BY LEE SHAW WEI AND MA CHEE SENG
KUCHING: The newly launched 1602 Craft Beer can contribute revenue and provide work opportunities in Sarawak, said Minister for Food Industries, Commodities and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.
Dr Rundi mentioned how well-known libations like the Irish Guinness stout beer and the Dutch Heineken lager beer have been bringing in revenues for their respective nations.
He further addressed during his opening speech at the launching of the 1602 Craft Beer at Pullman Hotel Kuching on Thursday (Feb 9) that he expected that Sarawak’s very own craft beer could serve as a major source of revenues for Sarawak, just like Guinness and Heineken have.
“But of course just like many things, drink in moderation, as overdoing it can lead to complications,” he advised.
Meanwhile Chairman of Copial Corporation Datuk Peter Nansian Ngusie applauded the efforts of brewmaster Hans Gerner and Randy Liew on Sarawak’s first crafted beer and commended that the beer is good and hoped that it would get better in the coming years.
“Copial started as the first licensed ‘tuak’ manufacturing company, and we were the first to do wine, and now we (Sarawak) are the first to have a licence on craft beer, with this I hope that in the coming years the state can be the first in many more things,” he said.
Nansian who is also the founder of Copial Corporation Sdn Bhd, is the first one in 1983 to have manufactured licensed rice wine in Sarawak also hoped that the two brewmasters will produce a series of flavoured beers according to the festive seasons such as Octoberfest and so on.
