Bloggers night out at Overtime brewery bar of Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur

I was invited to a bloggers event a couple of days ago at Overtime, one of the locally renown fine dining and brewery bar chains at Pavilion, the premium shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. What made this such an exciting event to me was, I could meet up face to face with the brewer behind the famous Starker fresh beer, Mr. Timothy O’Rourke, who flew in from as far as Europe!

Starker, a German word which means ‘Stronger‘ in English, was the name of this aromatic premium fresh beer brewed locally in Malaysia with the unique formula came out from Tim.

Overtime brewery bar chain of Malaysia had the honour to be the first distributor of this Tim’s masterpiece of beer in Malaysia under the name of Starker. Starker Beer first hit the market less than 2 years ago and has soon become the famous brand name among beer drinkers not only in Malaysia, but also in Singapore, Shanghai and other Asian Cities.

Tim O’Rourke is a famous beer consultant cum journalist from UK who worked with many famous brewery around the world. He was there in Overtime of Pavilion and had a lengthy chatting session with us the bloggers who attended the event. He shared his experiences and knowledge on how to brew a beer with such a great aroma from German hops and other ingredients. His picture is also appeared in the Overtime menu.

There are 3 types of Starker fresh beers on offer, each with different taste and aroma level, namely Aromatic, Dunkel and Lager.

I tried the Dunkel and Aromatic which are perfectly smooth with a strong aroma of herbs and malt barley. Tim told me that his favourite variant is the Aromatic, which is a medium bodied beer with fresh fruity hints and herbal aroma. However, I prefer the Dunkel for its richer taste with hints of aroma.

According to Tim, the hot weather in Malaysia makes it very challenging to keep the beer fresh at the ambient temperature of around 30ºC, as opposed to Europe with only 15ºC in average. So it is important to keep the freshly brewed beers chilled all the way of the supply chain. One of the ways is the use of small barrels of 5 pints in volume to ensure the beer served is absolutely fresh until the last drop.

Apart from the Starker beer, Overtime serves mouth watering hot foods to pair with the beer. Some of my favourite dishes include fresh prawn noodles (above photo), Fire Pork, pork knuckles as well as its specialty Food Platter.

The image above shows the Food Platter with a combination of crispy roasted pork, fried mushroom and fish fingers.

I had a great time spending my night at Overtime and chatting with Tim O’Rourke. The event was held at the lounge section of the Overtime outlet with comfortable settees and trunk shaped tables. This lounge section is at a split higher level of the restaurant overseeing a stage where the live performance is going to take place.

After our dinner, the live performance in the bar section of Overtime started. Various English and Chinese songs were performed live from this 3-piece band, which was entertaining, if not excellent.

Cheers! A snap with Tim and me. 🙂 When I told him I’m a travel blogger he was delighted that he will be visiting East Malaysia next year for a diving trip to Sipadan Island in Sabah and wish to get some advises from my travel blog.

Towards the end of the night, fellow bloggers gathered to take a group photo to celebrate the success of the event.

Click the photo slideshow to view more photos from the event. Also click HERE to view the original high resolution images via Flickr

It was an amazing night out at Overtime of Pavilion shopping city, with the opportunity to meet the founder of Starker Beer, tasting Tim’s creation of the German blend’s beers and pairing them with some of the delicious snacks in the bar. For travelers who are looking for good local foods as well as Starker fresh beers, do plan for a dinner at Overtime of Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur city centre. 🙂 – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Malaysia

About The Author

Cecil Lee

The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.