Estrella Galicia

Nothing much about this premium lager ... I'm really bored! anyway here it goes..

Appearance
It pours a golden near yellowish color, with really bad retention heading ... looks refreshing though

Smell
It smells like less hop and a little citric 

Taste
It taste like it smell - less hop and i don't even remember the bitterness 

Anyway this beer is perfect for summer - really refreshing like drinking a water

Brewery: Hijos de Rivera
Style: lager
ABV: 5.5%
Where did I drink this: Balcony Gastropub, Makati Philippines

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