It was 7pm on a recent Wednesday. A few drinkers reclined on bean bags, scattered in the garden of No.26, Ekamai Soi 10, Yaek 2, behind a bright blue gate. Mikkeller sits almost inconspicuously among quiet family homes, though I've ridden in many cabs that know exactly where I am going when I say: "Soi 10 Yaek 2."
Mikkeller Bangkok celebrated its first birthday last month and ended beer week with a keg party featuring 100 different brews. In just a year, it has become the go-to place for anyone who cares about beer, attracting locals and visitors from abroad seeking to taste that one unique beer they saw listed on Mikkeller Bangkok's Facebook page, like 3 Floyds and Alma. Mike MacDonald, co-partner, had told the previous homeowner that they were opening up "a high-end gourmet coffee shop that also had gourmet beer". Mikkeller isn't just like any bar. For one, there is no parking or valet out front. The bar is decked out in light wood, reminiscent of its Nordic origins. There is no table service.
Founded in Denmark by Mikkel Borg Bjergso and Kristian Klarup Keller (who left the partnership) in 2006, Mikkeller is the world's first "gypsy brewer" — meaning Bjergso gets his recipes made at other breweries. He later opened up the first Mikkeller bar in Copenhagen to feature his beers in 2013. The bar attracted a niche beer-drinking crowd and he opened a second bar in Copenhagen, then a third in San Francisco, before landing in Bangkok last year. It has since opened a bar in Stockholm and will also open bars in Reykjavik and Tokyo. Last year, Bjergso created more than 140 recipes.
Here in Bangkok, there are always 30 different types of beer on tap, their names, type, alcoholic content written on a giant blackboard divided into 30 boxes. A keg is replaced with something new whenever it runs out.
"We have about 200 kegs we can pick from and we're constantly bringing in containers of beers carrying 2,500 kegs," says MacDonald. He and his partners were originally importing beers under the name Hops Session but it was difficult to sell craft beer kegs to bars for various reasons, including the fact they were not always importing the exact same beer.
"We almost never put the same one on twice so that when you come here, it'll always be a different experience." The variety is kept well-balanced although hoppy beers like IPA move quicker than stouts, which tend to get better with age. At the end of each keg, hoppy beers get bitter while stouts become deliciously thick like pudding.
"At any time, there is always a couple of sweet, a couple of sour, a couple hoppy, a couple malty," MacDonald says. On its birthday the bar featured, among many, George, a Russian imperial stout that pours like oil out of a ship and tastes like a mixture of caramel, smoky espresso, and dark chocolate — a dessert in a glass, "like Christmas chocolates with whiskey inside".
"We've almost always been able to find a beer for someone. When they say they don't like beer, it's because they're thinking of a typical lager beer and they don't like that it's gassy or they don't like the flavour, but I can show you a beer that you don't even know is a beer."
Because the beer is always changing, Mikkeller only offers bar service and the option to have small samples before you commit. The price may be steep but craft beers in Bangkok are priced within this range everywhere. The bartenders are knowledgeable — they love beer.
Mikkeller Bangkok is the first to have food options, starting with sandwiches and tapas before launching Upstairs with chef Dan Bark, who was the sous chef of Grace, a three Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago. They have done beer-pairing meals and also experimented with incorporating beer in the food, like making a sauce from stout to go with cheesecake or a vinaigrette from sour beer.
The downstairs is still focused on beer. As with every Mikkeller that has house beers named after the street they are on, this Bangkok bar has the Sukhumvit series made exclusively in Belgium.
"Those are the only beers we'll always have when you come in."
Mikkeller Bangkok is at No.26 Ekkamai Soi 10, Yaek 2. Open daily from 5pm to 12am. Call 02-381-9891.
