Sunday Inquirer Magazine 3 June 2007

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In heaven there is NO BEER
By Margaux Salcedo
Inquirer
Last updated 07:35am (Mla time) 06/03/2007
MANILA, Philippines - Variety is a characteristic that definitely describes Philippine cuisine. We have several variations of the kilawin (ceviche), several variations of the adobo, several kinds of bagoong (shrimp or fish paste), and several kinds of achara (pickled vegetables).

But there's one item where we miss out on variety, and that's beer. Although widely consumed in this country, beer appears to be under-appreciated. There is an abundance of San Mig Light, Pale Pilsen or Beer na Beer, but the consumers’ choices for this beverage run the gamut only from A to C. It would take a hop to maybe three bars to find one that offers Cerveza Negra.

So for the dark beer consumers, the hunt may get quite frustrating. Having to fly to Hong Kong just to appreciate a good draught does not paint a picture of a good beer industry.

Fortunately, a Belgian dude named Danny and his friends saw this miserable state and introduced a little resto-bar called Beer Paradise that offers enough beer choices to make a beer drinker happy. Still no Guinness Draught, unfortunately, but they more than make up for it with other selections.

The Paradise offers abbey beers, pale pilsen, amber beers, strong beers, fruit beers, even Trappist monk beers. I am no beer connoisseur, as I myself grew up on just pale and only had my first taste of dark beer in Angel’s Breath in The Village in 2004, but here’s a basic low-down for those who have not heard of anything outside of Pale and Light . (Connoisseurs, please feel free to send additional info to margauxlicious.blogspot.com):

There is ale, which is brewed with top-fermenting yeasts at temperatures between 15 and 24 °C (60 and 75 °F), resulting in beer with a slightly fuller body than lager. And there is lager, which is brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast at temperatures between 7-12 °C (45-55 °F) for its primary fermentation or “the fermentation phase, and then 0-4 °C (32-40 °F) for its secondary fermentation or “the lagering phase.” This results in a “crisper” tasting beer.

Then there is pale lager and dark lager. (Pilsen is actually a town in the Czech Republic known for brewing the pale lager since 1842, hence the term Pale Pilsen.) Pale lager is light in color and high in
carbonation, with a strong hop flavor and an alcohol volume content of around five percent. Dark beers use dark or patent malts that have been roasted longer or use roasted unmalted barley; other dark beers, not as good, just use colorants such as caramel.

Draught beer is beer that is served from a pressurized keg which produces those fine bubbles that give you that creamy mouthfeel. If you want to try draught beer, you can visit Grappa’s in Greenbelt or on Reposo. For something that resembles draught beer, Guinness was brilliant enough to create a beer widget in the 80s, which allows that creamy mouthfeel to be achieved even from canned Guinness by means of a pressurized ball inside the can, hence the label on the can that reads Guinness Draught. Of course it’s not as good as the real thing.

Beer Paradise goes the extra mile and also offers Trappist beers. There are only six Trappist breweries in the world, and only five now exist, all in Belgium, and no other breweries are entitled to apply that name to their product. These are Westmalle, Westvleteren, Chimay, Rochefort, Orval and Achel. All the beers from here are top-fermenting, relatively strong ales.

Beer Paradise, according to Danny, is the exclusive distributor of Chimay in the Philippines, and proudly offers Chimay Rouge and Chimay Bleu. You appreciate this in a goblet-shaped glass .

Unfortunately, the prices at Paradise are also world-class (read: steep). A Chimay goes for around P245. But if you take your beer seriously, in a country where you can hardly find any Trappist monk ale, it's worth every sip!

Beer Paradise also offers Stella Artois, one of the more famous Belgian lagers; Lucifer, a devilishly strong Belgian pale ale; Kasteel, a Belgian beer that we would call traidor (traitor) because it is sweet yet creepingly strong, and, of course, Guinness, among their many selections of beer.

So for those of you who have had nothing but San Mig Light in the past couple of years, take a break and try out these variations. Yes, there are other brands out there!

Beer Paradise is located on Polaris Street in Makati, near Jupiter and Makati Avenue



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