Ren Min's Manbeer Singh says cheers to hawker centre bars

Ex-lawyer toasts contemporaries Smith Street Taps and Danger Close Beverage

- Teo Kai Xiang

Most Singaporeans will agree that the Republic's best food is found in its hawker centres, but where does one find the best beer?

While many of Singapore's top bars are nestled in hotels, malls or popular shopping streets, some entrepreneurs are carving out a niche in more humble surroundings.

One member of this quiet revolution is former lawyer Manbeer Singh, 41, founder of Ren Min, a hawker stall and craft brewery.

Ren Min was set up in 2016 at Maxwell Food Centre, and Mr Singh has since opened a second stall at Old Airport Road Food Centre. These stalls serve a rotating selection of Ren Min's locally produced craft beers on tap.

The brewery's beers won six awards from beer rating platform Untappd's Community Awards in 2023. Its Pomelo Haze and Nelson Anthem were No. 1 and No. 3 respectively in the Pale Ale - New England/Hazy category. Less than 1.65 per cent of the 1.5 million rated beers that year received an award.

"The reason we started in a hawker centre was because we wanted our beers to be enjoyed with the best food in Singapore," says Mr Singh. "Our hawker culture is such an integral part of our Singaporean identity. In that sense, making a local product was really important to us, and there's no better setting than a hawker centre."

There were also practical considerations. For instance, opening a hawker stall requires a fraction of the capital needed for a stand-alone bar or restaurant. But running a bar out of a hawker stall comes with challenges, from having to make the most of a cramped space to dealing with the hustle and bustle of the hot environment.

"I thought, having gone through law school and been a lawyer, nothing could be harder," Mr Singh jokes. "Then I started doing this and I thought, this is way harder."