Brewing up a storm

With names like Engkanto, Katipunan, Pedro, Lapu-Lapu and Sikatuna, Filipino craft beers have caught attention in the past few years. Micro-breweries producing specially-made brews in small batches have increased not just in Manila but all over the country.

For the purpose of trying something new, millennials tend to explore and experiment with the more diverse flavors of craft beers, according to a survey by dsm.com.

Craft beer is made in the traditional, non-mechanized way in a small brewery and is twice as strong compared to regular beers.

According to the Craft Beer Association of the Philippines (CBAP), an organization that aims to promote local and independent breweries and craft beers in the country, the birth of homebrewers in the Philippines started in 2010. It was five years later that the number significantly grew as 15 breweries opened the same year, along with the establishment of CBAP.

A craft beer experience is always new, depending on the place, as local breweries add not just a twist and special ingredients into the mix, but demonstrate dedication to the craft. Now, it’s all about preferences, especially if local breweries offer some 200 variants.

 

As of 2019, CBAP signed over 60 local breweries nationwide with over 200+ diverse craft beer flavors in the Philippines. Beer is typically made of water, hops, grains and yeast, yet there are provinces in the country that offer organic, high-quality and unique ingredients in their local craft beers including salabat, rice, sticky rice and endemic fruits.

Throughout the metro are craft beer outlets in the corners of Taguig and Poblacion, Makati, to name a few.

Beer originated from the culture of the old Vikings and the Catholic Church and is considered to be the “world’s oldest drink.” It is also the most widely consumed by people.

According to ethnologist emerita Wigdis Espeland at the University of Bergen’s Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion in an article on uib.no, there are traces of beer production much older than wine production — and, as usual, is made for festive occasions such as the winter solstices and funerals.

In unprecedented times, sometimes all it takes is the fizz and sizzle of one cold and delicious beer that can get people through their days.