I-BREW

It's been a rough week. So I'll start the weekend with a happy post – more praise for liberalization ... and for beer. Rejoice, home brewing in now legal in Singapore.

Technically, it always has been – only it has always been very expensive. Until recently, anyone who wanted to brew their own had to pay $43,200 a year to the customs department. Now, that has been reduced to $100 for a two-year license.

HIGH on the fun of making his own beer with a home brewing kit, Mr Raymond Lee decided to turn his hobby into a business last May.
He sent 'a blind e-mail message' to the Ministry of Trade and Industry to ask if he could sell the kits here and be exempted from the liquor duty and licence fee.
Under the Customs Act, anyone who wants to brew beer must have a licence, which costs $43,200 a year.
His e-mail sparked off a chain of e-mail exchanges and meetings, which later involved the Singapore Customs and the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
On Tuesday, he received a brewing licence that cost $100 for two years - which others can now also apply for to brew their own beer at home.
'We used to err on the side of caution and conservatism, and take a 'one-size-fits-all' regulatory approach,' said DPM Lee, who is also the Finance Minister.
But now, as long as the activity does not harm or impose on others, 'our default position would be to allow the entrepreneurial activity with as few bureaucratic impediments as possible'.

One of the reasons I moved to Singapore was its reputation for economic freedom and general reputation for avarice (I needed to completely purge the 18 months I spent dealing with Arab socialism). The country still needs to work on allowing freedom in other areas, but economically it was always reasonably good. The removal of red tape will only make it better. Not that that's the important part of the article.

It's the weekend. It's Friday evening and I stop caring about economics right about now (as can be proven by some of the evil amounts of credit-card debt I've racked up on various Friday evenings at the pub).

The important part of the story had nothing to do with government. It's all about beer! Glorious wonderful beer! I can again make beer!

I used to be an avid homebrewer. In college it was cheap. In Korea the local favorites all used formaldehyde for an early yeast kill, (resulting in worse-than-usual headaches for the consumer).

In Kuwait, it was the only way to get beer unless you were willing to pay KWD50 (roughly US$150 at that time) for black-market Budweiser or slightly more for a weekend flight to Dubai.

The S$100 a year fee is a slight inconvenience - but given that a pint typically costs around S$14 at a local pub, it is a cost that can quickly be recouped.
I'll probably apply for the license later this month - leaving ample time to develop a few seasonal beers for Christmas.

Happy, foamy, seasonal beers.

Brown Ales, Bitters, Stout and Wheat Beer. Ummm...

Bah, blogging about beer make Myrick thirsty.

Myrick stop blogging now. Must go seek beer.

Have a good weekend. Drink much beer.