1

Beer: Red Horse, San Miguel Strong Ice, Gold Eagle beer, Colt 45, Beer na Beer its cheap if you buy in mall or store compare to bar or clubs... Happy beer drinking...

2

Thanks magnusiax. What's the average bar price? It's inevitable that I'll be squandering a significant portion of my travel fund on beer.

I've heard good things about Red Horse and San Miguel.

3

You won't have much trouble sampling all the beers of the Philippines. Ineed you can probably accomplish the task in a single happy hour. San Miguel has a virtual monopoly. Its flagship is San Miguel, and it also produces San Miguel Ice, Light, and Superdry products, as well as the aptly named Red Horse Extra Strong Ale, which is actually just beer with a shot of ginebra (or is it matador or esq?) thrown in.

The only other domestic beers you are likely to see are Beer Na Beer and Lone Star, which has some sort of link to the cheap Texas-based beermaker of the same name but is brewed here. I believe Beer Na Beer and Lone Star are brewed by the same company. They have a .05% market share at best.

There are a few foreign brands, such as Carlsburg, brewed here but they are pale imitations of the original. Locally brewed Carlsburg tastes worse than piss.

4

Yeah forgot about Colt 45, another rebranded locally brewed product. Don't know much about Golden Eagle. Have seen it once or twice come to think of it. A San Miguel costs P20 (40 cents) on the shelf in 7-11. Figure on P25-50 in a bar or resto, sometimes more in expat/tourist-oriented places.

5

every single one of those beers listed is produced by the san miguel company, they have total control over domestic beer production. the standard lager product is alright, in fact it did win an award this year as the best beer in asia by a beer magazine, there is a thread here about it if you wanted to search for it. there is a "light" product which i buy i guess because it comes in a tall clear glass bottle and i am a sucker for those. redhorse is a fortified version, and is the favorite of the working man in the PI, not very good unless your looking to get hammered, it needs to be ice cold, sometimes i will get it with my barbecue or pizza. beer is very cheap i assume because the government doesn't tax it as much as other countries, what i really get a kick out of is how cheap you can get it in restaurants and even hotel rooms, the PI doesn't believe in markup, you can get a room service beer for as little as p25-p50 in most pensions...get a nice cold beer delivered to your room for less than a dollar? totally cool!

6

I'm not a fan of Red Horse Beer. I'm told it contains formalin, and that the additives would make it illegal in some countries. It's very strong, and the flavour isn't to my personal taste.

7

hey there... fancy you should ask this question... i just so happen to have a blog post dedicated to exactly this topic. complete with pictures, prices, and our thoughts on the different kinds.

you can check it out here: http://www.haveinternetwilltravel.com/2008/09/11/cerveza/

oh and in case you happen to like rum... we also have a review from our tanduay taste test here: http://www.haveinternetwilltravel.com/2008/11/10/tanduay-taste-test-rhum-ron-rum/

8

every single one of those beers listed is produced by the san miguel company, they have total control over domestic beer production

They dont have complete comtrol you're forgetting beer na beer. Which is one of my personal faves

9

your right my mistake...Asia Brewery, i just looked it up, its a subsidiary of the tanduay distillery. good work!

10

The regular size San Miguel is 20pesos in most convenience or grocery stores. The large one liter size (Grande) is around 55pesos and CL to CL is a better buy. Red Horse and Beer na Beer are a wee bit less expensive, but do not come in the Grande size like SM. In most standard type restaurants and bars a cold beer on the menu will run from 30 to 50 pesos for the small size bottle. As far as quality...I find San Miquel beer to be excellent.

11

most san miguel and asia brewery products are priced reasonably if you buy them at a local sari sari store. in most convenient stores they have a mark up of about 10 to 12% of the original price but it is still relatively cheap compare to other countries. bar prices will have mark up of upto 50% of original price.

there are so many varieties of beer here and I will list them down (if i remember them all)

for San Miguel products:

the flagship San Miguel Pale Pilsen (it is more than a 100 yr old recipe and the most recognizable beer in the country) 5% alcohol comes in 320ml, 750ml bottles and 320ml can

the yuppies choice San Mig Light ( a low calorie beer but with the same alcohol content of the Pale Pilsen) comes in 320ml bottles and 320ml can

the Red Horse Beer (extra strong beer) 7% alcohol comes in 300ml, 500ml, 750ml bottles and 320ml can. its like the strong beers from belgium but is more forgiving

San Miguel Super Dry (Dry beer with no after taste) Crisp flavor beer, a personal favorite. comes in 320ml bottles and can

San Mig Strong Ice (extra strong beer much like red horse) 6.5% alcohol comes in 320ml bottles and 320ml can

Pale Pilsen (Oktoberfest Brew) just out in the market, a brew that was made specially for the oktoberfest celebration. Same as the flagship brew but repackaged in 320ml long neck bottles.

San Miguel Premium (Malt Beer) this is just out also but not available in stores yet. available only in bars and hotels, a malt beer with a clean taste. comparable to german and belgium malt beers. priced a little higher than the regular pilsen thus the premium brand.

Gold Eagle (not common in manila and major cities. this is the brand marketed by san miguel mostly in the provinces)

Miller genuine Draft (imported brand brewed locally)

For Asia Brewery Products

Beer na Beer (a pilsen much like the pale pilsen of san miguel) cheaper than san miguel

Colt 45 (a strong beer like the red horse)

Lone Star light and regular (an imported brand brewed locally. it is up against the yuppy fave San Mig Light)

Carlsberg (another imported brand brewed locally)

Budweiser (same as above)

Coors light and regular (same as above)

hope this helps

12

Thanks everyone, your comments were very helpful.

13

*Sirenna :*I'm not a fan of Red Horse Beer. I'm told it contains formalin, and that the additives would make it illegal in some countries. It's very strong, and the flavour isn't to my personal taste.

Are you sure , Where did you get this info?? The question is, is this true?? about that formalin thing...

14

Filipinos seem to like to spread rumors about redhorse, i have heard others, i assume it has to do with its "macho" image, the beer for "tough" guys...the first thing i would ask is why would they put fromalin in it? what exactly would be the purpose? and sirenna if you really believe that then i would assume you do not drink any san miguel products, you believe they would contaminate some products but you would still trust others from them?