Murphy's Irish Stout - Murphy Brewery Ireland Limited

This is second stout I taste after Guinness; I must say it’s pretty good I remember my childhood “merienda” which is the “kapi’t kanin” basically it’s a bowl of burnt rice mix with coffee  … nostalgic

Appearance
like any other stout beer, it’s dark and produces a think foamy light brown yellowish head with an excellent lace

Smell
it has light coffee smell, though the smell is not strong there is actually some caramel and the roasted malt / barley, hint.

Taste
The taste is divided into coffee and roasted chocolate – even though the smell is not that striking the taste on the other hand is pretty much strong, at first it has a strong coffee malty taste and on the later part it becomes sweet like caramel and roasted chocolate and the after taste is like Milo or Ovaltine.

I recommend this stout for those drinkers who love sweet and chocolate taste, and it’s a good pair for any roasted meat.

Brewery: Murphy's Brewery Ireland Limited
Style: Irish Stout
ABV: 4.00%
Where did I drink this: Beer Paradise, Makati Philippines

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

If you are a lager lover definitely this beer is for you, it was first introduce to me by my friend in the state ... way way back! since then I was curious, not until last week that  me and the other Beer Junkies saw an article about Beer Paradise -- guess what? they have Sam Adams.

Beer Paradise is a haven for beer lovers they have all kind of variety of beer, commercial foreign beer to local and foreign craft beer, it is located at Jupiter Makati Philippines, will do a separate blog on this ... I'm really excited.

Anyway, Sam Adams for me is a  very well rounded beer -- It pours a light amber near redish in color with a good white head retention. The aroma is strong with a sweet toasted caramel, hops and somewhat old grain.  It taste really really good, an evident of strong malt base a sweetness of toasted caramel with some fruitty note and some spices, the after taste is somewhat dry and a little bitter in end.

I can take this beer anytime of the day, I'm a Ale guy but this lagger right here deserves a salute!

Brewed by: Boston Beer Company | 4.90% ABV

William Wallace Ale - FREEEDOM!

Remember the Scottish guy from the 13^th century who shouted FREEEEDOM! Sir William Wallace – not only he has liberated Scotland from the English rule and has a movie titled Brave Heart he also has a beer name after from himself, William Wallace Ale.

This Ale is quite liberating – with its smooth coffee caramel and malty flavor, slightly bitter and with a dry end, similar to its taste it smells like chocolate, sweet and strong, when pour you will notice a light brown color with a thin light brownish top, with its low alcohol content of 4.5% this beer make a good nightcap.

William Wallace Ale is being brewed by Traditional Scottish Ales which is also the maker of 1488 Whisky Ale which I’ll be trying soon. I am fairly satisfied with its taste specially the smooth hop after taste.

Indio Pale Ale Katipunan Craft Beer

As the largest and leading brewery in the Philippines, San Miguel Beer is being challenged by the Indio Pale Ale by Katipunan Craft Ales that represents the revolutionary spirit of the Filipino with its distinct hoppy, fruity and bitter taste.

The Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution.  History repeats itself through a different form of revolution … The Craft Beer Revolution.

Now let’s find out what would the Tangero’s will say about this movement.

Katipunan Ale has a deep amber color somewhat golden, it has a fruity hoppy smell and it taste like an aged oak with a slightly bitter in the end – it’s bitterness enhances the food a little bit and is noticeable especially when you are pairing it with any meat dish.

In general I don’t think that Katipunan Ale makes a direct competition to any San Miguel Beer product since their beers are mostly lagers – I would like to think that Katipunan Ale make a good addition and variation to the Filipino taste. Quite frankly, I'm wishing that Katipunan Craft Ales will stay in the market a long time to develop and produce more craft beer variations. As a Filipino and a beer lover, I am proud of this beer and I believe it's about time that Filipino drinkers be liberated on the traditional taste. 

Megaworld Lifestyle Malls Beer Festival

Here at Beer Junkies we talk about beer and anything related to beer. So for this post we are going to talk about the Megaworld Lifestyle Malls Beer Festival. The kickoff was held at Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City last September 27, 2013.  This beer festival features 150+ beers from around the world including the premium version of the well-loved beer of the pinoys. Also featured in this festival are the young and upcoming local beer crafters which I got to try that night.

