When you’re looking for great Filipino craft beer, there’s no place else to go but the boondocks. Boondocks, as in the Boondocks Brewing Co., which produces some of the Philippines’ finest craft beers.
Featured a while back on The Bureau, Boondocks is acknowledged by connoisseurs as a good, properly brewed craft beer.
So good that some have said every Filipino craft beer drinker should have Boondocks’ beer in their fridge.
And it’s so good that Boondocks Brewing Co. won the Bronze Medal in the Strong Ale category in this year’s Asia Beer Championship, held last October 22 and 23, with the presentation ceremonies live streamed on October 28.
According to Fred Calope, founder and chief beer guy at Boondocks Brewing Co., this was his second time to join the competition. He first entered in 2019, and received many positive reviews.
However, he failed to place due to a technicality.
According to him, he submitted his entry under the wrong beer style, saying, “Instead of properly submitting it as a ‘Belgian Strong Dark Ale’, I mistakenly submitted it as a ‘Belgian Strong Golden Ale.”
Apparently, Lady Luck was in Boondock Brewery’s corner this year (as well as a lot of care and expertise by Fred and his gang in brewing the entries) because Boondocks won not only the Bronze Medal for Strong Ale, but also the Chairman’s Selection Award in the Golden Ale category (yes, the same category he lost out on in 2019) for Boondock’s Summer Ale.
“We’re all very happy with the result,” Fred exclaimed, continuing, “Kudos to all the team members because without them, we wouldn’t have been able to produce our beer.”
He then says the win gives the team a certain degree of satisfaction that they know their stuff and that their beer is exactly what they want it to be.
At the moment, Boondocks products are available only in the Philippines, but Fred said that he’s in talks with some distributors in Singapore to offer Boondocks beer all around the region.
While he is hoping for greater distribution, Fred promises that he and his team will continue to brew the beers that Filipinos have come to love. He also foresees a limited run of specially brewed or bottled beers like the Hyun Bin Beer they released a while ago.
Even with the pandemic still going on, Fred’s team has managed to stay on top of their game, making a strong statement that Boondocks Brewing is here to stay.
And one of the things that I’m really looking forward to when the pandemic ends is meeting up with Fred and cracking a few.
Words by Jigs Arquiza. Follow his street food adventures in Manila on Instagram at @eatssogood
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