England's Bass Pale Ale

I helped myself to two bottles of Bass Pale Ale about 4 weeks ago. As with the other foreign brands I've tried in the last 6 months, I got these from DFS Subic for 2.30usd on a 355mL pop. A bit steep, I thought, so I derived satisfaction with just getting a pair.

The beer itself as a pale ale is no different from our very own San Miguel Pale Pilsen, taste-wise. It was very light on the tummy and had a mild sweetness to it. The amber container was easy to grip, so drinking from the bottle proved to be hassle-free. But it has to be frosty cold for it to be worth the trouble.

Like most beers I've written about, I had to look for the Bass website and found a video that made me realize I should've bought a couple of cans of Guiness Stout beer I found on the stacks of imported beers at DFS beside the bottles of Bass. Bass prides itself on what its website calls "The Black and Tan". Essentially, it's a concoction of Bass Pale Ale poured two-thirds of the way in a glass, with dark stout beer(think Cerveza Negra) sitting right on the top third of the same glass.

There is a video that teaches one how to make the concoction without falling into the trap of the 2 liquids mixing beyond recognition. The site sells what it calls the "Brolly", which is essentially a device meant to control the flow of the heavier stout liquid as one pours it on top of the pale ale. I suspect that using a larger-than-usual spoon(think serving spoon) can achieve the same results, albeit slightly less than perfect.

Note to self: Will try to come up with a local version of Black and Tan using our very own San Miguel Pale and San Miguel Cerveza Negra.

I had originally planned to write about another beer brand. This time around, I had slowed down a bit on drinking beer, and have actually started to like mixed concoctions using a vodka base. But I did replenish my beer collection last February, so there will definitely be newer brands to taste and write about.

Until then, kanpei!