The festival kickoff included performances by Up Dharma Down, Pupil, Rico Blanco, and Urbandub. There were also beer-drinking contests in between performances. The festival will be a month-long celebration in Eastwood Mall and Venice Piazza and will end on October 25, 2013. For the complete schedule and more info on the festival please click the link: Megaworld Lifestyle Malls Beer Festival Schedule

The Festival Experience

We arrived at Eastwood Mall around 9pm . The area was already swarming with people as the festival started around 6pm. We reached the little entrance of the festival and to our disappointment, we were not able to get in as the security guards were already told not to let people inside (except for those with marks) because it was already full. I believe it was for security and safety reasons. Yeah I kinda understood that but my gripe is that all the beers are inside that area. Being a beer junkie, that did not deter us for getting beer from the inside. So what we did was go to side railings and get our beers from one of the merchants near the railings which was Distillery. The people from Distillery were very kind enough to let us buy beer and one girl even tried to talk to the guard to let me in but to no luck. Being at the back I wasn't able to see the beers so I asked for their beer-list which conveniently they have. Their beer list was a long one that I hard a hard time deciding what to get. I finally got these beers:

Paulaner

Paulaner is a wheat beer from Germany. It is a Hefeweizen which is a mix of yeast and wheat but some brewers put more wheat.  The prefix "hefe" means yeast and "weizen" is wheat in the German language.

The aroma is fruity and I believe I smelled a hint of banana. I drank it straight from the bottle so I wasn't able to see the color of the beer. It was nice and smooth and has a nice after taste. Not as banana-tasting as it smelled but a fruity one nevertheless. It was not that bitter to my taste and will likely drink it again.

Pink Killer

My friend got the Pink Killer from Brasserie de Silly. A very catchy name for a beer hailing from Silly, Belgium.  

Again we have no glass so we weren't able to see the color of the beer. But I read from their website that it has a cloudy-pink color. I would definitely have to try this again and pour it in a glass. 

My friend enjoyed the beer and said it has strong fruity taste. She can't tell what fruit it tasted like. So I guess I have to get a hold of a bottle and write a follow-up review.

After finishing our beers we decided to roam around Eastwood City mall. We passed by the display of the 150+ beers that are featured in the festival. Below are some pics: 

Sorry no panorama shot as other people are also taking pictures

We wound up in Publiko Gastro Pub, which I read, also contributed to making the festival happen. We had some late night snacks and I got myself a pint of Hoegaarden.

Hoegaarden

This was the beer that devirginized my taste buds into the Belgian wheat beer. And from that day on, this was my go-to wheat beer. 

What I really liked about this beer is its citrus taste that smoothly goes down to your throat. Faint bitter taste that makes it easy to gulp this baby. But I tell you, this is no "hoe" in my book. It is meant to delicately caress your taste buds leaving you wanting for more.



 

Night Cap and the Local Craft Beer Movement

After having our fix at Publiko (awesome nachos! Will definitely go back!), We decided to go back to the festival grounds. The crowd grew larger as Rico Blanco was onstage with an all-star sessionists composed of Ira Cruz and Jomal Linao. After Rico, Urbandub took the stage and gave the festival some southern hard rock kick before calling it a night. As the kickoff came to a close, people dispersed and so I told my friend that this was our chance to taste the beers inside. Here are the beers that we were able to get our hands on

Katipunan Indio Pale Ale (Draft)

Locally brewed craft beer by Katipunan Craft Ales

This craft ale is one of the local brews that I'm looking forward to taste for a long time. And this night was my lucky night as they are serving it on tap. 

The reasons that piqued my interest to this ale is the name Katipunan and their play of words with Indian Pale Ale (IPA) and made it to Indio Pale Ale. "Indio" was the term used by the Spaniards to refer to Filipinos during their reign in the Philippines. "Katipunan" was the faction led by Andres Bonifacio that revolted against the Spaniards. This connects with their motto or slogan "Take Part in the Brewing Revolution".

Now onto the ale. It has an amber color as seen on the picture. Aroma has a bitter smell to it and was very evident as soon as I took a sip. The bitterness seems to stay for a while after that sip. The ale is very unique to my palette in a good way. It was a little too bitter for my liking but I will definitely have to drink this again as a glass won't do this ale justice. So for now that's my initial impression of this ale. Watch out for its full review soon!

I was also able to chat a little bit with the owner/brewer from Katipunan Craft Ales (sorry I forgot to ask your name) and was able to get a tip that they are releasing a new variant by October. Looking forward to what this brewery has to offer!

Summer Sessions

The other local craft brewery present that night is Craftpoint Brewing Co. I think they brought two variants of their beer namely Liberation Pale Ale, which was sold out that night, and Summer Sessions. 

The first thing I noticed with this beer is the bottle. It has very nice graphics that really fits well with the name. Maybe this brew was inspired during a "surf session" by the brewers. 

