Touché

Touché was launched in March 2003 by Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) in Singapore — the first new-style beer in APB's history and the company's first effort to adopt micro-brewing techniques. What made Touché remarkable was its use of a yeast cultured from champagne grapes — an entirely novel approach for a large commercial brewer in Asia at the time. APB was originally founded in 1931 as Malayan Breweries, a joint venture between Heineken International and Singapore's Fraser & Neave, making it one of Heineken's oldest partnerships in the world. In 2013 APB was fully acquired by Heineken and renamed Heineken Asia Pacific. The champagne-yeast brewing technique gave Touché a distinctive character quite unlike APB's other brands (Tiger, Anchor, Heineken). It was a bold innovation statement from a brewery better known for mainstream Asian lagers.