SINGAPORE — The lure of a craft brew is not lost on the industry big boys, such as Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (APB) and Carlsberg.

“APB launched Archipelago Brewery in 2006 with a range of hand-crafted beers, putting it at the forefront of craft beer culture in Singapore,” said APB’s head of marketing, Venus Teoh, who added that this was way ahead of its time. “It has continued to grow its presence and has been delighting consumers with beers that are freshly brewed and enjoyed, at times with a creative twist by adding local ingredients like pandan, lime and ginger to their hand-crafted brews.”

She added that APB has continued to develop new product innovations, even with its more mass-market brands. It aims to offer consumers a wider range of beverage choices, such as Tiger Radler, a blend of Tiger Beer with natural lemon juice, which was launched in 2013.

Archipelago’s head Malcolm Davies also shared how today’s market has become more open to more “challenging” craft beers, which is why the brewery will be taking out its bestselling Summer Ale and putting in the Summer IPA. “(It) has more malt, flavour, hops, bitters ... It’s not a ‘safe’ drink — it’s more challenging for us to do it,” he told TODAY previously.

Carlsberg is also no stranger to the attraction of craft beers. “Asia is changing and if I take a market like Singapore, we are seeing a lot of specialty beers, a lot of craft (beers) … we want to have our fair share of craft and specialty beer,” Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen, the former president and chief executive officer of the Carlsberg Group, said previously in an interview.

Its more upscale brand of specialty beers, Jacobson, for example, includes unique picks such as the Julebock, a dark brown bock beer with a full malt flavour, and a “velvet ale” which it says has an aroma similar to white wine and champagne. Then there’s Jacobsen Vintage No. 1, said to be the most expensive beer at 2,008 Danish Krone (S$408) a bottle. Only 600 bottles have been brewed.