Belgium's Stella Artois

You will never hear me dispute anyone who argues Stella Artois to be one of the best beers in the world. It is at least one of the better beers I've tasted. No surprise that it is one beer that the Belgians are quite proud of.

It took me at least a couple of trips to Subic to get over its feminine name, though. But after coughing up 1.75usd for a couple of 330mL bottles at DFS, and eventually deciding to consume a bottle, I realized very quickly that this has got to be at least a biker chick's beer, if not a man's beer. It literally took only seconds for the 5.2 percent alcohol to kick in. I'm not a fan of mean labels people put on others. But if I had to use a label just to describe who this beer is not for, this is definitely not for sissies.

One pet peeve though - They could use better paper material for the labels on their bottle. The label on this one was literally peeling off after a couple of weeks in the chiller section of our refrigerator at home. I mean, the folks over at Stella Artois must have realized eons ago that drinkers are going to want this product really cold, and then wet, when taken out of cold storage. The green bottle was quite conservative. No surprises here, given that this product is over 600 years old.

Be that as it may, I liked this beer for what's inside the bottle. The taste was crisp and the alcohol level was just right enough to make sure that any ageing(read: pushing 40) beer drinker stays within moderate drinking guidelines before heading home for a good night's sleep. I did drink this at home though, so knocking off early was practically a cinch after gulping down a couple of bottles. Anyone who cares to try this brand ought to, for it is one of those beers any beer-lover worth his salt has to try at least once in his life.

Until then, Op uw gezondheid! if you're Flemish; or A votre sante! if you happen to be Walloon.

Japan's Kirin Ichiban

There's always something about the Japanese and in the way they make their products. One would almost always expect a proper ritual of sorts before they do things; and one definitely can count on the quality of everything they make. Perhaps it is pure discipline at mastering the art of making things; but then again it is perhaps also a product of pure will that they go through every conceivable detail they can think of.

The very first time I tried this beer was in 1995 at a bar called Brannigan's along Annapolis in Greenhills. Imported beers weren't the norm at bars nor at supermarkets back then, so I jumped at the opportunity to take my first swig of a beer brand that was very hard to come by. I remember paying a hefty 190 pesos or something around that amount for a bottle. But it was worth it. Like everything made by the Japanese, this beer was nothing like I ever tasted. I would've blogged about it back then, but 1995 wasn't exactly that period in Philippine history where phones and Internet access was available everywhere. (Yes, I was one of a not-so-small group of people who went through high school and college without a phone in the house, although this is perhaps another story altogether.) It wasn't until today that I got to try Kirin again.

I helped myself to 4 bottles last April at DFS Subic. Each bottle set me back 1.75usd, so considering I paid more for the same at a higher price 14 years ago, I just couldn't complain.

This has the best-looking amber bottle I've run my fingers on so far. At 330ml, it wasn't large but one word comes to mind - aerodynamic, plus it was very light and very well put-together. It simply wasn't your typical San Miguel Pale Pilsen amber bottle, not even the Jamaican Red Stripe bottle either. There was Japanese precision and craftsmanship written all over it. There were no bubbles or waves on the bottle surface, and the bottom was only slightly thicker than the rest of its body.

At 5.5% alcohol, it should start to kick in after a few minutes if Kirin's taste grows on you quickly, and it will. It has definitely a certain sweetness to it, even for one who has not acquired the taste for beer. It is a draft beer, after all, but San Miguel Draft and MGD never tasted this good. I'm down to my last bottle as I write this, and because I'm also trying to cut down on my beer intake, I'm definitely going to miss Kirin.

What I can do, however, is to try and convince you to try it, in case you haven't already.

Until then, please make sure you finish your freakin' beer.

Grolsch of the Netherlands

The last of the batch of beers I bought in Subic way back in April 2008, Grolsch hit the spot perfectly as I remember drinking it straight from out of the chiller. It had Below Zero written all over it.

Even at a steep price of 2.80usd for a 500ml bottle, one's curiosity will at least be piqued by what its website calls the "swingtop". I just had to buy a couple of bottles to try it out, and I wasn't disappointed.

The bottle's grip wasn't as comfy as, say, San Mig Light's bottle. But somehow holding it lent an impression that I was drinking a bit more than the usual amount of beer from any single bottle I've ever had, except maybe those tall Heineken cans I've had in Taipei 15 years ago. In other words, a couple of these 5% alcohol Grolsch bottles should be enough to get me slurring in no more than half an hour.It was one of those nights that I had a great DVD movie playing and some Marty's vegetarian chicharon conveniently laid out next to me on the couch.

Another thing stood out here -sediments, at the bottom of the bottles even before I began drinking from them. Could be yeast, malt, hops or even wheat granules, I thought. A closer look revealed that some of those granules were toasted. I got curious about it and decided to try and research a bit. I was half-right about the malt. The ignorant beer-drinking slob in me couldn't have possibly guessed that it was malted barley and hops.

Overall, I enjoyed this lager of a beer.It was a bit filling if only for its size, but it was very light on the taste buds. At the right temperature, drinking it was truly one of the more memorable moments I've had with beer. I would say that the Dutch really know how to make their beer in the same way that they know how to make their windmills and their dikes.

Next batch of beers coming up - Dos Equis; Stella Artois; Kirin Ichiban; Guiness Stout, among others.

Until then...don't forget to finish your beer.