Right around the time people in top hats start flying around the stage on cables and a traditional Thai ranat ek belts out a mean solo, you start to think to yourself, “Where the hell am I?”
All the beer lovers in Bangkok know Tawandang. It was one of Thailand’s first microbreweries. But things have changed here since it first opened in 1999. The best part about Tawandang, though, is taking someone who has never been before without telling them about it.
This year, they’re turning 27, so BK hopped over to their OG location in Sathorn to see how they’ve changed, what’s stayed the same, and why it’s never going away.
It’s gigantic and there are three of them
The classic German Bierhalle is, of course, huge, with a reported capacity of 1,600. You’re greeted, whether in Ramintra or Sathorn, with a massive stage on which they put on nightly shows. The weekend is the best time to visit, and even though they seat a small town’s worth of people, you should still book in advance. Even the exterior—a whopping great beer barrel—is a pretty impressive indicator of where you’ve landed.
You’ll find second floor seating and some private rooms if you fancy the beer but don’t want to pay too much attention to the show.
The Sathorn and Ramintra branches are pretty full-on. It usually starts off with a few pop songs and crowd pleasers, but then they bring on some folk music. This doesn’t sound like it’s to everyone’s taste, but by now you’ve had a tower of beer for B1,200 and you can, indeed, headbang to a ranat ek solo.
As the night moves on the main show—a live variety performance featuring dancing, acrobatics, and singing—takes over. The nights are broken into themes, costume changes, and pretty unexpected acts. Ramintra and Sathorn both have a massive stage, and the Freshtival, while smaller, is still a spot for live shows.
They have more beer than you remember
It wasn’t too long ago that this spot only did three beers: lager, weizen, and dunkel. Now, they’re doing a lot more than that. First off, when you enter at the Sathorn location, you’ll notice two large copper vats, and they brew a different beer every night of the week, at the moment brewing nine different beers.
At its heart, this space is very in love with the German idea of brewing—with your Cologne and Bamberg—but they know we’re all living in a craft beer renaissance and are catering to those tastes as well with some IPAs and very smokey beers.
The towers of beer are a pretty fun staple of this space, and any photos you try to take of the show while sitting down will be striped by towers of alt bier and dunkel.
They have a Japanese corner
Given the vibe, you’re probably going to want to tuck into some sausages and some pork knuckle—and you definitely should—but with Japanese food so big in Bangkok, they’ve added a Japanese corner complete with a dedicated sushi chef.
Like the rest of the venue, the Japanese food is reasonably priced, with large sets of sushi starting at B390, and their sashimi set (B2,350) is a good option for a group who really don’t know what they want.
You’ll find the Japanese corner marked off by a red lantern and a fish display. Overall, this is a big menu with a lot to choose from, which is why rule number one of Tawandang is to not go alone.
They give brewery tours
At the moment, they’ve got lager, rose, weizen, dunkel, Cologne, dark weizen, alt bier, IPA, and a Bamberg. All of this comes from the brewmasters Simon Bartman and Jochen Neuhaus.
Seeing the boom in craft brewing, Tawandang offers regular tours of their brewing process. If you’re into German brews and want to become a “Braumeister” yourself, this is the spot to start.
It’s an interesting opportunity to get a downtown look into the brewing process—a spot that puts their copper vats on display right in the middle of the venue. The event, priced at B899, occurs from 5-10pm and is accompanied by nine tastes and a discussion with the brewmasters themselves.
They’re doing collabs
If you’re not near any of the Tawandang beerhouses, you might know that Tawandang can be bought by the can at venues around the country. But, you might not know that they’ve been doing collaborations with large companies.
Tawandang has been collaborating since 2023 with Thailand’s Carabao, but they’ve also been working with Chinese brands, namely the beer brand of Tsingtao, and Namyong.
Craft beer has gone from non-existent, to cutesy family fun, to hipster hobby. And, in all that time, the big dogs at Tawandang have been serving up beer people like—or, at the very least, like drinking in excess.
