San Miguel Pale Pilsen
San Miguel Pale Pilsen is the original, standard, and best-tasting beer in the Philippines, carefully brewed to satisfy the distinct preferences of the resilient and unpretentious drinker.  Its unique heritage is representative of a friendship between the driver and his beer that has lasted over a hundred years.
Red Horse Beer
Red Horse Beer is the no. 1 extra strong beer with that extra strong kick that makes a man truly ASTIG.

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History
The brand was created in the Philippines, specifically in Manila, when La Fábrica de Cerveza San Miguel was founded in 1890 by a group of Spaniards (including Enrique María Barretto) under a Spanish Royal Charter that officially permitted the brewing of beer in the Philippines. It was the first beer brewery in South East Asia, and soon became hugely popular and successful.

Years later San Miguel expanded overseas, reaching the Spanish market in 1953 by setting up a company (which would later become “San Miguel Spain”) after coming to an arrangement with a preexisting malt producing company (“La Segarra”). This “Manila Agreement” allowed La Segarra to produce beer under the San Miguel name in Spain. La Segarra was renamed in 1957 as “San Miguel Fábricas de Cerveza y Malta, S.A”, then an affiliate of San Miguel Brewery, Inc., which initially held 20% equity share via its Hong Kong subsidiary.

The (Spanish) company was acquired by Mahou, S.A. (Danone group) in 2000, combining to form what now is Spain’s largest brewer, the Mahou-San Miguel Group.

In 2014, San Miguel and Mahou-San Miguel signed a co-operation agreement to promote jointly San Miguel Beer and expand its global footprint.

Therefore they are now different beers from different companies, that share a brand and get along well.

Recent Updates
2023-08-20 Couldn't make it to the Taste of Manila

I couldn't make it for the Toronto Taste of Manila this year.
So instead, I went for a Taste IN Manila


2023-08-23 Side trip to Cebu Sugbo Mercado, IT Park
2023-07-24 Couldn't make it to "Fun Philippines".

So I celebrated in Bangkok!


2022-12-30 Time to Compare Brews

At our New Years Eve party, we (myself and a few family members) sampled San Miguel from:

  • An original as brewed and bottled in the Philippines.
  • One original brewed for export from Hong Kong
  • One from San Miguel Spain
At first, the results seemed a bit surprising, the brewed and bottled in the Philippines and the bottle from San Miguel Spain were most similar in taste and aroma. All four testers came to the same result. With the bottled and brewed in Hong Kong coming in third. On further reflection, we thought that this MAY be because the Hong Kong version is brewed for export and as such, likely has to follow many different international rules and regulations that reflect on the taste.

However, as this is the version we get in Canada, this is my favourite locally available beer.

2022-12-11 Back in Canada.

Time to sample and compare

  • Two bottles and a can brewed in the Philippines.
  • One bottle brewed in Hong Kong
  • One bottle brewed in Spain

2022-12-02 Manila Bay

Waiting for the sunset.


2022-11-25 Abe

Where good friend dine (and drink).

2022-11-12 El Nido Bay

El Nido Boutique Artcafe.
Spectacular views of El Nido bay.

2022-06-24. Madrid, Spain

I decided to compare the San Miguel Brewing International and the Mahou San Miguel beers. This required a trip to Spain. 2022-July

Enjoying a beer on the rooftop bar overlooking the Opera house in Madrid.

2022-July-2

While we were in Madrid, look who we ran into at the Royal Palace !!