenders at Guinness outlets are trained to get the perfect pour right with Guinness Malaysia through the Heineken Malaysia Star Academy. The trainers travel across the country to do this and over the past month, they have shortlisted 8 of the best perfect pint pourers from hundreds of trainees from Central, North, South and East Malaysia.

The 2018 finalists. (Image: Guinness)

4 winners were announced as winners on 21 June at the finale held in Publika were awarded with a tour to the home of Guinness in Dublin, Ireland.

Sales Director Mr Andrew Woon, Marketing Director Mr Jiri Rakosnik & Finance Director Mr Szilard Voros with the 4 winners: Alwin Goh,  Henry Lai, Julio Jeremy, Kenny Loo (Image: Guinness)

So the next time you are at any of these establishments, you have every right to expect your Guinness to be served in a perfect pour.

A post shared by Fireangel (@fireangel80) on Jun 21, 2018 at 4:18am PDT

FA says hi!

For more: www.facebook.com/GuinnessMalaysia.

- Jon