This local craft brewery just made its own pilsner and it's pretty darn good

While the pilsner is arguably the most popular beer in the Philippines — and even in the world — local craft brewers have long ignored it, preferring instead to produce fancier, more sophisticated, and frankly, often unheard-of beer styles.   

So it comes as a pleasant surprise that Tagaytay-based Monkey Eagle Brewers (MEB) has produced the common pilsen beer aka lager that they like to call Free Flow.

"We wanted to challenge ourselves," MEB founder Noreen Lao told GMA News Online in an email interview.

"We wanted to see if people will like our version compared to commercial ones," she continued.

Taking an old recipe from the Western region of the Czech Republic — "where the origins of Bohemian people came from," Noreen graciously pointed out — MEB tweaked and added a few twists to achieve their desired flavor. 

Free Flow isn't too different from all other pilsners in the world, "as there are rules that govern certain [beer] styles," Noreen said. "But we added certain twists to give it a unique taste."

The result is a pilsner that is easy to drink, super refreshing, and despite it being light, one that has a deeper flavor than other commercial pilsners we've tried.

And even though we never made it to the perfect 4° temperature, it boasts a nice crispness to it.

All that to say: the Free Flow is fresh. 

According to Noreen, being able to serve fresh pilsen is among their objectives in coming out with Free Flow.

"We wanted people to be able to taste what fresh lager beers taste like. It's the best drink on a hot day, which is often the case in our country," she said.

The Tagaytay-based microbrewery concocted five versions of the beer in a span of two-three months before coming out with a recipe that was to become Free Flow.

It is the newest beer in their impressive line of craft beers that already has farmhouse ales, blonde ales, IPAs, pale ales, and Belgian wheats, just to name a few.

Free Flow (P150/bottle) is sold in packs of 4, 6, a dozen, and a case of 24 and can be purchased in their website.  — LA, GMA News