There is No Good Beer in the Philippines

I have been on an expedition to find a drinkable beer in the Philippines that both tastes good and is widely available. But alas my search thus far has failed to bear any fruit. The only thing that they really have here is a series of beers produced by the San Miguel Brewing Company which is largely undrinkable, even after the point of intoxication. Imagine what Bud Light would taste like after it has been processed by your body and urinated out, and that is pretty much San Miguel. The main options courtesy of San Miguel are their Pale Pilsen, San Mig Light, and Red Horse. The former two are somewhat generic tasteless beers that serve little purpose outside causing inebriation. Especially when it is served at room or close to room temperature as they are in most places. Red Horse on the other hand is a beer mixed with either gin or whiskey (I forget) which tastes much like turpentine. And though it’ll knock you on your ass, it is nigh impossible to get through more than a glass or two before you feel your insides melting. You will also come across San Miguel Premium which hardly lives up to its name. The only noticeable difference between it and the Pale Pilsen and San Mig Light appears to be the price which comes in at a price point that is a whopping 30 pesos higher (approximately 60 cents higher than the other two beers. Yes I know, why quibble over 60 cents, but when the beer costs 25 pesos? But paying 30 pesos more for equal quality beer seems a bit steep, at least in peso terms).

However, just when I was about to give up hope I discovered a beer called Negra which was a decent creamy dark lager also made by San Miguel Brewery. The drawback is that the only place I could find it is in the 7-11 near my house who only had anywhere from 7-12 bottles in stock every 2-3 weeks. Needless to say on my way home from work I would stop by and clean them out whenever I saw it in stock. I went through this process over the last several months, until after weeks of waiting the Negra supply was never restocked. I asked the manager of the 7-11 when they would be getting in a new shipment. And he responded, "Never." At which point I got a bit misty and inquired as to why. To which he responded, "Many people would buy it and so I could never keep it stocked on the shelves." Gotta love that logic. Knowing that pointing out the error in his thinking to him would not change a thing, I decided to leave dejected. Every now and then I will stop by in hopes that they will have come to their sense, but unfortunately this is not the case. I also have never been much of a hard liquor fan, so it appears that my libation options are somewhat limited while here. I might just have to become a wino or have to depend on my friends from home to send me some decent beer (wink wink knudge knudge).