Macau is Asia’s Las Vegas, except that in this former Portuguese colony visitors blow far more cash and booze far less than they do in Vegas–and in Macau, craft beer is scarcer than sensible fashion choices on the casino floor.
Makes sense on both counts. Macau welcomes more than three times more tourists annually from mainland China than they do from the next-closest destination, Hong Kong, and more than 20 times more than Taiwan, which ranks a far third in this ignominious list. Chinese tend to have modest drinking habits, generally speaking, and so-called new money, or what GQ’s Devin Friedman calls “The Bling Dynasty,” is very much a thing in China. In short, Macau is where the fortunate Chinese mainlanders go to be seen and to spend, spend, and spend some more. Indeed, we’ve seen some truly disheartening amounts of cash blown willy-nilly at the baccarat and roulette tables in Macau’s high-end casinos.
In terms of alcohol, Macau fosters an environment more conducive to overpriced cocktails, liquors, and wines than craft beer. We’ll estimate that one would score more “face” with 99.8-percent of Macau’s visitors by whipping out an everyday bottle of Hennessy X.O. than a 12-pack of, oh, Pliny the Younger. However, the 0.2-percent that would surrender their first-born child for that twelver now, at least, have options beyond the regional macros.
Yes, sisters and brothers, Macau has craft beer.
Agora Taproom & Wine Bar
Rejoice, oh rejoice, for there somehow be a proper taproom in Macau, even if it’s a mildly absurd place in a strange location. Furthermore, the room temperature is usually set to “frostbite,” and in A Clockwork Orange-like stab at eye torture, during a recent visit Katy Perry music videos blasted on loop. In many ways it’s the antithesis of a modern beer bar, but this is what the real-life manifestation of “progress” looks (and apparently sounds) like in Macau. You take the bad with the good, you applaud the chutzpah of this unlikely endeavor, and you pray to whatever imaginary overlord you worship that Agora succeeds and works out the ambiance kinks.
We have our doubts, to be honest, as including this author and the staff we’ve counted a total of 12 people between three stops. On our most recent visit we said as much to our server, telling her that we were happy the place is still open because we never see anybody there. Apparently we’ve just mistimed our stops, as according to her the place usually gets fairly busy after midnight, so much so that staff sometimes keeps the place open until as late as 5:30am. Christ. Once again, this isn’t exactly your typical craft beer bar, but hey, nothing wrong with making it rain patacas here until the wee morning hours.
Agora has 20 taps, each individually pressurized and fine-tuned. The beer list is fine and dandy and surprisingly well-curated: Mikkeller, Yeastie Boys, BrewDog, Brouwerij Bosteels, Hitachino Nest, Stone Brewing, Young Master Brewery, and Moonzen Brewery are just a few of the breweries we’ve seen tapped. Prices are generally 75 – 85 MOP, inclusive of free-flowing snacks. Agora’s first craft bar, which has mostly bottles and is near Beer Temple, below, is also worth a look. Open daily 6pm – 4am(!). +853 6667 9520. Directions here.
Beer Pro
It’s a pleasant walk north through the neighborhoody backstreets of Santo António to this tiny bottle and homebrewing shop that has a few small tables, but is mostly just for takeaway. Some bottles are chilled, so if you can’t wait to pop the caps back at your hotel, sidle up to one of the benches along the adjacent waterfront (one that’s not particularly pretty) to open your disposable toys. If you do make it back to your accommodations with good beers in hand, please enjoy getting tipsy in bed while groaning through whatever addictive Adam Sandler drivel is on HBO that night. Yes, he will inevitably be lurking somewhere in your hotel television, today, tomorrow, and every day until you die.
Nothing wrong with the stock here: we’ve spotted imports from Stone, Tiny Rebel Brewing, Widmer Brothers Brewing, and Magic Rock Brewing, among others. Hong Kong breweries like Moonzen Brewery and Gweilo Beer have representation, as well, and there are a handful of bombers. Prices for 12-ounce bottles range from 30 – 75 MOP. Open Monday to Friday 4:30pm – 12am, and Saturday and Sunday from 3pm – 1am. +853 6358 6572. Directions here.
