Home Brewing Beer

As an avid home brewer here in the US and thinking about changing locations to Asia(maybe the Philippines), I haven't found a lot about anyone that may brew their own beer. Getting ingredients is the trick........I could get "CARE packages" shipped in from my supplier here in the US, but would be nice to find a local source. All the San Miguel "stuff" is ok.....but a nice ale , IPA, Stout, etc would be a nice change. Aside from my foreign travels, I rarely have purchased a commercial beer in the past 10 years as my home brew matches anything that the commercial micro-breweries can make.

 

Matches or beats? If it only matches, what's the point? I had a customer 10 years ago in CA that was seriously into making his own beer. He was even a member of a home brew club. He said the ingredients for all of the varieties are readily available in the U.S. I doubt those same ingredients are so readily available in the Philippines, especially hops

 

based on my awards I have won in competitions....beats.....LOL. Well hops can't be grown....too short of days. Malted barley is the toughest to find I think. Hops are light and can be easily shipped (12-16oz) per 5 gals of beer....but one needs about 12 lbs of malted barley for each 5 gals of beer. Seems some people in the PI actually malt their own barley......

 

I have a contact at San Miguel brewery in Cebu and they import all of their ingredients she said, except the sugar they add........that is how they bump up the alcohol in Red Horse....which is the cheapest way to increase alcohol....SM has recently introduced an all malt/barley beer...LOL.......they are finally coming clean about the way a beer is suppose to be made.....the way the micros in the USA have been doing it for 30-40 years.

 

I used to brew my own beer in Australia, used a keg set up, but the cost of home brewing in the Philippines, is not worth the effort, SM is a hell of a lot cheaper. I think SM imports it hops from Tasmania. Also had a still set up, could produce approximately 94% pure, but once again the cost of lacal spirits does not make it worth while. Reading your post, it seems that you do not add sugar to your brew, but only using the sugar in the malt to produce your alchol content. Any best of luck with your brewing.
Cheers TD

 

Good luck finding the ingredients, when you've brewed some I'll sample some for you :D

 

for sure local SM will be cheaper, but I don't brew to save money but rather to make better beer than the commercial guys.....typically ales and not the light lagers that are common in the hot, Asian countries....served with ice no less!!!! San Miguel Cerveza Negra was about the only respectable beer they made........but I understand it is out of production(so I'm told by a friend in Manila) I've used hops from New Zealand with great results so it doesn't surprise me that SM buys from Tasmania....

 

My first kit from North Carolina (Yep, hand carried) will be here in February .. There has to be somewhere in Manila .. not found one yet. They are readily available in Australia via mail order, sure that is true in the states. Anyone with an AP/FPO could get the kits I'm sure.

 

Homebrewing in the Philippines can be a challenge for anyone interested with this hobby. You need to be extra resourceful to save on money. I'm quite lucky to have the equipment to make malted barley at home. I have a dryer (food dehydrator) with a controlled temperature setting that can make up to 50kgs the maximum per batch. I cure 60% at 85C for five hours to make pale malt (used as base malt), 20% at higher temps for aromatic malts such as vienna, munich or biscuit, and the 20% for roasting in a pan to make dark chocolate malts.

Economics: 25Kgs from midwest is 60$, so at 45 per dollar, that's P2,700 or P108/Kilo.
I purchase barley from the agrivet store for P1040 for 50/kgs which can make up to 42kilos when its done drying/curing, or P24.76/kilo without adding electricity cost and 4 days work

The downside of home malting is that you cannot be sure if the grain is infected with fusarium mold, which can lead to gushing out your bottle when you open the crown/cap. Fusarium is a common mold that infects grains due to poor handling and storage, e.g. humid or wet environment.

For Hops, there are no alternatives, you have to buy it from the USA. Its light and handy and tell your relatives in the US to bring some for you when they come home. I'm sure every Filipino has a relative in the US. Order as many as you need for the whole year and keep it in the freezer.

My yeasts are from Wyeast, ordered it from midwest. Don't waste it! I have 10 different strains of yeast. You really have to learn how to streak them in plates or slants. There are tips in youtube how to do it. The best material I got is from MB Raines, download it from maltosefalcons. And another tip, it is a must to know your local laboratory shop. They sell the tubes, slants, thermometers, agars, loop and everything you need to maintain and propagate your yeast. If you are in dumaguete, look for someone in the microbiology department of Silliman University for help. The professors and students would be glad to hear that their work has some meaning to other people, better yet, trade some bottles of your homebrew. And you have to invest in a magnetic stir plate. It's quite expensive but you can do make it or ask a local electronic guy to do it for you for a minimal cost. It's worth the cost, honestly.

 

WOW...another all grain brewer and actually enjoying you hobby in the Philippines. Great info on home malting........I had seen other info about that with a number of photos posted. Sounds like you have even the specialty malts pretty much covered. I currently use exclusively Wyeast and because it's relatively cheap here in Hawaii so I don't see the need to save it or re-b*tch from one batch to the next but see how it would make sense when/if I move to the PI. I figured hops would have to imported from the US or maybe even Europe for any noble varieties....though I've used some recently from New Zealand...mostly high alpha varieties. I'm a hop-head so I typically use about 500gm/48l batch(IPA) and always cones/flowers but I can see where pellets might make more sense for shipping and storage.

Anyway, that's a lot for all the good info and perspective on the home brew challenges in the PI.