Has a good fruity aroma to it. Drank this straight from the bottle so wasn't able to see its color. I was actually surprised by its taste which was very good. I love the fruity aftertaste and bitterness was just right. I now get it why it was named Summer Sessions, because of its refreshing and clean taste that can cool the summer heat. 

Will definitely have to try drink this during summer and by the beach. I also believe that Craftpoint has something going good for Summer Sessions and will definitely check out their other brews.

Bavaria

Bavaria is a German Pilsner that is brewed in the Netherlands. My friend got this one and she said it has a good taste but nothing spectacular. I think the beer also had a special price that night as my friend got 2 bottles for a 100php. 

We will try to order this beer in one of our night outs to write a full a review.














Trappistes Rochefort

Trappistes Rochefort is brewed inside  Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy which is located in the Town of Rochefort, hence the name. It is one of the six  authentic Belgian trappist beer. Trappist meaning it is brewed in monastaries. Does it have a heavenly taste to it? Read on to find out.

This beer was offered to us a couple of times by this waiter before we finally gave in. He offered two variants which is the 8 and 10. He explained to us that the numbers doesn't mean the ABV but the years it was aged. Although the ABV is close to the years which are 9.2% and 11.3% respectively. So naturally we opted for the 8 as we already had a couple of brews.

The price of this beer is like a step to heaven and the waiter was gracious enough to offer a discount but I refused and said keep it as a donation for the church (no I didn't say those words exactly  but I refused to get the discount and gave it as a tip for his persistence).

We opted to share the bottle as we got intimidated by the ABV. So we asked for cups and the waiter gave us paper cups. So I had to peek inside the cup to see the color. The color is a contrast to heaven as it is dark as the bottle. A strong aroma of roasted malt and coffee aroused my senses so I drank it hastily. I liked how it tasted but I liked the aftertaste much better as it tasted like chocolate. Did I hear angels singing while I was drinking it? No. Although everytime I take a sip is it made me smile and forget that I was drinking a 9.2% beer. 

Well after finishing the beer it made me thank the heavens that I was able to finish it and help me get home safely.

Conclusion

All in all the festival experience was good and I was able to have enough beers to taste and include in this post. I will do individual follow-up reviews for the beers we tasted. Hopefully I can go back to Eastwood for the event-proper and get to taste more beers!

I'll give a high five to the event organizers for coming up with an alternative beer festival here in the Philippines. I would've have given them a double high five if they had a better system for beer-buying folks and the concert-watching folks. Hey, there's always room for improvement right? And this is on my wishlist for the next year:

Photo from acidcow.com. Wouldn't it be a lot nicer to see this beauties serving you beer?

Guinness Draught

Tap o d mornin to yeh folks! last night i feel lucky so i went to look for some Irish Stout and indeed I am ... got some Guinness and what-ta way to drink this is with a lambchop at Murphy's.

Guinness has been a long time favorite of mine, just because I feel it is a work of art, why? pay attention to the pour, it is smooth thick and creamy ... jet black with a brownish head that embraces  to the end of the glass. If you are a coffee lover this beer is for you because of its bitterness and somewhat roasted coffee, caramel and chocolate taste, the smell is good too - it's smells like a dried wood and touch of heavy malt something like that.

Anyway in general Guinness is definitely is on top of my list. 

If you like to drink it the Irish way just go to Murphy's ... love the food love the ambiance and the people there are great too specially if you like some good conversation 

Murphy's is located at Cityland 3105 V A Rufino Street, Corner Esteban Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City, Philippines

Primo Bogs - Craft Beer from the Negros Islands

Primo Bogs is the other craft beer that we were able to taste in our newest gastropub discovery, Barley Gastropub.

Primo Bogs is being brewed by Bogs Brew in Negros Islands in the Philippines. "Primo" is a Spanish word that has two translations from Google Translate. If used as a noun it is "cousin" in English but if it is used an adjective, it translates to "primary". I think I would go for the second translation which best fit the as the "first" beer by Bogs Brew. I'll have to go to Negros and talk to the crafters to get behind their meaning of Primo.  

One of the main ingredient of the brew is muscovado sugar, which is abundant in the island. Other ingredients that I remember from reading the label was organic rice and wild bee honey.

The beer was not originally on my drink list that night as I was keen on tasting the other local craft from Iligan which was unfortunately out of stock. But as recommended by our attendant Henry (superb service!), Primo Bogs was my best alternative. 

