We don’t have to be shy about it: we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to beer. Gone are the days where you didn’t have to jump through hoops to get anything that wasn’t a run-of-the-mill lager.

At the same time, let’s not kid ourselves: it’s a lot harder to get the attention of craft beer fans unless it’s made from unicorn’s tears. Or something to that effect.

Which is why RedMart‘s new craft beer offering – the CODE RED Lemongrass Pale Ale – kind of makes sense. It’s not trying to be the coolest drink in town; at least not figuratively anyway. Think of it as a decent brew that’s easily accessible. If you don’t already know, you can easily order quality beers or other spirits at reasonable prices through their online portal (while shopping for groceries, ahem) and have them delivered to your doorstep. No fuss.

We can only assume that RedMart has been doing so well selling Archipelago Summer Pale Ale – which they have been retailing exclusively since 2016 – that they’ve gone one step further and collaborated with Archipelago Brewery to brew one of their own. CODE RED Lemongrass Pale Ale, as the name suggests, is a nod to RedMart’s Singaporean roots and is designed for the local palate and weather.

For those who never knew Rick Astley outside of a tired meme, here’s a quick history lesson: back in the day, Archipelago Brewery (formerly Archipelago Brewery Company) was responsible for ABC Stout, the other notable stout option aside from the more ubiquitous Guinness Stout. Today, Archipelago Brewery operates as the craft beer arm of Asia Pacific Breweries. Aside from their usual range of signature brews, they’re open to collaborations as well, such as this one.

“Archipelago Brewery’s mission is to grow the craft beer market, and our collaboration with RedMart opens doors to the growing base of Singapore craft beer drinkers who are constantly looking for a high-quality custom brew that suits their increasingly complex palate,” said Nicholas Low, Head of Archipelago Brewery. “Together, we have an exciting opportunity to introduce a great craft beer for Singapore to enjoy.”

As mentioned, given that there are more varieties of cold ones available here than there are Wights in the Night King’s army (only slightly exaggerating), the collaborators got together to figure out how they could stand out amongst a sea of somewhat similar offerings.

After six months of product development and trials, the end result is a refreshing pale ale infused with distinctively local flavours, which include lemongrass and jasmine. Alice Canty, Senior Category Manager for Beer, Wine & Spirits at RedMart, remarked, “We felt the unique but subtle lemongrass and jasmine notes are a great differentiator from current offerings in the craft beer market, and more importantly a celebration of Singapore flavour.”

It’s a celebration of Singapore’s weather too, I might add. This refreshing session IPA is the perfect ice to our fire in the sky. Light-bodied, moderately bitter with a crisp finish, the essences of jasmine and lemongrass are subtle and far from overpowering – the only thing it’s going to overpower, hopefully, is the heat.

CODE RED Lemongrass Pale Ale

As of now, CODE RED Lemongrass Pale Ale is exclusive to RedMart and available in a 4-pack at $20.80. A limited run of 7200 bottles has been produced though it is likely they will continue this offering if the demand is good. If that happens, we may then see an expanded range of collaboration brews in the future. Watch this space.

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