A Philippine-made beer won as the Champion Beer of Asia in this year's Asia Beer Championship with over 640 entries from top breweries across Asia.

Summer Breeze Saison by Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits, a five-year-old microbrewery won as Country Champion Brewery, winning the award two years in a row.

Elias won three Chairman's Selection awards namely There She Gose and Gose Busters (Gose Category) and Proppa Pale Ale (British Pale Ale category).

Elias also took home a Gold for Summer Breeze Saison (Saison Category), and a Bronze for Supperr Fruit Punch (Session Fruit Beer Category).

 Significant

In previous years, Elias has also won numerous medals but this year's multiple awards hold significance for the team. Cyrus Cruz, marketing consultant of Elias, said that this year's win is the most prestigious awards they've bagged.

"This is the first time that we got a gold medal and also received the Champion Beer of Asia, which is one of the most prestigious awards that a brewery in Asia can get," Cruz said.

He added that their victory was quite staggering because there are many strong breweries in Asia where the usual winners are the well-established ones from Singapore, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The majority of these brewers have a long history in the beer industry, he noted.

Cruz believes that the fermentation procedure is what distinguishes the Summer Breeze Saison from other beer contenders.

"People noted hints of pineapple and peach in it, but we didn't introduce these elements [into our Saison. It simply means our brewers did a great job in crafting this beer," he said.

Commitment to constant improvement

Raoul Masangcay, the founder and president of Elias who was a software engineer turned cicerone, credit the recent success to their steadfast commitment to constant improvement, which has been the key to the microbrewery's growth.

Masangcay also acknowledged Elias brewing consultant, Jason Matthews, whose diverse knowledge has proven to be an invaluable asset in their pursuit of crafting outstanding beers.

"We also made several improvements on our recipes based on what we've learned from past competitions; we studied global trends in the F&B industry, the taste preferences of our customers and the great flavors of our country," Masangcay said.

Attending brewery courses and conferences in the United States has been advantageous for him when coming up with ideas for recipes and procedures.

"Combined with the disciplined execution of our recipes by our head brewer, Miljohn See, we successfully achieved our desired outcomes," he says.

Difficult to compete

Masangcay admits that it's particularly difficult to compete with larger established breweries in Asia considering the lack of brewing equipment suppliers and limitations on the materials' availability.

"We had to import some ingredients in small quantities from the US to achieve the desired flavor profiles," he said.

In certain instances, Elias experimented by utilizing as many local ingredients as possible to craft the taste they desire.

"An example of our success in this approach is our award-winning Supperr Fruit Punch gose-style beer, which featured fresh lansones, mango, pineapple, and toasted coconut, setting it apart from other entries," Masangcay said.

Currently Elias has about 25 beers, hard ciders, and seltzers on tap in their 150-seater brewery in Quezon City. These beverages are rotted on a regular basis.