MANILA, Philippines — A chemical engineer, Alan Sienes probably has one of the best jobs in the world.
As Brew Master for global Filipino beverage company San Miguel Brewery Inc. (SMB) for 22 years now, Sienes gets free beer every day.
No two beers, however, are alike, Sienes clarified in a recent interview with Philstar.com during SMB’s launch of its beer pairing and beer-infused dishes at Draft Restaurant & Brewery in Makati City.
Cerveza Blanca
Want a beer that is “friendly to the stomach” even if you’ve drank a lot of it?
Sienes recommended the San Miguel Cerveza Blanca, the Belgian-style wheat-ale brewed with citrus, coriander and spices. It is what he called “the new kid on the block” among their brand’s premium beers. It was also launched in Thailand.
“This is different from the other San Miguel Beers because it’s a different type of yeast. Among the beers, you can see that this is cloudy. Unlike Premium, this is clear,” he explained.
“Even if it’s dark, it’s clear. This one is true to its form as a Belgian-type wheat beer — spicy, with smoky notes, with a whiff of mint and a fruity top — the contribution of the hops.”
He suggested pairing it with seafood and crusted or coated light meats.
“Actually, I find this beer very flexible because there’s a lot of combinations that do not fight the food’s taste.”
Premium All-Malt
Also best paired with seafood is San Miguel Premium All-Malt, the full-flavored European-style lager brewed with 100% pure malt.
“As a lager beer, Premium’s flavor comes from hops and malt, so it’s best paired with seafood, particularly squid, lobster, Salmon Sinigang sa Miso,” Sienes enthused.
When asked if the beer can also be included in the Sinigang soup base, he laughingly said, “Pwede na rin!”
“There’s no harm in trying! You just try and try until you find something,” he urged. “Complex kasi ‘yung beer. In fact, the aroma compounds… In alcohol content, we’re talking about percentage per hundred. If you talk about aroma compounds, you talk about parts per billion, and yet, mase-sense mo s’ya.”
Premium All-Malt is the favorite of many of Draft Restaurant & Brewery’s owners because it allows one to “actually taste the distinct, malty character,” said Sienes.
“Malt is unique because it comes from barley… and among the grains, (barley) is the only grain that has proteins and enzymes,” he said.
Super Dry
The premium lager brewed with 100% imported aroma hops from Germany, San Miguel Super Dry is best paired with steaks and red meat dishes, said Sienes.
They named it “Super Dry” to capture the crispiness in terms of flavors, he noted.
“What’s unique about this is that all the hops in Super Dry are what we call the aroma hops. Hops is unique to beer. No other beverage uses hops. So that is what gives bitterness. But the bitterness is not just in the taste. There’s such a thing as aroma bitterness… In Germany, they call it the noble hops. Super Dry uses all aroma hops,” he expounded.
Hops, he said, are grown in countries in Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, like a perennial plant.
“By harvest, they just cut it, then they leave it. By spring, it starts growing again like grass.”
But hops has a very limited life cycle — after 30 to 35 years, a particular plant species of it dies slowly, affecting the harvest.
“Right now, hops is also a major source of scents – the expensive fragrances from London, Paris, New York… so it’s now a competitor of the brewing industry,” Sienes fretted.
He personally takes a bottle of beer a day, either the Blanca or the Super Dry. He suggested taking one on a lunch or dinner with family or friends depending on the food.
“Hops are an antioxidant. That’s why they say that one or two beers a day is healthier than nothing.”
Cerveza Negra
If there is such a thing as a dessert wine, there is also a dessert beer in the form of the full-bodied dark lager brewed using roasted malt with hints of caramel, coffee and chocolate — San Miguel Cerveza Negra.
“Here, you can sense coffee, caramel, sometimes chocolate, depending on your mood. Because this is a perfect complement or a perfect pair even with pastries,” Sienes affirmed, adding that the Negra pairs well with dishes with rich sauces and chocolates, especially chocolate cake.
“It’s okay lang if you can split and share. We’re not really expected to finish the Negra because it is very robust. It’s heavy. And if you look at this color, it also tells you that it has a very high amount of antioxidants,” said Sienes.
Unknown to many, the Negra’s formulation is from 1895, just five years after the Pilsen was formulated in 1890, he shared.
Negra – which comes from a special kind of malt responsible for its dark color – is “one of the most underrated beers,” preferred even by the “pope of beer” from Germany, said Sienes, because “the darker the beer, the more that it has the capability of retiring the effects of oxidation.”
“If you store all different beers, after one year, the closest to what it was is the Negra,” he said, recommending storing any beer for just one year.
“After one year, things can happen because nature will just go back to what it was. You can see the solids that are settling down. Those are the proteinaceous materials of the beer that would just come out, parang rust…”
Through not poisonous, he does not recommend still drinking these particles that have settled down.
“Since beer is colloidal or fermented product and not a mixed solution. You start with the barley, malt, then you convert the carbohydrates into sugars. And then during the process of malting, your proteins become amino acids so that you can produce the beer.”
Beer’s alcohol content is very small — 5-10% as compared to whiskey or gin with 70 proof or 35% alcohol — “So beer is healthier,” claimed the Brew Master with over 35 years of brewing experience.
“The only thing that can make beer unhealthy is the pulutan — if you over-indulge.”
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