Lao food pop-up is starting a beer company
SapSap, the Racine-based pop-up restaurant and caterer of Lao food, has started a beer company that’s meant to provide more than refreshment — 5% of sales will go toward eradicating unexploded bombs from the Lao landscape.
The first beer, a lager made with the sticky rice that’s essential to Lao cuisine, is being brewed under contract with Low Daily Beer in Burlington.
More beers are planned after the company’s flagship beer, including an ale with makrut lime, a spicy chile beer and a lemongrass IPA.
Alex Hanesakda, SapSap’s founder, said the debut beer might be canned as early as this week. But because of the can shortage spurred by the pandemic, it’s likely most of it will be canned in early to mid-January.
The name on the can might prompt some people to do a double-take. “You want to turn some heads,” Hanesakda said, but “it has relevance.”
The name is Thum Phuk; thum in Lao refers to the pounding of a mortar and pestle, but also means “cheers,” Hanesakda said, and phuk means chopping.
The label describes the beer this way: “Saaz and Sorachi Ace hops provide an herbal lemon backdrop to this exceptionally clean lager brewed with sticky rice, flaked rice and Pilsner malt.”
Hanesakda said the initial nonprofit to receive a donation from Thum Phuk will be Legacies of War, an organization that aids in the removal of bombs in Laos.
Laos is known as the most heavily bombed country in the world, a result of the United States’ covert war in Laos in the Vietnam War era. Many of the 2 million tons of cluster bombs dropped on the country remain, and efforts continue to rid Laos of them.
At 5 p.m. on Christmas Day, SapSap will be handing out 100 free meals to people in need. That first-come, first-served event takes place at the Branch at 1501, 1501 Washington Ave. in Racine.
Contact dining critic Carol Deptolla at carol.dep tolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.