ANGELES CITY—The Craft Beer Revolution is on, as the Angeles City Craft Beer Festival is set to sizzle at Marquee Mall’s Marquee Park from December 2 to 4.
With full backing from the Central Luzon Department of Tourism (DoT), the craft-beer festival aims to highlight local microbreweries that will showcase their latest beer creations, according to Regional Director Ronnie P. Tiotuico.
Beer lovers will have an opportunity to taste and enjoy a large number of the latest craft beers. But that’s only for starters, because what is beer without food, as a selection of gourmet international and local food provided by celebrity chefs will also be offered, Tiotuico said.
And to create a unique ambiance for the festival are performances from live jazz bands and blues music led by top performing instrumentalist Conrad “Titus” del Rosario III, who spent 31 years in Germany in the pursuit of his love—music.
Craft beer
MICHAEL SCHITTEK, a German national from southern Germany who now operates the Pinatubo Craft Beer Brewery in the Friendship area here, said he started brewing handcrafted beer two years ago, when he thought of retiring in the Philippines.
Schittek said he and his wife Mildred and their 10-year-old son were living in Switzerland for 15 years prior to moving here in the city.
“I will retire in the Philippine, but I will continue to make beer,” he said.
“We started with a very small shop [near the VFW restaurant in the Balibago area], but it became too small so we moved here and expanded,” he said.
Schittek, a chemical engineer, said his handcrafted beer is German knowledge but Filipino made.
“We did not import any materials,” he said, including the stainless-steel vats welded and fashioned in nearby Mabalacat City.
He said that, if the beer is Pilsen or Lager, it needs to mature for about four weeks, but ales don’t need much time to ferment and can be bottled immediately after only two days of carbonation.
He said 500 years ago, water was contaminated in Germany that is why Germans drank beer, which has 5-percent alcohol that kills the microorganisms.
“That was how beer started in Germany. Water was not safe to drink; they did not know about boiling water, but knew that when you drink beer, you won’t get sick,” he said.
“The German government realized how important beer was and they put this purity law in place to make sure manufacturers are not spoiling beer, which is mainly made up of water, malt and hops,” he said. “They did not add yeast then because it was unknown. They did not know until 1860 that yeast will do the job of transforming sugar into alcohol,” he said.
“That is why the German breweries are always close to bakeries because the baker makes the bread with yeast and then the brewer uses the yeast for beer,” he said.
German beer has been brewed in accordance with the purity law for 500 years. German brewers have created a diversity of beers unrivalled in the world. Today, Germany has over 5,000 different beers.
Local breweries
ROBERT PALAD, head brewer of Laughing Carabao Brewery in Tarlac that has been in operation only for the past four months, said what makes their beer different is: “We use local ingredients,” mainly from Tarlac.
“We incorporate local ingredients in our beer. For example, we have two beers for now—the white mango ale, which is derived from Bamban mangoes, and the Iniruban pale ale, from Camiling’s duman rice, roasted, but with sweet flavor,” he said.
Palad said they also try to help uplift the tourism of Tarlac with their handcrafted beers.
“I was an engineer in Japan, so during those days, I learned home brewing and then went on as an intern in a Japanese brewery where I learned about the business of handcrafted beer,” he said.
Cris Paras, sales and marketing head of Nipa Brew in Manila, said some beers are heavy in the belly.
“We treat beer so that with the heat of our climate in the Philippines, you can drink a lot and be comfortable,” he said. “We also incorporated local flavors, like local fruits and spices.”
Nipa Brewery started in 2014 in Metro Manila, he said.
“We do not copy recipes from abroad. We create handcrafted beers for Filipino beer drinkers and their taste preference is our focus,” he said.
The Crazy Carabao Brewing Co. from Santa Rosa, Laguna, was also present.
“This is what the Pinoys want, so we have beers that are traditionally bitter or heavy, but we customize it for the Filipino palate so that you can drink a lot and not feel bloated,” the brewer said.
US organizer
TED LERNER, organizer of the first-ever Angeles City Craft Beer Festival, said they aim to introduce handcrafted beer to people not familiar with craft beer.
“That is why we are bringing to Angeles this revolution that’s basically happening almost everywhere in the world,” he said.
“The idea is to get people to understand that beer doesn’t have to be just one thing. Beer can be made in many different varieties and in better quality with more fun drinking experience,” he said.
Lerner said the festival will bring together 17 different micro-breweries from all over the Philippines. They will offer 100 different kinds of handcrafted beer.
“We have limited choices in the Philippines. The idea now is to introduce something better, something different. Handcrafted beer is the way to go,” he said.
Craft-beer breweries are small, independent and use traditional methods: Made by hand with no preservatives or chemicals.
6 comments
Why tease us with craft beer that will be unavailable in Angeles City?
They were hoping it will inspire you to positive action.
Just tasted a new craft beer in Manila. Excellent. More like a West Coast beer than European.
Give me a good IPA!
Awesome, looking forward to it!
Looks like their website is here with more info: https://craftbeerphilippines.com
Great article. Opening up the beer market in this country should be the president’s top priority! See you in Angeles for what looks like an amazing festival.