These pints pack a surprise – bar snacks made from used beer grains

If you’ve never tried three-cheese truffle focaccina made from spent grains once used to brew beer, Brewerkz is here for you.

From can’t-put-them-down nachos to crusty loaves of pillowy sourdough bread, Singapore’s oldest craft brewery is on a mission to make your next pint of beer a touch more sustainable – by saving the humble spent grain from the landfill and transforming it into something delicious.

The drivers behind Brewerkz’s journey from pioneering all-American sports bar to one that combines made-in-Singapore pride with a passion for sustainability? Brothers Tan Wee Han and Wee Tuck, who took full control of the company in 2016. A third brother, Wee Lee, completes this family-run business.

Their efforts on the sustainability front have also earned them the DBS Foundation Grant Award, which is awarded to social enterprises and SMEs ready to scale their businesses and deepen their social or environmental impact.

Turning waste into a business opportunity

Behind every glass of beer are sacks of barley malt, which are fermented and processed into alcohol. The multi-barley grains left behind after each batch of beer produced are referred to as “spent grains” – and they make up Brewerkz’s biggest waste stream, presenting a dilemma for the Tan brothers.

Spent grains can be used as animal feed, but for breweries that aren’t conveniently located near livestock farms, the grains tend to be dumped into landfills. Says Wee Tuck: “We generate maybe about 100, 200 tonnes of brewers’ spent grains. It's not very big, but it's not small, it is a couple of Olympic-sized swimming pools.”

The question of how to manage all this material sustainably set the Tan brothers on a quest. Although most people would see soggy grains as nothing but waste, they are actually high in protein and fibre.

To the brothers, spent grains had the potential to be processed to become a sustainable alternative to wheat flour, and used in everyday foods like bread, chips and noodles. “Regular wheat has got a bigger carbon footprint because we have to grow fresh wheat, you’ve got to use fresh water, and the growing will generate carbon dioxide,” explains Wee Tuck.

For now, Brewerkz is working with partners to refine the flavours imparted by the spent grains, as well as develop recipes that would work well with its properties. “Eventually when we have a line-up of food products that is made using these spent grains, it won't be marketed or branded under Brewerkz. It would be a separate brand that is more health and eco-conscious, that we will develop to market it,” says Wee Tuck.

Image via Brewekrz's Facebook

Brewing up a new brand

Brewerkz’s journey into sustainability followed naturally with its pivot away from its American sports bar image, towards one that showcases its Singaporean roots. “Brewerkz was really successful in its earlier days when it was started in 1997. It was the best beer in town. It was the concept everybody wanted to enjoy,” says Wee Han.

But as local tastes evolved, the business suffered. By the time the brothers took control of the company, the staff had plenty to say about the need for change. “Everybody felt that the brand was tired, it was old, it was kind of lacking in dimension in terms of what we offer for food, it is not comfortable for people other than guys. That was a real wake-up call,” recalls Wee Tuck.

So the brothers went for an overhaul – the craft beer, a cornerstone of the business, remained, but everything else was revamped to reflect Brewerkz as a Singaporean brand. “Craft beer [is] always a lot about the story. And when we want to tell a story, what story should we tell other than Singapore?” says Wee Han. “Being Singaporeans, we really want to expound on that Singaporean-ness of us”

The menu went from burgers and ribs to Asian-inspired and contemporary, and collaborations were launched to bring Brewerkz’s beer to a bigger market, including one with Sentosa to make five new beers for them.

The biggest and possibly most Singaporean coup of all? Making beer using NEWater, which is high-grade recycled water developed by PUB. “It became a huge success, much bigger than we could ever imagine. We got onto headline news of I would say, almost every major TV station. That's one success that helped bring our brand to the front,” says Wee Han.

Be it sustainability efforts or revitalising a tired brand, it helps to start small, go for the small wins, and keep an eye on the big vision, say the brothers.

“Having that vision is very important. It really would help you last and help you wake up everyday and continue to do it every day,” says Wee Tuck. “By some point you will be able to get there, and when you get there, you will know that you have a differentiation that your peers don't have.”