Colt 45 Triple Hops: The Strong Beer for Real Men

When In Manila and looking for the perfect beer to drink in the company of your gang or while listening to your favorite band at a bar, you should definitely grab a Colt 45!

I’m a beer lover myself. When my friends and I go out to have a drink, I pass on the hard drinks and chug down some cold beer. I am a fan of sweets so maybe it’s the right amount of sweetness in the beer that gets me. The bitterness that breaks that sweetness is also a factor for me. If I find the balance in the beer’s sweetness and bitterness, then bottoms up on that one! I don’t drink too much though; I’m the friend who brings home drunk friends if you ask me.

When I got an invite to go to the Colt 45 plant for a little talk about how it is made (including its new reformulation with Triple Hops) and a tour around the plant, it tapped my curiosity about beer. There is also the fact that I have not tasted Colt 45 yet since it is said to be The Strong Beer for Real Men and I usually drink out with my girl friends. I thought “Sounds interesting and I bet there will be free beer. I’m in!”

So last July 14, 2012, I went over to the Asia Brewery Inc. Cabuyao Plant. The downpour of the rain was insane but I got there in one piece.

What was a woman doing at the brewery of the strong beer for real men?

Greg Anonas, Marketing Manager for Alcoholic Beverages of Asia Brewery Inc., welcomed us for the afternoon. He discussed a brief history about Asia Brewery Inc. and the support of Colt 45 to various sports and events that are truly for the real men.

Greg Anonas ( Marketing Manager for Alcoholic Beverages)

giving us a briefing about Colt 45

Next up was Asia Brewery Inc.’s Brewmaster Bobby Ilagan. He talked about the new formulation of Colt 45. “Colt 45 is the only premium roasted malt beer that’s brewed using three distinct hops to give it that excellent taste and aroma. We made sure that our brew stood out from other beers not in only in terms of strength, but also with key attributes such as taste, balance, aroma.”

Hops are flowers that give flavor to our beer and usually, beers in the market comprise of two types of hops. Colt 45, however, decided to reformulate the brand by infusing three hops — magnum, hallertau, and nugget. Colt 45 is the strongest beer in the Philippine market (with 7.2% alcohol content) but doesn’t want to sacrifice on giving Colt 45 drinkers a taste of quality beer.

Asia Brewery Inc.’s Brewmaster Bobby Ilagan

As what Bobby Ilagan told us, drinking our Colt 45 is not all about getting drunk. If we know what goes into it (the ingredients, the process, everything!), then we’d drink our beer with more appreciation.

That’s what came next. Free-flowing unpasteurized Colt 45 were taken into the room and I saw the gleaming eyes of my companions in the room! What makes the unpasteurized Colt 45 different from the usual? It is the beer that’s taken straight out of the brewery just before the bottling process. The folks at Colt 45 wanted to treat us to fresh beer and get a taste of the Triple Hops goodness!

Hearing the brew masters talk with so much passion about the Colt 45 brewing process and knowing what happens to it before Colt 45 hits our stores made me develop more appreciation for beer.

Colt 45 drinking party! With moderation, of course.

Colt 45 unpasteurized beer

Well, Colt 45 did not disappoint. It had the right balance of bitterness and sweetness to it. Maybe it was due to the fact that it was also not undiluted with water / ice. Those beer buckets that come with ice? They are a sacrilege to all the work the brewmasters put into formulating the perfect taste for the beer! I had two cups of Colt 45. My companions were literally drinking from the beer bottle! The men were obviously enjoying the Colt 45. I, as a woman, also loved it. Next time my friends and I go out, a bucket of Colt 45 will definitely be present!

After some beer drinking and talk about Colt 45, we went out to go on the plant tour. Bobby Ilagan toured us and showed us how Colt 45 is made.

Cute street names at the Asia Brewery Inc. Cabuyao Plant

Looking up a Colt 45 tank

Asia Brewery Inc. roster of products

Joey Dizon of Pulp Magazine holding a customized Colt 45 bottle for Pulp Summer Slam. Really cool dude!

These are wort (melted malt), the first step in making Colt 45

Yes guys and girls, these are the brew masters to thank for our delicious beers!

Dr. Alberto Rivera and Bobby Ilagan

From left to right: Greg Anonas [Marketing Manager (Alcoholic Beverages) – Asia Brewery], Dr. Alberto Rivera [Brewmaster – Asia Brewery], Bob Ilagan [Brewmaster – Asia Brewery], Alvin Aguilar [Founder – Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) MMA] and Willy Carlos [URCC Fight Boss]

I really had a fun time during that day! Yes folks, there is more to beer than just getting drunk and all the sexy women promoting it. There are also fine ingredients, skilled and experienced people, and stringent specifications that make up a world-class beer. Colt 45 is clearly armed with those three weapons for providing us Filipinos with world-class beer.