As soon as Henry placed the bottle on our table, I immediately did what every person would do if they have unknown food or beverage in front of them, smell it. To my surprise, it did not smell like other beers. It has this sweet scent to it brought about by the muscovado and wild bee honey combination. I poured the beer and watched the blonde ale fill the glass. Yes it was blonde and lighter in color than the "light" beer of the three-letter-abbreviated beer that we all know. 

Next thing I checked before drinking it was the ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of the beer. Well I didn't find any on the label unless I just missed it. So if ever anyone of you know the the ABV of Primo Bogs, let us know. 

I went on the best part which is tasting the beer. The first thing on that popped on my mind was "Is this beer?" because it tasted nothing like beer. So I took another gulp and this time I let it rest a little longer in my mouth so I can better taste it. Still the same result but I was able to taste the sweetness that I previously smelled. The bitterness of beer was almost non-existent and the way it went down is smooth. Honestly, my impression is that it lacked taste but I think the reason that I came with that is because I grew up with drinking the three-letter-abbreviated beer. 

I went to drink two more bottles of Primo Bogs before we called it a night. All in all I liked the beer but not to the point that it would be my default beer. Mainly because it is more expensive than corporate beers and it is not widely available. Yes, I would order it again and  I would like to drink it in their hometown, Negros.

Who would I drink this with? I would drink this with my buddies who are just having a night cap. It goes down smoothly, refreshing and a hint of sweetness. I also recommend ordering this for the ladies who are not really into beer.

What would I pair this with? Food-wise, I believe anything would pair nicely. Though I would highly recommend 90's pop/rnb music in the background to add enjoyment to the experience.

Salute to the brewers/crafters of Bogs Brew for coming up with their own beer. It is really something to be proud of. It also gives us alternatives besides the corporate beers that we commonly chug down. 

Note: I wasn't able to take other pictures as I my battery was running low. Will try to get more pictures soon.

Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

After all the misdirection and long walk finally we arrived at Barley Gastropub to look for a craft beer, before I step in to the door a waiter approached and before the guy open his mouth I stop and order  the intriguing Arrogant Bastard, finally after a long search!!

Revealing an exaggerated sense as it lives up to its name, Oaked Arrogant Bastard from Stone Brew, really did not disappoint me, it really has a “Bastard Bottle ”  as I would like to call it  like if you hold it upward it makes your middle finger want to stand up and shout.

It has a very sophisticated taste … a taste that something you would like to learn to acquire, aggressive and boastful …. A bitterness that is sweet.  Dark, foamy and rustic …..That is how I how would like to describe its appearance and its intimidating at first.

Generally with this beer you will realize that how God loves as all.

It is better with Burger and roasted chicken; by the way Barley’s is located at Sgt. Esguerra Ave. cor. Sct. Bayoran St., Tomas Morato, Quezon City Philippines and really try to order the "Beer in the Butt Chicken", “Foie Gras Burger”,"Crackling Pork Belly" and “Roasted Bone Marrow”

Absolutely we had a great night and a good find.

Cerveza Negra

It's Friday 13th, we are at the Central BBQ Grill in Makati (Emilia Branch) enjoying our very own San Miguel Cervesa Negra. 

If you are a fan of dark lager ... this is for you ... a rich malty roasted flavor with a thick foamy texture and a moderate bitterness on the end. 

I  discover last night that this lager is best match with dynamite and crispy pata really it's good and if you are under stress after a long tiring day I'm sure you will appreciate this more.


Dynamite - Chili cheese sticks
Crispy pata - Filipino dish consisting of deep fried pig trotter or knuckles served with a soy-vinegar dip

Shines Bright like a Stella

I would really want to call this old lager as a "everyday's beer" Belgium's very own brightest beer, The Stella Artois.

With it's light malty taste and crisp smooth texture  which makes this old lager a very refreshing beverage - definitely you can enjoy Stella everyday anytime and in any weather condition ... best with Angus Steak.

Ayungin score - 3 bottles

Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout

On our way to Greenhills with a combination of bad weather and equally bad traffic, we decided to stop by at Ronac and look around ... we went to Charlie's (grind and grill) to have a round of beers, luckily we found an IPA - Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout.

So here it goes,  Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout is a rich dark ale with a sweet roasted malt aroma, pretty much smooth with a touch of bitterness at the end, it really confuse me with its chocolatey and some what coffee blend finish - overall this ale is really taste good.

I would really recommend this with fries, cheese and with a dark weather I'm telling you after a bottle you'll surely ask for more. and if you happen to stop by at Ronac, don't forget to stop by at Charlie's they serve really good fries and a burger to die for.

Ayungin score - 5 bottles