Marks & Spencer
No, really. Located on the second level of the Shoppes at Cotai Central, this is one of only two places to pick up a decent beer on the Cotai Strip, better known as The Place Where Lucifer Harvests Souls. Head to the Food Hall’s booze section, where you’ll find a variety of legit (if not particularly exciting) M&S-branded craft beers and ciders contract-brewed in the UK; Oakham Ales’ Double-Hopped Citra IPA is our favorite of the bunch.
They’re usually on a “buy two, get one free” sale, which means you’ll pay less than MOP80 (US$9.80) for three. Once we even found a caged port barrel-aged ale brewed by Meantime which, honestly, wasn’t anything special, but in the barren beer wasteland that is Cotai it was like heavenly ambrosia. Open Sunday to Thursday 10am – 11pm; until 11:30pm Saturday and Sunday. +853 2885 3591.
McSorley’s Ale House
This English-style pub, which looks so wonderfully out of place in The Venetian, is the other decent option for a decent beer on the Strip. Don’t expect anything too esoteric, but here you’ll at least find more than 10 bottled or canned craft beers, including a few from Moonzen, Gweilo Beer, and Hong Kong Beer Co. Randomly, Alltech’s Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale is on the menu, too. Everything is priced MOP70 – 80 and available for takeaway. Again, folks, it’s not a particularly thrilling option and there’s only sewage on draft, but the something here is better than the nothing everywhere else in this area. Open daily 12pm – 1am. +853 2882 8198.
Beer Temple
Like Big Boi it used to be cooler than a polar bear’s toenails at this bizarre little spot, but we’re not sure what’s going on here these days. A short walk from the Ruins of St. Paul’s and Monte Fort, here the idea of “chilling out” is taken quite literally: Beer Temple’s logo is a cartoonish crowned penguin, while outside two large polar bears (fake ones, people) stand, arms outstretched.
With its dimmed winter-blue lighting and illuminated beer bottles “parachuting” down from the ceiling, the place used to be pretty fucking weird and kind of brilliant. Beer Temple has remade itself into something far more generic, however. Now expanded into the space next door, the parachuting bottles and upstairs seating area have been replaced with a huge projector screen (bleh), and apparently food and wine have taken on greater importance than beer.
Back in the day Australian and New Zealand breweries like Stone & Wood Brewing, Garage Project, Moondog Brewing, and 8 Wired Brewing were conspicuous. Most recently, there was nothing on tap–not even the bar’s flagship BrewDog Punk IPA–and just a few bottles from BrewDog, Ballast Point, and Hitachino Nest in the mostly empty fridges. Our server said more beer was ordered but hadn’t yet been delivered. Either way, be way better! Open daily 12pm – 2am. +853 2835 2803. Directions here.
Grand Mart
It’s no surprise that the fanciest supermarket we’ve found in Macau slays its competitors when it comes to beer (and wine). Stock fluctuates some at this Japanese grocery, but as you can see below BrewDog’s core range, Hitachino Nest, Coedo Brewery, and Ballast Point are among the regulars.
We were surprised to find bottles from Guangzhou’s Bravo Brewing Co, Italy’s Birra Flea, and even bombers of Graceland Too, a collaborative white IPA from Canada’s Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery and Propeller Brewing. Refuse to even consider buying these if you’d like, but seasonal cans from the Tokyo Craft wing of Japan’s Suntory Beverage & Food Limited are attractively priced and not bad at all. Open daily 10am – 10:30pm. +853 2884 2903. Directions here.
PREM1ER Bar & Tasting Room
The sign outside promises the “best spirits, wine & beers in Asia,” so you can imagine how thrilled we were to find Heineken on draft and a few of Gweilo’s old bottled beers in the fridge. Ireland’s O’Hara’s Brewery was listed in the menu, but is apparently no longer available. Ditto, sadly, Fusion, a Mongolian “premium natural beer, cool and trendy, with a twist-off cap, opened only with another Fusion bottle… with a user-friendly bottle design with a twist-off cap.” Contact info purposely omitted.
###
This article was updated on February 26, 2019.
