ROLLING GRACE

The Heineken Regional Bartender Finals were the first time HEINEKEN Malaysia and Multi Bintang Indonesia put their best bartenders behind one bar, and the whole contest turned on a single glass of draught beer: how fast it was poured, how cleanly, and what the bartender said to the guest while handing it over.

We were at JAM PJ in Petaling Jaya for the regional final, and it changed how we look at the pint in front of us. Behind every glass in that room were a five-step pouring ritual, months of outlet-level heats in both countries and a training scheme that now sends trainers as far as Miri and Sandakan.

Here is what happened, who won and why it matters the next time you order a draught.

Read also: 4 Easy Steps to Rate Your Pint: Guinness Malaysia

Heineken Bartender Competition in Malaysia

The Heineken Regional Bartender Finals, held at JAMBOX, JAM PJ in Petaling Jaya on 16 October 2026, put finalists from HEINEKEN Malaysia’s Star Academy against finalists from Multi Bintang Indonesia’s Heineken Star Quality training for the first time.

I Wayan Sudiana from Bali took the regional title, and Lim Tee Hong of La Primeur Austin, Johor, finished runner-up.

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Roderick van den Brink, Sales Director of HEINEKEN Malaysia, framed the final as a chance for the Malaysian group to exchange ideas and learn from one another alongside their peers from Indonesia, which is a fair summary of what a cross-border final is good for.

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6 Highlights from Heineken Regional Bartender Finals

Finalists from Malaysia and Indonesia

Star Academy has been finding and training Malaysian bartenders for years, while Multi Bintang Indonesia runs its own Heineken Star Quality training.

The regional final was the first time finalists from the two met head to head, with the same beer, the same criteria and the same judges. For the finalists, that meant months of training, assessments and outlet-level competitions came down to one final.

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Balinese I Wayan Sudiana Takes Regional Title

The title went to I Wayan Sudiana, who represented Bali through Multi Bintang Indonesia’s Heineken Star Quality training. Winning in Petaling Jaya meant beating Malaysia’s ten finalists away from home.

For anyone heading to Bali, it is a strong signal about the level of service behind the island’s bar counters.

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Johor’s Lim Tee Hong Pours His Way to Runner-Up

Lim Tee Hong from La Primeur Austin in Johor finished second, which made him the highest-placed Malaysian in the competition. A runner-up finish at the first regional final puts a Johor bar team on the map for anyone in the south of the peninsula who cares about a properly poured beer.

Jason Dennis D’Cruz Joins the Judges

Jason Dennis D’Cruz, the 2024 Heineken Global Draught Champion, joined the competition as special guest judge. His story is the one every finalist in the room would recognise. He started as a waiter in 2017, joined Star Academy in 2024, won the Malaysian national title that September against more than 1,300 bartenders.

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Round 1 was judged by Wayne Wong, Heineken Draught Master at HEINEKEN Malaysia; Jen Lyn, Heineken Senior Brand Marketing Manager at HEINEKEN Malaysia; and Theodora Regina, Heineken Brand Executive at Multi Bintang Indonesia.

Heineken Five-Step Pour

Competitors were judged on three things: speed and accuracy under pressure, their ability to engage and educate the guest, and their technical command of the Star Quality Pour.

That pour is built on Heineken’s five-step pouring ritual, which Star Academy teaches to frontline bar staff across Malaysia. The second criterion is the one most drinkers overlook.

A technically clean glass is only part of the score; the judges also marked how well each bartender engaged the guest and explained what was in the glass.

Star Academy Heineken Malaysia

In 2026, Star Academy moved to an on-ground model, sending trainers directly to partner outlets instead of asking bartenders to travel to them. That brought training to smaller cities and outskirt areas including Miri, Bintulu, Sandakan, Alor Setar and Port Dickson.

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The scheme reached around 600 outlets this year and aims to upskill 2,500 bartenders in 2026, adding to more than 12,000 trained since it began. A parallel Guinness Perfect Pour track, focused on the stout’s two-part pour, has already reached more than 400 outlets and around 1,700 bartenders.

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How to Join the Star Academy

Bartenders enter Star Academy through their outlets. Top performers from partner bars across Malaysia go through theoretical and practical assessments, and the strongest advance to the national finals.

Training covers product knowledge, technical skills such as draught quality and pouring, customer service and responsible serving, delivered in person at the bar where each bartender works.

The national title has produced some memorable winners. In 2025, Cora Jean Cantwell of Langkah Syabas Beach Resort in Sabah became Star Academy’s first female National Champion. Past winners, Cantwell among them, now mentor newer bartenders, so the knowledge passes from one bar team to the next.

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Heineken Draught Beer

A draught beer is only as good as every step before it reaches you. Storage, serving temperature, freshness, glassware and pouring technique all shape how the beer tastes, and a weak link at any point shows up in the glass. Training bartenders in each of those steps is what separates a flat, lifeless pint from a good one.

There is a second side to the training that matters just as much. Star Academy also teaches responsible service: how to handle difficult moments at the bar, how to give guests a verbal reminder to enjoy responsibly, and how to encourage them never to drink and drive.

A bartender who knows when and how to say something is doing one of the most useful jobs in the room.

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What to Look For Next Time You Order a Draught

Once you know what the judges were scoring, it is hard to stop noticing it. Watch how quickly and cleanly the bartender handles the pour, and notice if anyone tells you what you are drinking. Those are the same things the finalists at JAM PJ were marked on.

If you are travelling through Sarawak, Sabah, Kedah or Negeri Sembilan, the bar in front of you may well have had a Star Academy trainer behind its counter this year.

And if you find yourself in Johor or Bali, you now know where two of the region’s best pours came from.