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FYI SOUTH Magazine, January 2003. VOL.3 ISSUE 1

TAIWAN MICROBREWERY 22, JinLu Street, HsiaoGang (Little Harbor) District, Kaohsiung City 07-871-8776

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QUALITY OVER QUANTITY: A TAIWAN MICROBREWERY
By Steven Crook

¡@¡@Microbrewing has long been part of the drinking scene in North America and Europe. Now that the government¡¦s monopoly on alcohol is being dismantled, and the industry liberalized in line with WTO requirements, microbrewers in Taiwan are taking their first tentative steps.

¡@¡@Kaohsiung-based Taiwan Microbrewing Company (TMBC), which began making beer six months ago, is one of only two microbreweries in Taiwan. Ted Miller, a native of Indiana with almost 14 years¡¦ beer making experience, is one of the master brewers behind TMBC.

¡@¡@Miller, who has been working in Taiwan since December 1999, says: ¡§It¡¦s a pretty exciting time. It¡¦s the beginning of the industry.¡¨ In the US and the UK, he notes, small, independent craft brewers are thriving, even though beer sales as a whole have declined. Consumers are now ¡§drinking less, but better¡¨ beer. Taiwan could well follow the same path, he thinks. ¡@¡@TMBC currently produces two beers ¡V a golden ale and a honey ale. Miller describes them as ¡§light, and not bitter,¡¨ and emphasizes that they are malt-based. This makes them flavorful, but more expensive to produce than lagers, which are often based on corn and rice.

¡@¡@TMBC¡¦s beers are currently only available on draft at ¡V among other places ¡V Willy¡¦s Second Base Bar & Grill in Tainan, and several Chinese restaurants in Kaohsiung.

¡@¡@In April or May this year TMBC will launch its first bottled product ¡V a barley wine containing around 8 percent alcohol.

¡@¡@More information about TMBC and their products can be found at www.tmbc.com.tw.