Entering the Iloilo market just a few weeks ago is the latest product of the San Miguel Lifestyle Brews collection. A novelty item at first glance, the San Miguel flavored beers - having a twist of lemon and apple, are geared for those who just getting into beer drinking or for those who don’t drink beer but are curious.
San Miguel flavored beers are no like Cali Shandy for these are really beer (with an alcohol content of 3 % compared to the shandy’s 0%). It’s bottle resembles that of San Miguel All Malt Premium Beer (which I heard is not performing well in sales). Thus I may believe that this flavored is actually a spin off just to make the all malt beer sell more.Anyway, I just had these flavored two beers in just one sitting - 20 mins. apart and they really taste as what their labels say. Though the lemon flavour was more subdued, like Sprite or 7-Up, mixed with regular beer, the apple had more bodied flavour that makes me reminisce the Hi-C Apple drinking spree at Green Mango.
In comparison, it has more calories than SanMig Light due to higher malt content but it’s alcohol is only 3% compared with San Mig Light and Tanduay Ice’s 5%. The beer taste is more pronounced in the lemon flavor since it wasn’t that strong compared with the apple. Both have little beer aftertaste that makes them an easy drink for it has “little nauseous side effects”.
So grab one, no, two bottles so that you can also compare San Miguel Beer’s take on flavored beer will sweep the nation or will end up in the sidelines.
(As of now, only a number of limited stores and restobars offer these flavored beers and got these from Merchant’s Mart in front of the People’s Hotel (formerly Four Season Hotel) at Delgado-Fuentes Streets, Iloilo City)