Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits: Craft beer hangout in Quezon City

Craft beer is one of the few things that has kept me sane during this pandemic. While my friends have been filling their homes with indoor plants and collecting every possible BTS merchandise out there, I’ve been quietly drinking beer at home. Dining out and social drinking has not been allowed in the Philippines the months following the lockdown, but thankfully many local brewers have been able to adapt and started offering their beers for home delivery.

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10 Quarantine Food Trends in the Philippines

Pinoys love to eat out. But with many restaurants still closed for dine-in, people are elevating their dining experiences at home. Since times are tough, most people are choosing to find joy in the simple comforts of food. The pandemic has unleashed the creativity of home cooks and brought to light a number of interesting food trends and quarantine cravings. In this time of stress and uncertainty, people are making the most of their pantry staples, going back to traditional homebaked food preparation, and choosing familiar and feel-good comfort food.

With bars closed, chilling out and drinking at home has become the norm. Delivery services are also upping up their Instagram game with DIY meal kits and ready-to-eat meals that look good and taste even better to get repeat customers. Here are some of the most popular food trends in the Philippines that have come out of the quarantine.

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Bali for Beer Lovers

As a predominantly Muslim country, alcohol is not widely consumed and available in many parts of Indonesia. But as a top tourist destination that attracts travelers from all around the world, Bali is an exception, where many vacationing tourists enjoy drinking and nightlife after sightseeing.

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Most Popular Beer of Every Country in the World

Beer is the world’s most widely consumed and probably the oldest alcoholic beverage. It is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea.

While some people collect ref magnets or keychains when they travel, it’s been a goal of mine to try beer from as many countries as possible. I decided to do some research on national beers when I came across this awesome World Beer Map from VinePair.com that shows the most popular beer brands around the world.

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JAPAN | Museum of Yebisu Beer & Sapporo Beer Station in Tokyo

The last time I visited Japan, I made it a point to visit the Sapporo Beer Museum in Hokkaido, which I previously thought was the only beer museum in Japan. During a recent family trip, I found out that there’s another smaller museum dedicated to one of Japan’s oldest beer Yebisu, which is easily accessible by train from any point in Tokyo. There’s no admission fee to visit and you can easily just walk in without making reservations, making this a good stop for beer-lovers.

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Museum Guide: Destileria Limtuaco Liquor Museum in Manila

Did you know that there’s a hidden museum in Intramuros where you can go liquor tasting? You can sample local craft spirits like the Ilocano basi (sugarcane wine), mango rum, premium lambanog, coffee liqueur, and Siok Tong (a Chinese herbal wine that’s been around for more than 150 years) while visiting this museum.

Destileria Limtuaco, the oldest and largest distillery in the Philippines founded in 1852, opened their liquor-themed museum in Intramuros to the public in 2018.

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Road Trip Guide: Baguio – Sagada – La Union

Sagada is a scenic town nestled in the Mountain Province in Northern Luzon of the Philippines. For those coming from Manila and the rest of Luzon, it’s one of the best destinations you can travel to purely by land (no air or sea travel involved). The roads leading up offer the most spectacular view of mountains and cliffs. Once you get there, you can enjoy the cooler climate because of its high elevation and soak in the well-preserved culture of the Cordillera region.

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Brewery in a Forest: Sagada Cellar Door, Mt. Province

One of the main reasons I wanted to ride up North by motorcycle was to visit Sagada Cellar Door, the first and only craft brewery in Sagada. Andrew Chinalpan of Cerveza Sagada Craft Brewery has been brewing craft beers since 2014 and initially this beer was available only in this outdoor bar.

Though I’ve tried most of the variants during craft beer festivals and bars in Manila, you always want to try craft beer direct from the source. I absolutely love the natural and unique outdoor set-up of Sagada Cellar Door. Imagine drinking quality craft beer while sitting by a bonfire under the stars in the middle of a forest surrounded by pine trees in the Philippines!

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Craft Beer in the Philippines

The craft beer scene in the Philippines is really booming. In the past few years, I’ve seen a rise in the number of microbreweries and locally-brewed beer being offered not just in Metro Manila, but around the country. One of the things I try to do when I travel is to check out these local microbreweries and taprooms and hunt for unique craft beer.

The widest variety can be found in craft beer bars in Manila (mostly concentrated in the Poblacion area of Makati) and several notable places in Cebu City in Visayas. You can also find other small bars scattered in different parts of the Philippines that are worth seeking out. Here’s a Craft Beer Map of the Philippines I made that might help you out in your beer-ventures. Click each icon on the map to get the exact location and other details.

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Food Trip: Baler

Like other surf towns in the Philippines like La Union and Siargao, the food scene in Baler is growing. During previous visits years ago, it seemed there were only a few usual favorites to eat in town. This 2019 during our #LakbayNorte8 trip, I noticed a lot of cool new restaurants have popped up, with some establishments making an effort to highlight the tropical surf vibe and local flavors and ingredients on their menu.

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