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Mabel Lui

Ask any Hongkonger what their favourite local baked good is, and it is likely that one of three will come to mind.
First, there is the classic pineapple bun with its signature crunchy topping. Then there is the lesser-known, but still beloved, cocktail bun with its coconut filling.
Finally, the Hong Kong egg tart needs no introduction – the treat is so popular that the technique of making it has been deemed part of the city’s intangible cultural heritage.
Hong Kong craft brewer Breer – a portmanteau of bread and beer – has taken these three baked goods and turned them into cans of beer with a sustainable twist.

While most breweries rely on barley as a main ingredient, Breer mostly uses surplus buns and bread from bakeries to make its beer, thus creating a new life cycle for products that otherwise would have been wasted.
The company was founded by Anushka Purohit, Naman Tekriwal and two others in 2019, when all four were students at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Purohit recalls telling her co-founders: “Hong Kong is pretty perfect, but the one thing we have that’s a bit of a problem is our food waste.”
“Stores close towards 9pm-10pm, and you’ll see people take food and throw it away. There are existing solutions, but what works in the Western world doesn’t really work in Hong Kong,” she says, pointing to how Hongkongers prefer to buy fresh food rather than day-old food sold at a discounted price.
After a night out drinking, the four came up with the idea for Breer, and proceeded to participate in several competitions, including the City I&T Grand Challenge, a competition that encourages participants to come up with solutions to challenges that affect the everyday lives of people in Hong Kong.
Breer’s first major launch, from which part of the proceeds went to Operation Santa Claus, an annual charity appeal co-organised by the Post, was a white bread pale ale made in collaboration with the restaurant chain Maxim’s.
Since then, the company has continued collecting surplus bread from Maxim’s and other, family-run bakeries to create its beers.

The baked goods are dropped off at contracted local breweries including Carbon Brews, Black Kite Brewery and Yardley Brothers, where the bread is broken up and steeped in water.
Afterwards, the water is flavoured with hops for specific flavours; the whole brewing process takes three to four weeks.
Breer’s first Hong Kong-inspired beer, the Bolo Bao IPA, named after the Cantonese for pineapple buns, was launched in early 2022. “I love eating bolo bao, so I thought we have to do one with pineapple bun,” Purohit says.
Even though pineapple buns typically do not feature any pineapple flavour – the bun is named after its topping, which visually resembles the fruit – the bolo bao beer is made with hops that impart hints of pineapple, vanilla and coconut, as well as a small dose of lactose, to capture a tropical essence.
As a “hoppier” beer, Tekriwal says, the bolo bao IPA also starts off a bit sweet and ends with a finish that is more bitter.

Two years later, Breer has followed up its first Hong Kong-flavoured beer with a non-alcoholic cocktail bun pale ale.
Light and refreshing, the cocktail bun pale ale’s coconut flavour is unmistakable in both its smell and taste. There are also notes of vanilla and the drink very much tastes like beer, despite being made non-alcoholic through a pasteurisation process.
“A lot of people are now walking into stores and actually wanting a non-alcoholic drink, because they want to be away from alcohol, are more health-focused and things like that,” Tekriwal says. “Now, they can have a non-alcoholic beer, which is beer-like, but you’re not getting drunk. There are a lot of social benefits to a non-alcoholic product.”
Aside from the bolo bao and cocktail bun beers, both of which are part of Breer’s permanent line, available online and in stores such as City’super, the brand has also recently collaborated with Hong Kong Tramways to launch two limited edition beers in celebration of the public transport operator’s 120th anniversary.
The first is an egg tart cream ale, while the second is another non-alcoholic pale ale that is inspired by a rather different Hong Kong snack – the curry fish ball.

The former does not taste much like an actual egg tart, but is slightly sweet and light, making it easy to drink. “This is very mellow and kind of like a dessert beer,” Purohit says. “I personally think it pairs really well with the curry, because that’s super spicy and in your face.”
Indeed, the curry fish ball non-alcoholic pale ale is more punchy, with a noticeable kick at first sip – all flavour derived from hops, because the beer does not contain actual fish balls.
The Breer team opted to make this pale ale non-alcoholic because the mascots for Hong Kong Tramways’ 120th anniversary are the Hong Kong cartoon pig McDull and his mum – the idea being that the mum could have the egg tart drink, while the kids could have the curry fish ball version.
The partnership also extends to the ingredients for the beers, as the surplus egg tarts and bread collected to make them were sourced from bakeries found along the tram route, Purohit says.
“The idea is, if you hop onto a tram, let’s say from the Central Market stop and you take it around, all the bakeries that you pass by, at least a couple of them would have contributed to the creation of [the beers].”












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The two flavours will be available free of charge at the Hong Kong Tramways’ 120th anniversary pop-up store at Central Market, on Hong Kong Island, until September 8, and can be redeemed after visitors like or follow the Hong Kong Tramways and Central Market social media pages.
“When we met the Tramways team, the three things which were very similar in both of our brands are: the tram is a sustainable mode of transport, our beer is sustainable,” Tekriwal says. “The trams are made in Hong Kong, our beer is made in Hong Kong. The tram also really represents Hong Kong as an identity, and our beers also try to do that with bolo bao, cocktail bun and the flavours we’re making with [Tramways].
“So it was a perfect brand alignment story.”


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Food and Drinks

Egg tart beer? Hong Kong craft brewer Breer turns surplus baked goods into ales

Breer recently collaborated with Hong Kong Tramways on two Hong Kong-inspired beers. Photo: Mabel Lui

Anushka Purohit and Naman Tekriwal are co-founders of Breer, a Hong Kong start-up that turns baked goods that would otherwise have been thrown away into beer. Photo: Mabel Lui

Anushka Purohit is the chief executive officer of Breer. Photo: Mabel Lui

Breer’s first Hong Kong-inspired beer was launched in early 2022. Photo: Breer

Breer co-founders Naman Tekriwal and Anushka Purohit at the City I&T Grand Challenge in 2021. Photo: Breer

Breer recently collaborated with Hong Kong Tramways to created two Hong Kong-inspired beers. Photo: Mabel Lui

The curry fish ball pale ale and egg tart cream ale on display at the Hong Kong Tramways’ 120th-anniversary pop-up store. Photo: Mabel Lui

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Shrimp roe thick noodle lo mien from Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle in Hong Kong. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Roast goose with lai fun rice noodles from Yung Kee in Hong Kong. Learn about the different kinds of noodles served in the city, how they are traditionally made, and the foods they are typically paired with. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Wheat noodles originate in Northern China, while rice noodles have Southern Chinese origins, says Dr Siu Yan-ho, a lecturer in Chinese language and literature at Baptist University. 

Marco Li Ka-chi of Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle balancing on a bamboo pole to make noodles. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Shrimp roe thick noodle lo mien at Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

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Italian meringue made with egg whites donated by a ramen shop. Photo: The Rescued Feast

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Carla Martinesi, the founder of food-rescue app Chomp, which links its users to businesses selling their excess food at a heavy discount. Photo: Chomp 

Chef Chris Czerwinski and his team had worked on a similar concept before, for 60 people. This time, they catered to 200. Photo: Soho House

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The Rescued Feast buffet table. Photo: The Rescued Feast

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Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Sustainable start-up Breer, which turns surplus buns from city bakeries into beer, creates special ales for Hong Kong Tramways anniversary


Breer, a Hong Kong start-up that makes craft beers from surplus buns bakeries would otherwise throw away, creates limited-edition ales to celebrate Hong Kong Tramways’ 120th year.


Hong Kong culture

Sustainability

Start-ups

Offbeat