Hopulist Issue 7

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS IN KL
It would be remiss of me not to mention
another eclectic and enthralling South East
Asian city that I also visited on this same
trip, especially seen as it is only a onehour
flight from Singapore. The Malaysian
capital Kuala Lumpur is somewhere else I
would recommend anyone to visit. Many
people had described it
to me as a mini Bangkok
before I went, but I have
to disagree with that
analogy. Malaysia is a
majority muslim country,
and because of that, you
can’t expect every corner
of it to be a booze-fest or
party town. So when in Kuala Lumpur,
my advice would be not to expect beer on
every corner or in every restaurant – it
just does not happen. However, there were
two decent craft beer places I managed
to find (almost by accident) that I would
recommend checking out if you’re in KL.
The first couldn’t be easier to find – it’s
right at the base of Kuala Lumpur’s most
iconic tourist attract the Petronas Towers.
It’s a Delerium bar – yes that Delerium, the
Belgian beer experts of pink elephant fame.
The bar features large indoor and outdoor
seating areas and has a very good selection
of Delerium’s own beers plus many other
favourites from Belgium. It has a slightly
cheesy feel to it with lots of plastic pink
elephants and tourists stopping in due to
its location, but it is the best pour you’ll
find anywhere around. Best of all, if you
sit out on the terrace in the
evening, you can watch the
famous light show in the
Petronas Towers’ fountain.
The second bar I found
was a real gem – Taps Beer
Bar, located in the Bukit
Bintang region of the city
at the base of a skyscraper.
You could instantly tell the people running
this place were genuine craft beer fans.
The walls are adorned with empty bottles
and cans from all over the world and
moodily-lit bar has an excellent choice of
beers behind it. Brewdog, Hitachino, Siren,
Thornbridge, 2Brothers, Amager, Yo-Ho,
Rogue, Mikkeller and more were all here –
either on tap or in the well-stocked fridge.
There was also an international vibe in here
as the western style of the place attracts
people who are perhaps less confident to
hit more local style places.