THE Queen City is the home of the best. Savor the food and delicacies that Cebu serves best like the rosquillos, dried mangoes and sikwate for snacks, and the all time favorite lechon—had with an ice cold beer! Oops, sounds quite unhealthy right? But hold on, this delectable pairing can be had without worrying about a beer belly.
The Cebruery serves craft beers which are 100 percent organic and with no sugar substitutes added. Its beers also contain a good amount of minerals and protein.
The business venture started when Toni Despojo, the owner of The Cebruery, attended a symposium about entrepreneurship where she learned that “Cebuanos have become consumers and no longer innovators.” That’s where she came up with the idea to start her own brewery. She brought the idea up to her husband, Taylor Hendricks, a chemical engineer who has been brewing beers for almost 10 years.
“Cebuanos deserve good tasting beers,” Taylor said.
The Cebruery brings in equipment from here and abroad, with high quality imported ingredients that are from Europe and United States that help the company produce world-class beers. With a touch of patriotic class, the couple behind Cebruery created four core beers with names that are significant to the Philippines: The Boracay Blonde, the Dumaguete Dubbel, Chocolate Hills Porter and the People Power Pale Ale. These beers with their distinct flavors are local representations of countries with their own beer history like Germany, Great Britain, Belgium and the United States.
According to Toni, restaurant Irie Gastropubliko is the home of its craft beers in Cebu. Irie serves sumptuous meals with suggested craft beer pairings. For instance, Irie’s British style fish and chips with three kinds of sauces is best paired with the Dumaguete Dubbel.
The Cebruery products are available in Carnivore in The Gallery, Mabolo, Cebu City; The Monastery in Lahug, Cebu City; Maya’s place in Moalboal, Cebu and Eden in Santander, Cebu. (Mikee Kristine D. Beltran, USJ-R Intern)