Pinoy Life At Large

Chef Philip Golding, a renowned restaurateur and beer expert, made some especially poignant claims last April 3 on Red Box’s First Beer Appreciation Night. Here are the ones that struck me the most:

• The most important component of beer is water. Water gives the beer its character.
• Ice dilutes and effectively ruins the flavor of beer, so don’t put it on your beer.
• Beer can be enjoyed with food pairings much like wine.

So here you go, without further delay, six beers from all over the world, all available at Red Box.

Heineken (The Netherlands, other sources cite Germany)

For the beer-appreciation event, it is paired with German sausages and pineapples, an excellent combo. The Heineken mouth-feel is creamy, almost buttery. Each gulp ushers in a well-balanced body, and a calibrated taste with the just the right amount of sweetness and bitterness. This beer does not care what food you pair it with. It stands up proudly on its own two legs.

Beck’s (Germany)

Forgive the analogy, but Beck’s is really like the punk younger brother of Heineken. It has more spice and more liveliness, the bitterness is also more evident. It’s refreshing and surprising, I like it very much. Red Box pairs it very well with crispy pata. Yummy.

Stella Artois (Belgium)

This is a classy way to get inebriated. This one is for you if you like you’re beer on the bitter and spicy side. It has a unique taste, with a dancing, artful finish. Best served with BLT sandwiches.

Hoegarden (Belgium)

Coriander-flavored. Yes, I had high hopes for this one because I liked the name. The coriander, however, was much too strong and much too distracting, even when paired with those delectable baked mussels. I don’t know, maybe a second-tasting could change my mind. I’ll probably drink this beer again with close friends, just to see the look on their faces.

Kirin Beer (Japan)

Nothing much about this one, it’s bland, and it leaves nothing, not even a hint of an after taste. I could imagine sushi dinners going extremely well with this type of beer. But then again, how often do I have sushi dinners? Not often enough I guess.

Budweiser (USA)

Budweiser is the first beer I have ever tasted. I liked it then, and I still like it now. I am a bit surprised though, to find out that Budweisers are naturally aged in beechwood. All this time I thought the Americans were just mixing beer concentrate with water. It is a clinical beer, clean, crisp, and straightforward. Very easy to drink too, especially on a hot summer night. The “Bud” taste ends with a simple period. It is best appreciated with a plate of buffalo chicken wings, onion rings, and maybe a big hunky burger.

La Fin Du Monde (Canada)

For the finale, Chef Golding uncorks (yes, it is corked) a large ice cold brown bottle, aptly named “the end of the world”. This is the champagne of beers, it is aged and triple fermented, with the last fermentation stage inside the bottle. It has had a lot of time to contemplate itself over, and the taste is simply overwhelming. It begins with a sweet tune, somewhat prickly to the tongue, and then explodes into a wide range of flavors; spice, fruits, salt, and herbs. This beer gives an orchestral performance; intelligent, profound, and complex. The last note is a dagger-like bitterness that smoothly subsides. If Hanibal Lecter were a beer drinker, this would be his drink of choice. Please don’t ask me what he would pair it with.

Having tasted a good variety of beers from all over the world in Red Box, all I could say is this: Give me another one of that weird-sounding, deliciously brewed, foreign-exchange-student of a beer. Make sure that it is kept at a temperature between 3 to 6 degrees Celsius, and pour it gently on a tall glass. And please, for the love of all things sacred and beautiful, do not put any ice on it. It did not travel this far just to get its flavor ruined.

(This post was written by beer expert, Jun Chua. Hope you find it as engaging as I have.)