MANILA -- Craft beer is on the rise in the Philippines and one of the forerunners of this movement has launched the Beer Explorer Club for the growing number of local enthusiasts.
Craftpoint Brewing Co. is led by Filipino craft beer "evangelists" Chip Vega, Aldous Bernardo and Marvin Moreno, who met at a local homebrewing club. As they continue to push themselves, they have launched the Beer Explorer Club, whose tagline is “Where no beer has gone before.”
From its garage beginnings in 2013, Craftpoint has moved on to create brewed ales at the EDSA Beverage Design Group since last year. Here, the trio continues to produce their tried and tested beers like Summer Session, Summer Passion and Hopnosis.
Their most popular creations are the Liberation Revolutionary Pale Ale and the Revolution Belgian India Pale Ale (IPA).
While pale ale usually isn’t the most hoppy tasting, Liberation has a definite "hoppy" bite that hits you at the start, making it perfect with grilled meats, such as the pork dish that we enjoyed from the EDSA restaurant and café.
Revolution, on the other hand, is a Belgian IPA. You get the Belgian bit for its complexity -- it’s fruity, aromatic, with a hint of spice -- and it’s definitely an IPA, with its 7.5% ABV, caramel notes of malt, and that requisite hint of hoppy hit.
Beer Explorer Club members sign up for a three- or six-month subscription and will receive a six pack per month, composed of three bottles of random beer from their regular roster and three bottles of their mystery beer of the month), a sticker, a newsletter and a one-time primer on craft beer.
January’s mystery beer has been dubbed The People’s Champ, an homage to boxer Manny Pacquiao, as well as a pun on what they crafted this beer to be – a Champorado Milk Stout.
It was my first time to drink this kind of stout. While it was definitely sweet, it also had that requisite hint of bitterness that one expects in a dark beer, which nestled and developed into something unique with that hint of dark chocolate (from cocoa from Malagos Chocolate in Davao), and even some deeper notes of roasted coffee, with an alluring creamy mouthfeel.
Previews of the next two months were both distinctive bottles of personality. February is dark, with a unique characteristic that creeps slowly and lingers long after the last sip, while March is a light and fun bottle – crisp on the palate, fresh and summery.
To go where no beer-drinker has gone before costs a little over P1,000 per month, and bottles are available in EDSA Beverage Design Group’s space, as well as in various restaurants and bars around the metro.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
