BY LEE SHAW WEI AND MA CHEE SENG
KUCHING: With the launch of the 1602 Crafted Beer today (Feb 9), Sarawak will soon be known for more than just its langkau and tuak.
Global Sales and Marketing Sdn Bhd chief financial officer Wong King Wei said the inspiration for the brand came from 1602 when one of the earliest maps of Borneo was published premised on voyagers’ arrivals on the island.
“We look at it this way, as in not the difficult voyage but the beautiful island we live in today, Borneo, was able to be made known to the world through this voyage, and due to that publication of the map, the entire globe knew this place called Borneo.
“With 1602 Crafted Beer, we would like to use it to reintroduce Borneo to the people, to prove that Sarawak can actually produce our own beer, and put our state on the global map as one of the brewers in the world.
“1602 is very meaningful, eventful and historic year to this island of Borneo so we would like to have ‘1602’ and turn it as a symbolic beer that belongs to Sarawak and also Borneo,” Wong told the reporters during an introduction for 1602 Crafted Beer here on Tuesday night,” he said.
Wong explained that the idea for 1602 came from Datuk Vincent Lee who has been in the beer industry for a period of time.
“He had a dream of being able to produce our own beer, so he began by brewing industrial beer, but ultimately, the industrial beer was only available on the market because there was a demand for it.
“So, he (Lee) wants it to return to the most original way which is by manufacturing beer with the highest fragrance and taste that can be offered to the people and hence he approached brewmasters Randy Liew and Hans Gerner,” Wong said.
Liew, who is a Malaysian-born brewmaster with 15 years of experience as a certified brewer under his belt, stated that Lee wanted the beer to be made in Sarawak as it is Lee’s hometown.
“This is my opportunity to give back, after all these years of craft brewing all over the world, mainly Southeast Asia, I have never done anything for Malaysia.
“So, when our chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Vincent Lee approached me, I jumped on board as we have the objective of doing this to make Sarawakians and Malaysians proud,” he said.
Gerner, who came from Germany and hailed from a family that has been in the beer brewing industry since 1308, said that with ‘1602’, hopefully it can give Sarawak an identity related to beer.
“What has been available here were only foreign brands of industrial beers, with this being the very first crafted one, we hope that all Sarawakians would appreciate it,” he said.
