San Miguel Pale Pilsen (SMB)

San Miguel Pale Pilsen (SMB)

San Miguel Pale Pilsen has a slight hoppy note with a distinct bitter hop character. It has a well-balanced medium body and is smooth on the palate with a pleasant clean finish. 

This beer is the cornerstone of every beer drinkers fantasy in the Philippines. Once you tried this brew, there is no turning back. You will crave for it, when you don’t have it and empty the bottle in next to nothing, once you have it in front of you.

San Mig endorser: Manny "PacMan" Pacquiao

SMB says rightly of itself that it is “a truly satisfying beer, with a refined, well-balanced flavor. Perfected and brewed for over a century, it’s the only beer that nourishes true Filipino friendships.”. It’s other ad text is a bit awkward (especially for Germans, who love their ‘Beer Purity Law’ of 1516 or so), as it says “expertly brewed from the finest malt, hops and other ingredients found throughout the world“. Hmmm?!

 

What could be those other magic ingredients? One of them is cereal, which can be found sometimes on the label sticker. Nevertheless – this is a truly exciting beer, one of the best in Asia and for me one of my all-time favorites, right next to Beer Bintang of Indonesia and Beer Lao of Laos.

A small bottle (330ml) goes for as low as 19 Pesos in a sari sari store, the Grande (1 liter) is officially 54 Pesos, although in restaurants and bars you usually pay something around 35-50 Pesos for the small bottle, or 85-150 Pesos for the Grande.

Octoberfest special edition San Mig