Award-winning Hong Kong-based Young Master Brewery and world-renowned Singapore cocktail bar NATIVE have created ‘Thick Skin’. The first-of-its-kind collaboration sees a light-bodied stout brewed using cacao husks and cascara (dried skin of the coffee fruit).
There’s a lot of misconception surrounding stout—that it’s bitter, strong and loaded with calories. Many people tend to think that the colour of a beer is directly related to its weight, hence, the fact that a dark beer like stout is often deemed ‘an acquired taste’. A brand new craft stout has landed on our shores and although it’s dark, it’s much more delicate and nuanced than you’d expect.
Only 100 bottles of this unique brew (S$35 for a 750ml bottle) will be made available starting from 17 October 2019 at Native.
The Thick Skins Behind ‘Thick Skin’
NATIVE is renowned for their innovate, bordering-on-unorthodox, cocktail creations. They only make use of spirits and ingredients sourced from in and around Asia—including foraged ants.
Sustainability remains at the heart of the bar’s unique philosophy and it’s evident through the bespoke bar’s many quirks. From coasters made with dehydrated, flattened out lotus leaves to generating their own solar power. Their persistence is often subject to criticism, hence requiring—as the local saying goes—a very ‘thick skin’ in order to handle.
This belief, coupled with the experience and skill of Young Masters brewery, was what gave rise to Thick Skin. The first collaborative brew of its kind here in Asia.
Tasting Notes
A relatively light-bodied stout, Thick Skin is made using cacao husks (cacao bean’s fibrous outer shell) and cascara skins (coffee fruit’s dried skin). These two unique ingredients would have otherwise been discarded in normal circumstances. An interesting thing to note, the cacao husks used to make the stout come courtesy of award-winning Singapore craft chocolate makers, Fossa Chocolate.
When we attended the exclusive preview of Thick Skin at The Guild, we were served fresh oysters to pair with our stout. The pairing was rather puzzling at first, but after taking a sip of the stout, we understood why.
Bright, luscious and surprisingly easy on the palate, Thick Skin differs from regular macro-brewed stouts. It featured delicate, earthy chocolate notes with a mildly acidic finish. The light-bodied beer is delightful on its own, but paired with briny oysters, the flavours that take over are truly something else.
Where You Can Purchase A Bottle
Retailing at S$35 a bottle (750ml) at NATIVE (52A Amoy Street), quickly snag yourself one before it gets sold out!
Read our guide to 10 different types of beer.
Disclaimer: We were guests of Thick Skin, but all opinions remain our own.
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