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Indonesia’s rich and complex independent alcohol industry
There hasn’t been much talk about the many independent breweries springing up around the country, selling their small-produced liquors through independent channels without any clear regulation.
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Tua Kolo Sopi Timor spirits (JP/Courtesy of Felix Nesi)
L
ast week saw the controversy around Indonesia’s alcohol investment plan brewing in the public sphere, with a revocation of three provisions of the third appendix of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 10/2021 by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The debates that sprung up from the more conservative factions and those who support the provisions revolve around cultural norms, the potentially negative impacts of alcohol, its potential to open up job opportunities and regulating an uncharted market.
Yet there hasn’t been much talk about the many independent breweries springing up around the country, selling their small-produced liquors through independent channels without any clear regulation. If regulated, these producers could grow to be an important part of Indonesia’s economy, but for now, they remain underground as passion projects.
Randy David Saputra, 23, tax consultant and founder of Bier Tjap Oema in Bandung, West Java
What draws you to craft beer and when did you start brewing?
I grew bored of regular beers and joined a homebrewing club in my last year at Fullerton [California State University], where every week we visited and discussed beers in the microbreweries around California. It opened my eyes to the possibilities of exploration in beers. When I came home to Indonesia, I got acquainted with the local craft beer community in Jakarta and continued brewing in my hometown.
What types of beer do you produce?
