Islands of Imagination (IOI)

Islands of Imagination, usually shortened to IOI, was founded by Pieter and Laura Prinsloo, who came to beer from years in artisan coffee. The name refers to Indonesia's 17,500 islands, and the idea is to build each beer around a local ingredient: Jatiluwih rice, Flores Bajawa arabica coffee, Kalimantan honey or salak fruit from Sibetan. The brewery is in Karangasem in east Bali, on a 1,500 square metre site with a 300 square metre production building, and the beer is unpasteurised and meant to be kept cold. IOI launched in 2022. At the 2024 Asia Beer Championship in Singapore it was named Country Champion Brewery for Indonesia, with a gold medal for its Coffee Porter and a Chairman's Selection for the Padiluwih Lager.

The beers

• Padiluwih Lager, rice lager with Jatiluwih rice, 4.52%
• Tropical Session, New England IPA, 4.8%
• Islandman XIPA, IPA, 7.89%
• Salaca Wheat, wheat beer with Sibetan salak, 4.11%
• Brut Lager, dry lager with jeruk limau, 4.67%
• Coffee Porter, porter with Flores Bajawa coffee, 4.66%
• Island Hoppin', pale ale, 4.74%

A Honey Kolsch, a Witty White and fruited sours such as Mangotopia, Berry Sour and Soursop Sour join the range, and cans are sold in six- and 24-packs through the brewery's online shop.

Where to drink it

IOI's own taproom is South+East Brewing Co. on Jl. Pengubengan Kauh in Kerobokan, run by the same team, where all 24 taps are Indonesian-brewed and the IOI range is usually well represented. Elsewhere in Bali, Lola's Taproom in Sanur stocks it among its local labels. Both are listed below.