Bali has been experiencing heavy rain for the last few weeks. The kind of rain that one hears first before they see. Water fills gutters. Roads dissolving into grey noise. Scooters slow down at the weather’s insistence. Samara Füss, Head Brewer at Beaches, however, notices rain differently.
“I see it roll towards me through the valley before I feel it,” she says. Sam lives in the village of Sumberkima, just outside Pemuteran, where hills cascade towards the vast, tranquil seas, and volcano silhouettes resting on East Java rise during clear days. “Something I marvel over time and time again.”
This is where she brews Beaches. But beyond that, this is where Beaches’ story becomes fascinating. North Bali isn’t only where the beer is made, but its geographical significance is embedded into the beer itself; it is why Beaches tastes the way it tastes.
How the North Reshapes Pace and Palate
Up here, the difference is immediate, according to Sam, where the pace slows, days start earlier, weather shapes schedules, distances feel longer, and urgency feels smaller; life in the north recalibrates people. Time stops being forced.
“Living in North Bali changed how I live, but it also changed how I brew,” Sam says. “I slow down, breathe, and take time to consider my craft.” This sentiment captures the essence of Beaches as a beer made to belong. Sam doesn’t frame beer as an achievement or a prize; she speaks of it as a companion to climate, to food, to real everyday moments. That the beer is a reflection of the conditions and environment of Bali.
As such, when she develops her recipes, she isn’t bogged down on ‘brewer theory’, but is guided instead by how the beer will be experienced: Does it feel clean in the heat? Can you keep sipping without feeling heavy or bloated? Does the finish reset you, especially with local delights of spice? This approach has become the DNA of Beaches: a beer crafted for the everyday table.
Where the Sea Shapes the Work
In Pemuteran, the shoreline is part of daily life. The coastal community initiatives aren’t grand statements or publicised movements, they’re part of the culture, gotong royong, keeping our land, beaches and oceans clean.
Sam points to several efforts that have become part of the area’s identity. One is Plastic Free Pemuteran, a community-led initiative that runs beach clean-ups daily and works closely with village structures and local facilities for consistent waste management, rather than as a one-off volunteer gesture.
Additionally, there is Bio-Rock, a reef restoration project that unfolds slowly and structurally, and nearby in West Bali, there’s Umah Lumba Center – a dolphin rehabilitation and release facility for previously captive performing dolphins.
Sam isn’t saying, “Look how good we are.” Her point is simpler. “It teaches you respect for consistency,” she asserts; a reminder of what it really takes to sustain a place, day after day. This clear, steady logic mirrors Beaches’ no-frills approach too, as befitting of a brand that actually lives there.
North Bali Through Sam’s Lens
If you ask Sam for a guide, she’ll give you a routine instead of an itinerary. Her mornings begin before most people are awake, heading out for an early freedive, when the sea is at its quietest. “From the quiet sunrises over Pemuteran to the blazing sunset over Ijen volcano on Java,” she says, views that gently steady the nerves.
In the north, reminders of “Bali as a living place” appear, like the Jalak Bali, the island’s iconic starling, protected and still present in pockets of the north. It’s small encounters like this that ground the island experience into simple, everyday pleasures.
Then some places feel less like destinations and more like neighbourhoods. La Casa Kita for wood-fired pizza, weekend live music, and familiar faces. Or Sage Cafe, for soulful foods and restorative yet indulgent meals.
Then she laughs and delivers the line that feels most like her: “From sunset yoga to steamy afternoon padel sessions, the northwest has it all… but shhhhhhhhh… don’t tell everyone, or they’ll all want to come to our little slice of paradise.”
In the end, this isn’t really a story about beer. It’s a story about timing and about learning to brew at the pace of weather, to taste through heat and to live in a place that rewards only presence, not performance. North Bali doesn’t market itself into meaning. It shapes people quietly, through repetition, routine, and restraint. In Sam’s case, it reshaped how she lives, and eventually, how Beaches tastes.
@beachesbeerbali
beachesbrewingco.com
