Singapore’s People People Brewing Is Burnt Ends in Brewpub Form

Singapore is home to around 6 million people – not much more than the population of Melbourne or Sydney – but the country’s craft beer scene is still heating up by comparison.

Dave Pynt, the Perth-born chef behind Singapore’s Michelin-starred Burnt Ends, hopes his new 9000-square-foot brewpub, People People Brewing, will bring the fire.

“The way we look at it, when you serve [craft beer] fresh to a customer, there’s nothing else like it. I think that’s where the gap is,” says Pynt. “Combining a venue and a brewery together where you take it from tank to glass is where we can make a bit of an impact.”

Opened at Resorts World Sentosa in April, People People has points of difference even by Aussie standards. Where many local breweries serve their beer from kegs, People People hooks its beers to the bar directly from the 1500-litre production tanks. In other words, the beers don’t get much fresher than this.

The core range, meanwhile, is a quintessential lineup of styles you’d find in Australia, from a crisp lager to Pynt’s favourite XPA. But that’s not where he and New Zealand-born head brewer Nick Calder-Scholes plan to stay.

“It’s 90 per cent lager that gets drunk here, so we need to nail those classics first,” Pynt admits. “But if all we’re doing is going through the motions, Nick and I are gonna lose interest pretty quickly.”

Calder-Scholes, the former head brewer at Sydney’s One Drop Brewing, was one of the harbour city’s pioneers of hazy and fruit-driven styles. He’s already flexed his chops with a burnt orange and cinnamon sour, brewed for Burnt Ends’ 13th birthday and inspired by the restaurant’s iconic marshmallow dessert. Soon, the range will expand to include seasonal and barrel-aged releases.

But People People’s biggest point of difference is Pynt himself, who’s personally behind the menu. “It’s gotta be beer-friendly food. We want people to come in, hang out, smash beers and eat some tasty food that’s gonna go with it,” he says. “The second part is that it needs to remain in the Burnt Ends realm.”

Naturally, woodfired cooking plays a central role. An Italian Stefano Ferrara woodfire oven pumps out pizzas topped with everything from four-cheese and hot honey to miso-braised beef short rib. The burgers are made with premium Blackmore’s Wagyu. He’s even sprung for an Italian woodfired rotisserie by Universo Grills for the signature chook – served quartered, halved, or whole, and coated in lemon thyme, peri peri, soy or jerk.

To seal the pub atmosphere, the team has installed screens for major sporting events and locked in live music every Friday night. “We want to bring the social interaction back into venues,” says Pynt. “We don’t want this to be an eat, drink and fuck-off situation.”

People People Brewing

26 Sentosa Gateway
Unit B1-209–217
Singapore 098138

(+65) 8938 1125

Hours:

Wed to Mon 11.30am–11pm

peoplepeople.co