Craft beer in Singapore has grown from a niche hobby into a full-blown movement, with dozens of microbreweries, taprooms, and bottle shops now spread across the island, from Chinatown hawker centres to riverside bars in Robertson Quay. Whether you’re a beer-loving local, an expat building a regular haunt, or a tourist with one night to spare, this guide breaks down where to find the best local brews, what makes Singapore’s scene special, and how to plan your own craft beer crawl.
Singapore’s craft beer scene has expanded rapidly over the past decade, moving well beyond the handful of expat-focused bars that defined its early days. Today, the city is home to homegrown breweries producing everything from tropical fruit sours to hop-forward IPAs, alongside taprooms that pour 15 to 20 rotating taps at a time.
A big part of this growth has been driven by hawker centre taprooms, which brought craft beer into everyday neighbourhood life rather than keeping it confined to expensive bars. Pioneers like Smith Street Taps in Chinatown Complex helped normalise the idea of grabbing a craft pint alongside your chicken rice.
Annual events have also fuelled the momentum. Brewnanza Fest, held at Marina Bay Sands, is now Singapore’s largest craft beer festival, returning for its third edition with over 100 different beers from local and international breweries. Festivals like this give smaller local brands a platform alongside established international names.
Singapore’s position as a regional travel and business hub means it naturally attracts a diverse, curious drinking crowd—locals, expats, and tourists who are often already familiar with craft beer culture from home.
This demand has pushed bars and bottle shops to widen their selection well beyond mainstream lagers. Many venues now stock a mix of homegrown beers alongside imports from the UK, Japan, Thailand, and Finland, giving drinkers a genuinely international tasting experience without leaving the city.
The compact size of Singapore also works in its favour. Unlike sprawling beer cities where breweries are scattered across suburbs, most of Singapore’s best taprooms sit within a short MRT ride of each other, making it realistic to visit two or three spots in a single evening.
Here are some of the homegrown names that anchor Singapore’s local brewery scene.
Alive Brewing is one of Singapore’s most recognisable local labels, frequently appearing on rotating tap lists at hawker centre taprooms and bottle shops. Their fruity IPA, Yuzu Relax, has become a popular draw at venues like Yeast Side. Look out for their beers at festivals and neighbourhood taprooms across the island.
Lion Brewery Co. is another homegrown name that regularly features at major beer events, putting Singapore-brewed beer in front of a wider festival crowd alongside international labels.
Ren Min is part of the newer wave of local breweries experimenting with styles tailored to Singapore’s climate and palate, often showing up at festival line-ups alongside more established names.
Turning Point is known for approachable, easy-drinking styles such as pale ales, which have found a home on local taproom menus.
If you want to taste a wide range of local and international craft beer in one sitting, these taprooms are a great starting point.
Smith Street Taps is often described as Singapore’s original all-draft craft beer hawker stall, and for over a decade, it has been a cornerstone of the local scene. It has 22 rotating taps featuring both Singaporean and international brewers, including homegrown label Alive Brewing Co.
Pair your pint with hawker classics from the surrounding stalls for a true Singapore experience.
GULP Riverside Taproom was started by three friends passionate about beer, and it has built a relaxed, kick-back atmosphere along the river with an eight-tap line-up that changes regularly. It’s a solid pick if you want craft beer with scenic riverside views.
Orh Gao Taproom leads a double life—running as a Killiney Kopitiam by day and switching to a ten-tap craft beer bar by night, with local comfort food like beef rendang and har cheong gai to go with your pint. It’s a fun, only-in-Singapore mash-up of kopitiam culture and craft beer.
SG Taps is a no-frills Duxton spot with a 20-tap lineup that leans heavily into local brews, plus a pale ale-heavy selection. This is a good choice for drinkers who specifically want to focus on Singaporean labels.
Housed in an 80-year-old shophouse that once belonged to the Chinese Druggists Association, this taproom blends heritage architecture with a modern craft beer menu. The setting alone makes it worth a visit, even before you get to the beer list.
For something more upscale, LeVeL33 combines a brewery setup with panoramic Marina Bay views, making it a popular choice for special occasions and visiting tourists who want craft beer with a skyline backdrop.
If you’d rather build your own beer fridge or take bottles back to your hotel, Singapore’s bottle shops are worth exploring.
Temple Cellars, with outlets in Bukit Timah and River Valley, is often cited as offering one of the widest ranges of craft beers, ciders, wines, and spirits in Singapore, sourced from boutique, local, and international producers. They also run in-store tastings and bottle-share events, which is a great way to meet other beer enthusiasts.
GULP Bottleshop & Taproom in Robertson Quay is another option for browsing in person, with a curated selection alongside their taproom offerings. A useful tip when buying craft beer in Singapore: since craft beer is unpasteurised and packed with delicate hop flavours, it doesn’t sit well on shelves for long, so freshness matters more than it does with mass-produced lagers.
Pricing varies depending on the venue, but hawker centre taprooms tend to offer the best value. At spots like Canjob Taproom, drinkers have reported pints of craft beer going for under S$9, which is considerably cheaper than what you’d pay at a hotel bar or rooftop venue.
Riverside and rooftop venues, by contrast, sit at a higher price point, reflecting their views and ambience rather than the beer itself. As a rough guide for planning a budget:
If you’re hopping between several spots in one night, starting at a hawker taproom and ending at a rooftop bar is a good way to balance cost and experience.
Brewnanza Fest at Marina Bay Sands is Singapore’s largest craft beer festival, sampling over 100 beers alongside live music and street food, and it has become an annual highlight for the local scene. The festival also includes brewing masterclasses and live demonstrations, giving visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how local and international beers are made.
If your trip lines up with the festival dates, it’s one of the easiest ways to sample a huge range of local breweries in a single afternoon. Outside of festival season, weeknight visits to taprooms tend to be quieter and more relaxed, while weekends bring a livelier crowd—especially at riverside spots.
A simple way to structure your evening is to pick two or three venues that are close together by MRT, so you’re not spending your whole night in transit.
A sample route for first-timers could look like this:
This kind of route gives you a mix of price points, atmospheres, and beer styles in one evening, while keeping travel time manageable.
For a wider look at where to drink in the city beyond just craft beer—including cocktail bars, wine bars, and rooftop lounges—this guide to the best drinking places in Singapore is a useful companion to this list.
Singapore’s craft beer scene has matured into something genuinely worth exploring, whether you’re after a quiet pint at a hawker stall, a riverside taproom session, or a festival weekend packed with new discoveries. From homegrown labels like Alive Brewing Co. and Lion Brewery Co. to long-running taprooms like Smith Street Taps, there’s enough variety here to keep both casual drinkers and dedicated beer geeks busy for weeks.
For more guides on where to eat, drink, and explore around the island, head back to Top in Singapore for the latest recommendations.
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