Tag Archives: Wine Appreciation

Tiger Beer– Singapore’s very own world-class brew dazzles

By Simon Mathies, German, The NANYANG MBA Participant Intake 2011

To be considered to be the best, one has to put in the finest of all ingredients. Just like pursuing our aspirations to be the best in our chosen field after our studies, we chose to do The NANYANG MBA, considered to be one of the World’s Top MBA programmes. The same goes for Tiger Beer, which has come a long way since 1932.  “A lot goes into every bottle of Tiger. The finest malt, hops and yeast. Taste-testing over 10 samples of quality of water everyday. Over 200 quality checks. All part of a strict brewing process that takes over 500 hours.” This Singapore concoction has gone a long way – it has garnered over 40 international awards, winning drinkers in major cities all over the world. So how do they do that? And that is what we Nanyang MBA students found out in our visit to its headquarters in Singapore.

Organized by the Wine, Liqueur and Beer Appreciation Club, the trip to the Asia Pacific Breweries (APB), maker of Tiger Beer, we (10 Nanyang MBA students) were warmly welcomed by APB staff and were introduced to the brewing process through an enjoyable multi-media presentation. Afterwards, we got to know the different ‘fine’ ingredients needed to make this award winning beer. After a short confidential advice to protect APB’s unique ‘art of brewing’, we entered the ‘sacred halls’ of the brewery. Inside, club members saw the highly sophisticated and automated process and the enormous polished kettles and pipe works. Even more impressing was the bottling/packaging plant. Though we may have some initial idea on how the preparations are done, but to see the actual process is simply amazing.

After the guided tour, is the part each and everyone is waiting for – to enjoy the various tastes of the different brands licensed by APB in their own Tavern located next to the factory. There is probably no better way to have a fresh tasteful Tiger right inside the brewery itself! Jane Wang, our Chinese peer, summed up our experience – “During the Tiger Brewery trip, we visited the factory and were briefed the process of producing draft beer, we took a nice group picture with the “tiger” statue in front of the factory, we were offered to drink 4 kinds of different draft beer as much as we can (drink all you can, that’s right!). We chatted and played games in the bar next to the factory while drinking the freshly-made beer.”

Enjoying the beer with friends –Jane, yours truly Simon, Ralph and Eric

Continue reading Tiger Beer– Singapore’s very own world-class brew dazzles

Cheers! Santé! – Wine Appreciation Club

By Laurent Cambon, Current MBA Student, and Mathieu François, Graduating Class of 2011.

In a very diverse MBA class, it is inevitable we get exposed to the richness of culture and gustatory delights of the countries represented. So, two of us from France started the Wine Appreciation Club to share a common, yet very important part of our culture – Wines. I have always been passionate about food and wines. To me, they are integral components of that which we consider French culture. Nearly all the 22 regions of France produce their own wines, each of which were developed to match the region’s cuisine. “If I have to choose wine according to conventional wisdom, I would opt for a very famous wine like Romanée-Conti from Bourgogne. But I prefer to answer based on my personal feelings. I have family roots in the South of France. So, each time I appreciate a Châteauneuf-du-pape, many memories and sensations from this region come to my mind, especially when I was a child. To be more specific, Château Mont-redon is certainly one of the best from this Côtes-du-rhône category,” adds by my co-initiator, Mathieu. This diversity of wines contributes invariably to the richness of French culture.

In Singapore, wines are just aplenty and you can get them easily- in groceries, or wine depots, to shopping malls, to even convenience stores available 24 hours. And the variety is just really great- coming from all the wine producing countries, including the best wine producer – France, of course.

The Wine Appreciation Club was set up with the aim of extending our passion for wines to other MBA students. Some of the initiatives of the Club include helping students identify the type of wines they already appreciate, introducing them to new wines, and inviting them to wine tasting processes that would enable them to appreciate wines better.

Sessions were not complete without food – we paired whites, reds and ‘bubbly’ or champagnes with food. Surely, members of the club, both the new and seasoned ones, took pleasure in every session in the appreciation of wine.

Even though Wine Tasting is not a course in the MBA curriculum, we believe that it would serve as a complementary component in the life of an MBA student, who will soon be actively engaged in business dinners or in social gatherings. We hope to see this club continue in the new academic year.

Our first event – Wine Appreciation-White Wines, attracted 14 wine lovers, curious souls and converts.

Wine Appreciation - White Wines

Wine Appreciation: White Wines

The Club’s second event  – Wine Appreciation-Red Wines; Me (Laurent, first from left, in green) and Mathieu (2ndfrom right, last row) together with our peers
Wine Appreciation: Red Wines

Wine Appreciation: Red Wines

And as a last hurrah to end T3 (and for some of us in the NANYANG-WASEDA Program who graduated recently in July), we had a special guest in our Champagnes session, which made the session more delightful – our ‘unofficial’ mascot.

Wine Appreciation: Champagnes