(New) Craft Beer From Bacolod

Some of you may know this as "the beer from Bacolod". It's BogsBrew, the country's first craft beer. It is not pastuerized and then carbonated, like commercial beers. The fizz comes from the fermentation process-- it is less aggressively bubbly than San Miguel, of course.

But the flavor is worth a visit! Bogsbrew uses the usual barley, local mascobado sugar and Negros spring water, and has a pleasant sweetness and smoothness. The same brewers also make Primo, an all-grain variety containing local corn and rice, and wild honey. Both are great. And to answer a few preliminary questions, it is "real" beer and doesn't taste like carbonated fruit drink.

There is a lot of buzz in the food world now about unpasteurized wines and beers, because people have begun to realize that commercializing them has made potentially healthful and funful products into things that are "bad for you". Drinking Bogsbrew gives you a nice little buzz and doesn't create that acidic taste in your mouth. The fizz is emitted by microorganisms that release CO2 as part of their "eating" the sugars-- essentially the fermentation process-- which you can get from making ginger "beer" at home. It replenishes your digestive enzymes, leaving you ready for a Sunday rebound brunch. There is a natural sediment in the beer from the fermentation process that contains vitamin B complex, which vegans could use.

Now, to track down some unpasteurized wine. And more brewers, please.